Ontario, B.C., Alberta record biggest gains among provinces
Canada recorded a small gain in employment numbers in June compared to May this year, according to Statistics Canada (StatCan).
Employment increased by 59,000 (+0.3 per cent) in June.
All gains in June were all in full-time work (+109,600; +0.7 per cent), as the number of people working part-time fell (-49,800; -1.4 per cent).
That follows Ottawa’s loss of roughly 17,000 jobs in May.
Job numbers for students, women
The employment rate among female workers who are returning as full-time students aged 15 to 24 was 53.4 per cent in June, down from a recent high for the month of June 2022 (56.7 per cent). In comparison, the pre-pandemic average for the month from 2017 to 2019 was 54.3 per cent.
“The decline in June follows a slow start to the summer job season for young women in May. On a year-over-year basis, the employment rate of female returning students aged 15 to 24 had declined 4.4 percentage points to 49.1 per cent in May 2023,” says StatCan.
“The employment rate among male returning students aged 15 to 24 was little changed at 49.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis in June. The rate was slightly above the pre-pandemic average of 48.0 per cent for the month from 2017 to 2019.”
Employment numbers by province
Among provinces, Ontario recorded the biggest gain of 55,800 (+0.7 per cent), according to StatCan’s Labour Force Survey.
“Ontario is once again leading the nation in job creation with more than 700,000 jobs created across the province since June 2018. All job gains last month were full-time employment,” said Vic Fedeli, the province’s minister of economic development, job creation and trade.
Alberta (+10,600; +0.4 per cent), Saskatchewan (+4,600; +1 per cent), Nova Scotia (+3,600; +0.7 per cent), Newfoundland and Labrador (+2,300; +1 per cent) and Manitoba (+600; +0.1 per cent) also recorded job gains last month.
“As more jobs are created, Alberta’s government remains focused on attracting people to Alberta to live, work and raise a family. In the first quarter of 2023, a net of more than 50,000 people moved to Alberta, including almost 16,000 from other parts of Canada,” said Matt Jones, Alberta’s minister of jobs, economy and trade. “There are so many reasons to choose to call Alberta home, and that is why the Alberta is Calling campaign has focused on the province’s great jobs in our diversified economy, liveable cities and natural beauty.”
Meanwhile, Quebec (-8,400; -0.2 per cent), British Columbia (-2,600; -0.1 per cent), Prince Edward Island (-2,400; -2.7 per cent) and New Brunswick (-1,500; -0.4 per cent) all recorded drops in job numbers.
Among sectors, the biggest gainers in terms of job numbers were wholesale and retail trade (+32,600) manufacturing (+27,300) and health care and social assistance (20,700).
Educational services (-14,000) and construction (-13,500) recorded the biggest drops in job numbers.
Recently, Ottawa launched its first-ever Tech Talent Strategy, which includes new measures and improvements to help businesses.
