Canada's Job Market Hits Lowest Vacancy Rate Since 2017: Sector & Provincial Insights

Canada’s labour market showed signs of softening in April, with job vacancies decreasing by 16,800—a 3.2% drop—to 501,300. This marks the first significant monthly decline in nearly a year, as reported by Statistics Canada (StatCan).

The national job vacancy rate fell to 2.8%, down from 2.9% in March, reaching the lowest level since October 2017. Year-over-year, job vacancies plummeted by 91,400 positions, or 15.4%.

With fewer unfilled jobs, the competition among job seekers intensified. "There were 3.1 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in April, up from 2.9 in March," StatCan noted. This shift reflects a decrease in job vacancies alongside an increase in unemployment, pushing the unemployment rate from 6.2% to 6.9% year-over-year.

Differences Across Sectors and Provinces

• Finance and insurance saw an 18.0% drop in job openings, while wholesale trade declined by 13.7%.
• Health care and social assistance (4.1%) and accommodation and food services (4.0) had the highest vacancy rates but also the largest year-over-year declines.
• Construction vacancies fell by 13.8% compared to April 2024.

Provincially, British Columbia led the losses with a 8.5% decrease, followed by Alberta (-9.4%), New Brunswick (-16.8%), and Newfoundland and Labrador (-26.3%).

Despite the overall downturn, Manitoba and Saskatchewan reported the highest job vacancy rates at 3.3%, while Newfoundland and Labrador (2.1%) and New Brunswick (2.3%) had the lowest.