A new report from Statistics Canada shows that job vacancies in Canada have once again risen, with vacant positions remaining at over one million for the third consecutive month.
According to the report, vacancies rose by 3.2% (over 32,000) in June to 1,037,900. The total labour demand in the country also rose to a record high, with the number of filled and vacant jobs sitting at roughly 17.7 million. This is 1.4% (238,700) higher than in May and 9.4% (1,526,000) higher on a year-over-year basis.
Moreover, vacant positions now make up 5.9% of all jobs in the country, which matches the record-high rate of vacant posts in September 2021, just before the peak of the pandemic and lockdowns.
Job vacancies in the health care and social assistance sector remain at concerning levels. As of June, there are approximately 149,700 vacant positions (6.7% of all jobs), which remains hardly changed from the previous record high of 147,500 posted in March.
However, this is 43,400 (40.8%) higher than the health care vacancy level in June 2021.
Similarly, job vacancies in accommodation and food services, as well as those in retail, continue to rise.
According to StatsCan, the accommodation and food services sector saw vacancies increase by 6.6% (10,600 new vacancies) in June and are up 38.8% on a year-over-year basis. This is a vacancy rate of 12.2% — over two times as high as the all-sectors average.
In retail trade, the vacancy rate has similarly increased by 22.5% year-over-year, having risen by 15.3% in June.
The number of unemployed people to vacancy rates now has a 1:1 ratio across the country, meaning that there is a person to fill every job, but they still aren’t being filled for one reason or another.
