Canada Employment Change1976-2020 Data | 2021-2022 Forecast | Calendar | Historical

The Canadian economy shed 1.99 million jobs in April of 2020, compared to market expectations of a 4 million drop. Still, it is a record decline in employment, after a 1 million loss in March, bringing the total employment decline since the beginning of the COVID-19 economic shutdown to over three million. In addition, the number of people who were employed but worked less than half of their usual hours for reasons related to COVID-19 increased by 2.5 million from February to April. As of the week of April 12, the cumulative effect of the COVID-19 economic shutdown—the number of Canadians who were either not employed or working substantially reduced hours—was 5.5 million, or more than one-quarter of February's employment level. In April, both full-time (-1,472,000; -9.7%) and part-time (-522,000; -17.1%) employment fell. Cumulative losses since February totalled 1,946,000 (-12.5%) in full-time work and 1,059,000 (-29.6%) in part-time employment.

The Canadian economy lost 1010.7 thousand jobs in March of 2020, after creating 30.3 thousand in the prior month, surpassing market expectations of a 350 thousand cut. This was the biggest decline in employment on record and larger than in any of the three significant recessions experienced since 1980, attributed to the Covid-19 lockdown. Part-time work slipped by 536.7 thousand and full-time went down by 474 thousand. Employment fell in all provinces, mostly in Ontario (-403 thousand), Quebec (-264 thousand), British Columbia (-132 thousand) and Alberta (-117 thousand). Youth employment fell by 392,500, the fastest rate of decline across the three main age groups. There were fewer people working in industries which involve public-facing activities or limited ability to work from home. This includes accommodation & food services (-2.4 thousand); information, culture & recreation (-0.9 thousand); educational services (-0.3 thousand) and wholesale & retail trade (-2 thousand).

The Canadian economy added 30.3 thousand jobs in February of 2020, after creating 34.5 thousand in the previous month and beating market expectations of 10 thousand. Full-time work rose by 37.6 thousand while part-time edged down by 7.3 thousand. Employment increased in Quebec, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Manitoba while little change was observed in the remaining provinces. Employment increased for youth, while there was little change among the core-aged and older populations. In February, there were more people working in wholesale and retail trade, in manufacturing, as well as in information, culture and recreation. At the same time, employment declined in professional, scientific and technical services and in accommodation and food services.

The Canadian economy added 34.5 thousand jobs in January 2020, after creating 27.3 thousand in the previous month and beating market expectations of 15 thousand. It was the biggest gain in employment since September. Full-time work rose by 35.7 thousand while part-time edged down by 1.2 thousand. Employment increased in Quebec (+19,000), Manitoba (+6,500), and New Brunswick (+4,600) while there were fewer people employed in Alberta (-19,000). There were more people working in manufacturing (+21,000), construction (+16,000) and agriculture (+12,000). At the same time, employment declined in health care and social assistance (-16,000).