Ontario and Saskatchewan add 400,000 new jobs, as vacancies remain high

According to the most recent statistics, unemployment decreased in September, but job openings and payroll employment are still high. In Canada, there were 994,800 open opportunities in September, an increase of 3.8% across all industries. Most of these new jobs were added in Saskatchewan and Ontario.

The job vacancy rate, which measures the total number of open positions as a percentage of labor demand, grew to 5.7%, suggesting that there is still a need to fill positions due to a lack of qualified candidates. Even when these seasonal considerations are taken into account, there are still a lot of job openings in Canada in September.

Which industries had the most open positions?

Statistics Canada counts a position as unfilled if:

There is currently an open position; employment could begin in the next 30 days, and the employer is actively recruiting candidates from outside the company to fill the role. In this situation, there are still many open positions in some economic areas. In September, there were 159,500 open posts in the social assistance and healthcare sectors, up from a record-high figure in August.

Due to the ongoing high demand for professionals in this field (such as doctors, nurses, physicians, surgeons, etc.) in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry saw an increase in job openings of 25% year over year. In an effort to alleviate a labor shortfall, Canada has made steps to persuade more experts in this area to immigrate to the nation, even removing obstacles to permanent residence (PR) for specialists in this sector.

Food and lodging services

The number of open positions in the sector of lodging and food services, which is always looking for workers, increased by 12% to 152,400 in September. While a large portion of this enormous increase can be attributed to seasonal influences, the industry has seen growth in hiring and employment, with hopeful prospects for the future as vacancies and employment in the sector have stayed high throughout the year.

Trade in Retail

With 117,300 open positions in September, there was a modest increase in job openings in the retail sector. The job vacancy rate was 5.5%, which is in line with the national average for all industries and a reliable sign that there will always be a need for people in this field.

Professional Services in Science and Technology

Professional scientific and technical services is another industry with a steady demand for labor. This broad sector includes legal services, accountancy, architecture and engineering, computer systems design, management consulting, advertising, public relations, and more.

September's data reflected this, with 61,900 job openings, and the industry's 5% job vacancy rate, which again reflects the national average, is a promising sign of sustained demand and hiring efforts in this area. 

Manufacturing

Manufacturing was the only sector to consistently experience a decrease in job openings; from a peak of 92,100 openings in August, there were only 76,000 openings in September. Although this could be interpreted as an indication of increased hiring in the industry, the reduction in job openings follows the fourth decline in Real Gross Domestic Product (RGDP) during the previous five months.

The value of all goods and services within an industry is reflected by the real gross domestic product (RGDP), an inflation-adjusted metric. In light of this, a contraction in the industry as a whole is probably closely related to a decline in job openings in this area. 

A word about wage rises

The number of employees on the payroll is those who receive compensation or benefits from their employer. Payroll employment is typically regarded as a lone indicator of the health of a company, industry, or even economy. While increases in these numbers may be caused by a variety of variables (such as filling previously vacated positions), they can also be attributed to a number of other factors.

In September, payroll employment climbed across the board by 0.5%, with Quebec, British Columbia, and Alberta posting the highest rises. Healthcare and social support added 20,700 people, lodging and food services added 8,400, and retail trade added 8,200. These industries had the highest increases in employment.

Retail Trade (8,200 more workers);

These are very optimistic indicators for experts in these three fields, especially when considered in light of the fact that all of these industries had increases in employment openings. By further comparing this to each industry's RGDP in August, we can see that all three of the aforementioned industries have experienced:

- Increases in payroll employees (people hired), job openings (hiring activity), and the total value of goods and services produced.

- As Canada leaves pandemic protocols and returns to pre-pandemic levels of economic output, there remain encouraging signals.

- As there are a record number of open positions in Canada

- Immigration is still at the center of efforts to address the nation's labor shortfall.

As a growing number of the country's elderly population enters retirement, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and the Canadian government continue to take action to address an impending labor shortfall. 

As evidenced by the 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, Canada will look to address labor shortages through the immigration of skilled foreign workers.

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