Statistics Canada has released its Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the month of August 2022.
For the first time since data became available in 2015, there were fewer unemployed people (989,000) than job vacancies (1,038,000) in Canada. This is a huge revelation for job seekers, with over a third (38%) of businesses expecting that recruitment of skilled employees would be a challenge in the next three months.
Employment was specifically down in the provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia; while employment increased in Quebec.
According to the survey, as of August 2022 immigrants accounted for 875,000 people within the Canadian labour force, disproportionally so in metropolitan centers like Toronto and Montreal.
Another contributing factor, however, is the number of Canadians reaching retirement age, and stepping away from the workforce. According to Statistics Canada, 307,000 Canadians left their jobs in August, to retire at some point during the year. With an aging population comprising a greater amount of the population in Canada, this will likely be a continuing problem in the coming years.
“In recent years, as more and more Canadians have reached retirement age and exited the labour force, immigration has been particularly important in supporting labour force growth.”
Canada’s economic immigration streams remain by far the most popular, as the country has historically looked to solve many of its labour market demands through immigration
