Canadian employers may be doing better than expected, but they aren’t showing much enthusiasm. Statistics Canada (StatCan) data show national job vacancies slipped in November, but it was far from a national trend. Five provinces showed monthly growth, with Saskatchewan and Alberta actually showing a substantial jump in hiring. The drag was primarily in BC and Ontario, with the latter’s vacancy rate now so cold it matches Nunavut.
Canadian Job Openings Plunge, Pre-Pandemic Hiring Levels Despite 10% Population Growth
Canadian job vacancies: Unfilled roles currently hiring.
*Pandemic months withheld by StatCan.
Source: StatCan; Better Dwelling.
Canadian vacancies fell 3.9% (-18.8k jobs) to 465.8k vacant jobs in November, 11.3% (-59.4k jobs) lower than a year prior. Aside from a dip in December 2024, this level hasn’t been seen in nearly six years. Employers are looking to fill roughly the same number of jobs as pre-pandemic, though the population was roughly 10% smaller back then. Today, there’s just one vacant job for every 3.2 workers.
Canada’s Job Rate 0.3 Points Lower Than Last Year
The job vacancy rate, unfilled and advertised jobs as a share of total workers, is also grinding lower. The rate shed another 0.1 points to 2.6% in November, and sits 0.3 points lower than a year prior. It’s an unusually weak level, but a provincial breakdown reveals some provinces are doing worse than others.
Canadian Job Vacancy By Province: Alberta & Saskatchewan Lead, Ontario Falls To Nunavut Levels
Canadian job vacancy rate by provinces.
Source: StatCan; Better Dwelling.
Half of Canada’s provinces saw the job vacancy rate actually rise, indicating hiring improved in November. Newfoundland led growth by adding 0.6 ppt to its average, the largest jump in the month. The province’s 2.5% vacancy rate was still below average, coming in the third weakest of any province.
It was followed by monthly growth in Saskatchewan (+0.5 ppts) and Alberta (+0.3 ppts). The vacancy rate for both provinces was also tied for the highest in the country at 3.0%. All Prairie provinces managed to sit above the national average.
Quebec, BC, and Ontario provided most of the drag. The largest drop was in Quebec (-0.5 ppts), followed by BC (-0.4 ppts), with the rate in both provinces tied with the 2.6% national rate.
Ontario’s job market is so cold it’s starting to resemble the Canadian Arctic. While Ontario (-0.1 points) is in line with the national move, its job vacancy rate of 2.3% is the lowest of any province. It’s tied with Nunavut, and falls below the Arctic territory when looking at the seasonally adjusted rate (NU 2.5% vs ON 2.3%). Ontario went from being the hub of the national economy to sharing the growth outlook of a remote Arctic territory.
Canadian job vacancies have been plunging, but the problem is more nuanced than headline data implies. Half of Canada’s provinces climbed, while just a few (large) provinces provided most of the drag at the national level. It’s not clear if those provinces holding up will continue to do so this year. The latest Bank of Canada (BoC) business survey reveals that more employers are planning job cuts than during the pandemic
Of course BC is falling. Who wants to hire while under Eby’s Communist regime?
I don’t think it’s all on Eby, but people should ask why the media really wants us to think that.
i.e. We heard a lot about the 100 Mile House closure in BC, being attributed to Eby and tariffs. West Fraser built a high tech lumber facility pre-tariffs in 2024, likely meant to replace much of the flow in the US. It’s about profits.
fwiw it’s my understanding West Fraser offered most people a job at a mill down the highway, so it wasn’t about labour but rising transportation costs.
Last year this performance was so bad the PM needed to resign. Today it’s the same, but so good the PM should have unquestionable power.
Don’t get me wrong, Poilievre isn’t going to save us. He’ll start a completely different set of problems, but we’re delusional that nationalism is enough to make a bad picture look like the Mona Lisa.
Nice to see you guys highlight this isn’t a Canada problem but a regional government issue. People do not appreciate how much Toronto—Southern Ontario as a whole tbh—made it an undesireable place to live, and its impact on employers expanding.
I work at a large firm on Bay St and it doesn’t matter if they get a tax credit for bringing the lemmings into the office, no employer is going to expand when they’re no longer coming into the office.
This is why the ‘gig economy’ and side-hustle culture have become so big.
No one’s making money, but no jobs mean we have to craete our own work. Loyalty to a single employer or province is a luxury we can’t afford.
Back to square one. We have a decade of nothing because people a few people at the top have convinced us that a better life is racist/maga/whatever-they-feel today.
They say ‘Canadian employers aren’t showing much enthusiasm.’ Well, neither are we! Why would we be enthusiastic about competing with 3.2 people for one job in Ontario?
Internal migration will be the biggest story. As people leave Ontario and BC for jobs in Alberta, demand for multi-family housing in cities like Calgary and Edmonton will get a boost.
What really jumps out to me here isn’t just that vacancies are down, but where they’re collapsing.
Ontario being tied with Nunavut at a 2.3% vacancy rate is a big signal, especially when you layer in the last five years of population growth. We are essentially back to pre-pandemic hiring levels with millions more people in the system. That mismatch matters.
From my perspective working in Toronto and the GTA, this lines up with what I’m seeing on the ground. Employers are cautious, hiring is slower, and job security feels less certain even for white-collar roles. That directly impacts housing behavior. Buyers hesitate, tenants double up, and households delay big moves.
Meanwhile Alberta and Saskatchewan leading at 3.0% is not just a labour story, it’s a migration story. When jobs concentrate, housing demand follows. Ontario’s challenge is that it has neither strong hiring momentum nor affordability acting as a release valve.
The national average masks the real issue. Large provinces like Ontario, BC, and Quebec are dragging the numbers, while smaller provinces are doing the lifting. That creates a very uneven economic and housing outlook across Canada.
If the Bank of Canada business survey is right and job cuts are increasing, Ontario’s housing market will continue to feel pressure long before places like Alberta do.
Data like this from Statistics Canada is a reminder that real estate doesn’t move in isolation. Labour markets, migration, and confidence always show up in housing first.