Moving2Canada Jobs Report: October 2018

The positive integration trends of immigrants in Canada was in further evidence in October as unemployment levels fell across almost all immigrant categories. Immigrants who have been based in Canada for more than 10 years saw a further reduction in unemployment levels in October to 5.4%, which remains below the national average, and emphasizes how well immigrant workers continue to integrate into the Canadian labour force.

More broadly, unemployment in Canada changed little in October 2018 with the unemployment rate decreasing by 0.1 percentage point to 5.8% as fewer people searched for work. From a provincial perspective, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, and British Columbia have seen the biggest drops from this time last year.

In terms of industry specific metrics, gains in the business and retail sectors was offset to a large degree by decreases in the finance and real estate industries.

Canada Job Market September 2018 update

New Canadian employment figures are released each month, and you’ll always find the latest data here on our Moving2Canada Jobs Report.

The data below comes from the Labour Force Survey, produced by Statistics Canada.

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Immigrants prospering in global Canada 

Unemployment among immigrants resident in Canada for more than five but less than ten years fell by 2.3 percentage points to 6%, while those in the country five years or less have returned to an unemployment rate of less than 10% for the first time since June.

In addition, unemployment decreased among the African, Asian, European and North American immigrant groups in October. In fact, only the Latin American grouping, which saw a minor unemployment increase of 0.2 percentage points, didn’t record a month-on-month reduction from September.

In terms of annual unemployment levels among immigrant groups in Canada, African immigrants continued their strong showing of late, shaving 3.8 percentage points off the October 2017 figure for a new total of 8.5%. While Europeans and North Americans continue to be the top performers in terms of immigrant unemployment with current levels of 5.1% and 5.3% respectively.

Notice: Immigrant unemployment rates are not available in seasonally adjusted statistics.

Steady as she goes for Canadian jobs market in October

In the 12 months to October 2018, the number of people employed in Canada grew by 206,000 or 1.1%, illustrating the health of the Canadian jobs market at present.

Despite a month-on-month reduction in the size of the Canadian Labour Force of approximately 18,000, the year-on-year figure since October 2017 is up over 126,000 to 19,846,700.

Finally, part-time employment in Canada has reduced by 22,000 since September but this figure is more than offset by a 33,900 increase in the numbers in full-time work.

British Columbia continues to lead the way 

From a provincial perspective, the fall in the number of people unemployed in the Canadian job market in October was largely down to the coastal regions. In both British Columbia and Prince Edward, the numbers unemployed has decreased significantly both on a monthly and yearly perspective. Prince Edward Island saw a drop of 1.5 percentage points for a total of 7.2%, while British Columbia continues to have the lowest unemployment rate in Canada at 4.1% following a 0.1 percentage point drop in October.

Ontario saw its unemployment rate fall for the first time in three months with those unemployed falling to 5.6% following consecutive monthly increases in August and September.

Newfoundland and Labrador remains the province with the highest unemployment rate at 12.7 %, but October saw the province decrease its unemployment rate by 0.9 percentage points to add to the 0.8 percentage point decrease in September.

Industry in focus: Marijuana

On October 17, 2018 Canada become only the second country in the world, after Uruguay in 2013, to legalize marijuana, and while many of the headlines have focused on the social, cultural and political legacy of this decision, the reality is that its economic impact is no less important.

Although still in its infancy, the marijuana industry has the potential to create thousands of jobs in a variety of sectors across Canada. The legalization of marijuana has led to a proliferation of new marijuana production companies, as well as an expansion of existing businesses, and this rapidly-growing sector shows no sign of abating.

If economic indicators are correct, and there’s no reason to believe that they’re not, there is a massive opportunity for entrepreneurs and employees to blossom in a burgeoning industry. After all, this sector has been valued as highly as $23 billion dollars by Deloitte when production, sales, transportation, security, tourism and taxation are taken into account.

Suffice to say, it shouldn’t be long before the marijuana industry starts making a splash in the Canadian jobs market.