In September, Canada had over 1 million job vacancies

Key Takeaways:

According to Statistics Canada’s job vacancy report, more employers are hiring, but there are still many open positions.
According to a new Statistics Canada report, the Canadian economy is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

In September, 91,100 people were added to payrolls across Canada, marking the fourth consecutive monthly increase. In eight provinces, payroll employment increased. With over 43,000 new employees added to payrolls, Ontario led the way. The province of British Columbia (BC) came in second, followed by Quebec.

Nationally, job growth was led by the services sector, specifically accommodation and food services, public administration, and finance and insurance.

According to Statistics Canada, the reopening of the Canada-US border in August and the relaxation of tourist travel restrictions in September may have contributed to job growth in tourism and related sectors. However, job shortages are still an issue.

At the starting of September, there were over 1 million job openings. In addition, there were nearly 200,000 vacancies in the accommodation and food sector, with a 14.4 % job vacancy rate. The job vacancy rate calculates the percentage of vacant positions as all vacant and occupied positions.

More than half of accommodation and food service businesses expect to face difficulties in finding qualified candidates. However, only 30% of all other businesses express similar concerns.

In September, over 130,000 vacancies in health care and social assistance, nearly double the total number of vacancies in the third quarter of 2019.

In September, there were nearly 122,000 vacancies in the retail trade. Meanwhile, the construction and manufacturing sectors each had over 80,000 open positions. According to Statistics Canada, an increase in job vacancies may indicate an increase in economic activity and hiring as employers create new roles.

It could also worsen structural labour market imbalances, such as skill shortages and geographic mismatches between vacancies and workers qualified to fill them. It may also indicate a shift in workers’ willingness to accept lower wages, fewer hours, and other factors associated with job openings.

Source: CIC News