Canada Employment Change1976-2020 Data | 2021-2022 Forecast | Calendar | Historical

The Canadian economy added 953 thousand jobs in June of 2020, after creating 290 thousand positions in May and beating market expectations of 700 thousand. This was the biggest increase in employment since available records began in February of 1976, as Covid-19 restrictions continued to ease across the country which allowed more companies to return and rehire. Full-time work rose by 488 thousand and part-time positions increased by 464 thousand. There were more people working in the services sector (+794 thousand), mostly in wholesale & retail trade (+222 thousand), accommodation & food services (+164 thousand) and health care and social assistance (+121 thousand). Employment also went up in the goods-producing sector (+159 thousand), namely in construction (+83 thousand) and manufacturing (+81 thousand). In June, all provinces recorded an increase in employment, particularly in Ontario (+378 thousand), where the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions began in late May.

The Canadian economy added 290 thousand jobs in May of 2020, compared to market expectations of a 500 thousand drop. The number of people who worked less than half their usual hours dropped by 292,000 (-8.6%). Combined, these changes in the labour market represented a recovery of 10.6% of the COVID-19-related employment losses and absences recorded in the previous two months. Three-quarters of the employment gains from April to May were in full-time work (+219,000 or +1.6%). Compared with February, full-time employment was down 11.1% in May, while part-time work was down 27.6%.

The Canadian economy shed 1.99 million jobs in April of 2020, compared to market expectations of a 4 million drop. Still, it is a record decline in employment, after a 1 million loss in March, bringing the total employment decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 economic shutdown to over three million. In addition, the number of people who were employed but worked less than half of their usual hours for reasons related to COVID-19 increased by 2.5 million from February to April. As of the week of April 12, the cumulative effect of the COVID-19 economic shutdown—the number of Canadians who were either not employed or working substantially reduced hours—was 5.5 million, or more than one-quarter of February's employment level. In April, both full-time (-1,472,000; -9.7%) and part-time (-522,000; -17.1%) employment fell. Cumulative losses since February totalled 1,946,000 (-12.5%) in full-time work and 1,059,000 (-29.6%) in part-time employment.

The Canadian economy lost 1010.7 thousand jobs in March of 2020, after creating 30.3 thousand in the prior month, surpassing market expectations of a 350 thousand cut. This was the biggest decline in employment on record and larger than in any of the three significant recessions experienced since 1980, attributed to the Covid-19 lockdown. Part-time work slipped by 536.7 thousand and full-time went down by 474 thousand. Employment fell in all provinces, mostly in Ontario (-403 thousand), Quebec (-264 thousand), British Columbia (-132 thousand) and Alberta (-117 thousand). Youth employment fell by 392,500, the fastest rate of decline across the three main age groups. There were fewer people working in industries which involve public-facing activities or limited ability to work from home. This includes accommodation & food services (-2.4 thousand); information, culture & recreation (-0.9 thousand); educational services (-0.3 thousand) and wholesale & retail trade (-2 thousand).