Canada’s Job Vacancies Fall for 9th Straight Quarter but Still at Pre-Pandemic Levels: StatCan

People attend a job and continuing education fair in Montreal, on Oct. 5, 2023. The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi

Canadian employers continue to struggle to find the right candidates for the job, as the number of unfilled positions remains at pre-pandemic levels, despite recent declines.

Job vacancies in Canada shrank for the ninth consecutive quarter to 546,075 in the third quarter of this year, a 5.5 percent drop from 577,970 in the second quarter, according to Statistics Canada.

The Dec. 16 StatCan data was followed by a Dec. 17 report from the federal employment department, which said, “Employers continued to face challenges in finding candidates with the right skills.”

The report said labour and skill shortages “stem from a mix of temporary factors and more enduring trends, including an aging population, technological shifts, and changes in consumer behavior.”

Those dynamics will continue to affect the labour market “and transform our society in the long term,” the report added.

StatCan noted that Canada’s economy experienced slower growth in the past year, influenced by factors such as high inflation, global supply chain disruptions, and the impact of 1.3 million new permanent and temporary immigrants on the job market.

According to StatCan, job vacancies fell for both permanent and temporary positions, with permanent roles dropping by 27,795, or 5.9 percent, and temporary positions declining by 4,095, or 4 percent.

Part-time job vacancies saw a steeper percentage decline, falling by 8.6 percent from 148,205 to 135,655. In contrast, full-time vacancies decreased by 5.1 percent, reducing the total by 19,345 from 429,765.

Some industries saw sharper declines in job vacancies, particularly health occupations, which dropped by over 8,200 from 86,800 in the second quarter. However, this decline may not signal an increase in filled positions, as Canada’s health care sector continues to struggle with high vacancy rates, with the cabinet reporting 90,000 unfilled health positions last year.

Many Canadian doctors and nurses have moved south of the border, with nearly 10,000 licenses issued to health care professionals with Canadian addresses, according to a June 2023 study by the think tank SecondStreet.org.

To address the health care labour shortage, Ottawa announced in January an $86 million investment in its foreign credential recognition program, aimed at attracting international health professionals to Canada.

Meanwhile, the trade and transport sector also saw a decline of nearly 7,000 job vacancies, while the manufacturing and utilities sector reduced vacancies by more than 3,000. The natural resources, agriculture, and related production occupations sector experienced a decrease of 655 vacancies, according to the StatCan report.

Job vacancy declines were reported across all provinces.

Saskatchewan experienced the sharpest percentage drop in job vacancies, declining by approximately 9.6 percent, from 19,825 in the second quarter to 17,930 in the third quarter. Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador followed closely, each seeing about an 8.2 percent decline in job vacancies.

Other provinces also experienced declines, with Manitoba dropping 5.1 percent from 22,310 in the second quarter to 21,170 in the third, and Quebec declining 4.7 percent from 127,275 to 121,335. British Columbia saw the smallest decline in percentage, falling by 3.5 percent from 99,640 to 96,135.