Canada’s job vacancies hit a record high

The data from Statistics Canada gives insight on a few aspects behind the previously released monthly job vacancy data, such as sectoral and regional differences in unfulfilled labor supply, changes in the profession and skill profile of vacancies, and recent trends in the wage rates offered by employers.

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Agriculture, fishing, hunting, forestry, real estate, rental and leasing were the only industries where vacancies did not increase in the third quarter of 2021 when compared with the same period two years prior.

The Main Industries

The growth in job vacancies was driven by five industries: health care, construction, lodging and food, retail trade, and manufacturing. Increases in jobs available can indicate a variety of changes in labor market conditions that exist in various sectors and regions.

Between the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2021, vacancies in low-wage areas of work increased more than in high-wage occupations. In the third quarter of 2019, 20% of jobs with the lowest average wages accounted for 35% of employees and 49% of job openings. These same occupations accounted for 32.3 percent of employees and 50.9 percent of vacant positions in the third quarter of 2021.

According to Statistics Canada, the 912,600 job openings in Q3 2021 were 62.1 percent higher (349,700 more jobs) than in Q3 2019. Saskatchewan experienced the greatest increase in employment vacancies, followed by Quebec and Ontario.

The Rising Demand in Healthcare Sector

The healthcare and social assistance sectors are under significant labor-force pressure. There were 118,200 vacancies in the third quarter of 2021, and payroll employment managed to reach pre-COVID levels in December 2020, indicating that the sector is facing challenges in terms of unmet labor demand. Because of Canada’s aging population, there was a growing demand for workers in this sector even before the pandemic. Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (22,800) and nurse aids, orderlies, and patient service associates (24,100) were among the occupations with the most vacancies in Q3 2021.

Accommodation and Food Industry

Over the last two years, accommodation and food services accounted for nearly a quarter of the increase in total job vacancies. According to Statistics Canada, the higher level of job vacancies was likely due to staffing challenges associated with businesses reopening in the sector over the summer, and the sector typically experiencing increasing labor demand during the summer.

Conclusion

According to Statistics Canada, the record-high number of job openings has focused attention on the extent to which labor shortages may contribute to wage inflation. Statistics Canada deduced the report by specifying that Canada’s labor market conditions will continue to improve through the end of the third quarter of 2021. For example, the unemployment rate was 6.0 percent, which was 0.3 percentage points higher than the pre-COVID February 2020 level of 5.7 percent.