In the latest report, job vacancies and payroll employment remain high, while unemployment sees decreases in September.
The job vacancy rate (total number of vacant positions as a proportion of labour demand) increased to 5.7%., indicating a continued need to fill positions amid employee shortages.
Seasonal factors tend to make September a month for large vacancies, however.
Which sectors had the highest job vacancies?
A job is counted as vacant by Statistics Canada, if:
- A specific position currently exists; and
- Work for this position could start within 30 days; and
- The employer is actively seeking workers from outside the organization to fill the position.
In this context, certain sectors of the economy continued to have high job vacancies.
Health care and Social Assistance
Health care and social assistance saw 159,500 vacant positions in September, up from a record-high number of vacancies in August.
Accommodation and Food Services
Retail Trade
Retail trade saw a slight increase in job vacancies, with 117,300 vacant positions in September. The job vacancy rate was 5.5%, on par with the national average across all sectors, and a good indicator that this sector has a continued need for workers.
Professional Scientific and Technical Services
An expansive sector that encompasses legal services, accounting, architectural and engineering, computer systems design, management consulting, advertising, public relations, and more; Professional scientific and technical services is another sector that has seen a consistent need for labour with 61,900 job vacancies.
Manufacturing
The only industry to see a consistent decline in job vacancies was manufacturing, which was down to 76,000 job vacancies in September; from a peak of 92,100 just one month prior.
In light of this, the decrease in job vacancies in this sector is likely strongly tied to a contraction in the industry as a whole.
- The sectors that saw the biggest uptick in employment were:
- Healthcare and social assistance (+ 20,700 employees);
- Accommodation and food services (+ 8,400 employees);
- Retail Trade (+ 8,200 employees);
As Canada faces a record number of job vacancies
Immigration continues to be at the forefront of grappling with labour shortages in the country.
The Canadian government and Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continue to take measures to solve a looming labour shortage, as more and more members of an aging Canadian population go into retirement.
Canada will look to confront labour shortages with the immigration of skilled foreign workers, as evidenced by an expansion of economic immigration pathways like Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP); as well as an aggressive immigration plan to welcome close to 500,000 newcomers to Canada every year.
