Employment & Labour
Canada's labour market from the Labour Force Survey — the headline unemployment rate and employment level, full- vs part-time composition, unemployment and participation by age group, the provincial unemployment map, and industry-level comparisons. Refreshed automatically with each LFS release.
Updated August 7, 202611 charts
Overview
Original analysis
Unemployment rate against its own 25-year range — how today compares with the recent past, not just the latest numberHow to read: 6.5% sounds high in the headlines, but measured against the last 25 years it sits below the median. The shaded band is where the rate spends half its time.Data through Jul 2026
OverviewContribution of full-time and part-time work to employment changeData through Jul 2026
OverviewOriginal analysis
Job vacancies against unemployment, quarterly, with the pre-pandemic relationship drawn as a referenceHow to read: Moving along the curve is the ordinary cycle. The curve shifting out — the same vacancies coexisting with more unemployment — would mean jobs and workers matching less well.Data through Jul 2026
OverviewOriginal analysis
Cumulative job growth by class of worker since February 2020 — public, private, and self-employed (seasonally adjusted)How to read: Each line is how much a sector's job count has grown since February 2020. When the public-sector line outpaces private, it means government hiring is driving employment gains.Data through Jul 2026
OverviewOriginal analysis
The employment rate — the share of working-age Canadians with a job — falling from its 2023 peak as population growth outpaces hiringHow to read: This is the share of working-age Canadians who have a job. When it falls, hiring is not keeping up with a fast-growing population — more people, but not enough jobs to go around.Data through Jul 2026
OverviewShare of unemployed Canadians jobless 27 weeks or more, seasonally adjusted, since 2016 (recessions shaded)Data through Jul 2026
OverviewDemographics
Unemployment rate across age groupsData through Jul 2026
DemographicsLabour force participation rate across age groupsData through Jul 2026
DemographicsProvincial
Original analysis
Each province's unemployment against its own ten-year range — the same rate can be ordinary in one province and exceptional in anotherHow to read: The grey bars are each province's own usual range. A dot turns red above that range and blue below it, whatever the national number says.Data through Jul 2026
ProvincialSectors
Latest unemployment rate by economic sector, ranked — each sector against its own ten-year normal rangeData through Jul 2026
SectorsEmployment level by industry, top/bottom sectors highlightedData through Jul 2026
Sectors