Overall payroll job vacancies little changed in August: StatCan

Healthcare, accommodation and food services among sectors most in need of workers

Overall payroll job vacancies little changed in August: StatCan

The number of payroll job vacancies across all sectors in August (958,500) was little changed from July (964,000), according to Statistics Canada (StatCan).

The number, however, remained elevated relative to August 2021 (919,200).

Among sectors, the job vacancies were highest in healthcare (152,000), followed by accommodation and food services (136,000) and retail trade (119,300).

Payroll job vacancies in other sectors are as follows:

  • manufacturing (85,600)
  • construction (82,400)
  • professional, scientific and technical services (59,600)
  • administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (52,100)
  • transportation and warehousing (50,300)
  • other services (excluding public administration) (39,500)
  • finance and insurance (32,800)
  • wholesale trade (32,600)
  • information and cultural industries (21,400)
  • educational services (19,200)
  • arts, entertainment and recreation (18,100)
  • agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (17,100)
  • public administration (14,200)
  • real estate and rental and leasing (9,900)
  • mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (9,000)
  • management of companies and enterprises (4,500)
  • utilities (2,800)

Among Canadian provinces, Ontario (349,700) has the most number of payroll job vacancies, followed by Quebec (240,100), British Columbia (153,900) and Alberta (106,200).

Payroll job vacancies in other provinces and territories are:

  • Manitoba (30,300)
  • Saskatchewan (23,800)
  • Nova Scotia (22,600)
  • New Brunswick (16,300)
  • Newfoundland and Labrador (7,500)
  • Prince Edward Island (5,300)
  • Yukon (1,700)

StatCan did not provide data for Norhtwest Territories and Nunavut.

“While the number of vacancies was little changed in Canada in August, the number of unemployed people increased (+15.4%; +168,100) from July to August 2022,” says StatCan. “Hence, there were 1.3 unemployed people for every job vacancy in August, compared with 1.1 in July and 1.8 in August 2021.”

Employment was little changed in September, up by 21,000 jobs, according to a previous report from StatCan. The number of unemployed Canadians fell 41,000 (3.7 per cent). After increasing 0.5 percentage points to 5.4 per cent in August, the unemployment rate dropped to 5.2 per cent.