Canada Employment Change1976-2021 Data | 2022-2023 Forecast | Calendar | Historical

The Canadian economy created 231 thousand jobs in June of 2021, above market expectations of a 195 thousand rise and following a cumulative decline of 275,000 over the previous two months. Job gains were entirely in part-time work (+264,000) and concentrated among youth aged 15 to 24 (+164,000; +7.1%), primarily young women, marking the largest single-month increase for this age group since July 2020. Meanwhile, full-time work was little changed (-33 thousand). Employment rose markedly in June in several services-producing industries where a high proportion of jobs involve face-to-face interactions with the public, including accommodation and food services (+101,000), retail trade (+75,000), and "other" services (+24,000). Employment increased in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Nova Scotia. The number of Canadians working from home fell by nearly 400,000 to 4.7 million.

The Canadian economy shed 68 thousand jobs in May of 2021, more than market expectations of a 20 thousand decline in employment and added to a decline of 207 thousand jobs in the previous month. The contraction seen in the current month reflects the rollout of tighter public health restrictions following the previous release, including an ongoing lockdown in Ontario, while Quebec and New Brunswick eased some restrictions towards late May. Both full-time (-13,800; -0.1%) and part-time (-54,200; -1.6%) employment fell. The most impacted industries were manufacturing (-35,900; -2.0%); other services (-24,100; -3.2%); wholesale and retail (-21,200; -0.8%); and construction (-15,800; -1.1%). Meanwhile, employment in the accommodation and food industry was little changed in May but stood at almost one third below pre-pandemic levels. The largest drops in workforce were seen in the provinces of Ontario (-31,600; -0.4%), Nova Scotia (-22,200; -4.8%), and Quebec (-8,000; -0.2%).

The Canadian economy shed 207 thousand jobs in April of 2021, more than market expectations of a 175 thousand contraction and pausing a two-month cumulative growth in employment. The drop was almost as large as in January of 2021, as pandemic restrictions were tightened across several provinces, including a lockdown in Ontario. Both full-time (-129,000; -0.8%) and part-time (-78,000; -2.3%) employment fell. The most impacted industries were retail trade (-84,000; -3.8%); accommodation and food services (-59,000; -6.4%); and information, culture and recreation (-26,000; -3.6%). Labor market dynamics differed between provinces, with more jobs being lost in Ontario (-153,000; -2.1%) and British Columbia (-43,000; -1.6%), while Quebec was unchanged and Saskatchewan saw jobs rise (+9,500; +1.7%). Virtually all jobs erased in April were among private sector employees (-204,000; -1.7%), while self-employment continued to rise (+9,700; +0.4%).

The Canadian economy created 303 thousand jobs in March of 2021, above market expectations of a 100 thousand rise, bringing employment to within 1.5% of its pre-COVID February 2020 level. Both full-time (+175,000; +1.2%) and part-time (+128,000; +3.9%) employment increased. Self-employment rose for the first time in three months, up 56,000 (+2.1%), but remained 5.4% (-156,000) below its pre-COVID February 2020 level. Employment in retail trade rose by 95,000 (+4.5%) in March, fully recouping the remainder of the losses sustained in January. The number of people working in information, culture and recreation also went up (+62,000; +9.4%) for the first time since September. There were 21,000 (+2.4%) more people working in accommodation and food services. Employment increased in most provinces, namely Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.