Canadian employers shed 35,400 jobs in December, pushing payroll employment down 0.2 per cent in a month that also saw job vacancies climb to their highest level since March, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.
The back-to-back signals — fewer workers on payroll and more unfilled positions — point to ongoing labour market churn that HR leaders will need to track heading into 2026.
Sectors driving the decline
Nine of 20 industries recorded payroll losses in December. The largest drops were in manufacturing (-7,400), wholesale trade (-6,300), transportation and warehousing (-5,900) and accommodation and food services (-5,000). Educational services shed 4,600 positions.
Construction and health care were the only sectors to add workers, gaining 2,600 and 2,300 jobs respectively. Construction has now posted six consecutive monthly gains since July, adding a cumulative 13,100 positions over that period.
Manufacturing continues a year-long slide
Manufacturing has trended downward through most of 2025, losing a cumulative 40,600 jobs (-2.6%) since January. The steepest declines over that period were in transportation equipment manufacturing (-9,300), chemical manufacturing (-4,200) and food manufacturing (-5,000).
Earnings and hours
Average weekly earnings reached $1,316 in December, up 1.9 per cent year over year, though growth slowed from the 2.3 per cent gain recorded in November. Average weekly hours worked fell to 33.2 hours, down 0.3 per cent from November and 0.9 per cent from a year earlier.
Job vacancies at nine-month high
Canada had 514,600 vacant positions in December, up 23,700 (4.8%) from November and the highest vacancy count since March 2025. The national job vacancy rate rose to 2.9 per cent, up from 2.7 per cent in November, though still slightly below the 3.0 per cent recorded in December 2024.
There were 3.0 unemployed persons for every vacant position in December, unchanged from November but up 0.2 from a year earlier, reflecting both a drop in vacancies and a rise in the number of unemployed Canadians.
Sectors and provinces with the most openings
Accommodation and food services led monthly vacancy gains (+10,600), marking the sector’s first increase since October 2023. Construction vacancies rose 6,000, more than reversing a November decline. Manufacturing and educational services each added 2,900 vacancies.
Year over year, vacancies fell most sharply in health care and social assistance (-10,700), retail trade (-7,300) and agriculture (-1,700).
British Columbia and Ontario recorded the largest provincial vacancy increases in December, while Manitoba was the only province to post a decline. The highest vacancy rates were in the Northwest Territories (4.0%), Yukon (3.9%), Prince Edward Island (3.7%) and British Columbia (3.4%). Ontario (2.6%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (2.4%) had the lowest rates.
The data are from Statistics Canada’s Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, released Feb. 26.
