Canada’s labour market weakened in July as employment fell by 41,000 positions, with young workers bearing the brunt of job losses, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.
The national unemployment rate held steady at 6.9 per cent, while the employment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 60.7 per cent. The decline reversed much of June’s gains when the economy added 83,000 jobs.
Youth face toughest job market since 1998
Workers aged 15 to 24 accounted for most of the losses, with youth employment dropping by 34,000 positions in July. The youth employment rate fell to 53.6 per cent — the lowest level since November 1998, excluding the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
The youth unemployment rate rose to 14.6 per cent, the highest since September 2010, not counting pandemic disruptions. Young men faced an unemployment rate of 16.2 per cent, while young women saw 12.8 per cent unemployment.
Racialized youth experienced even higher unemployment rates. Arab youth faced a 26.4 per cent unemployment rate, followed by Black youth at 23.4 per cent, Chinese youth at 20.5 per cent, Filipino youth at 19.4 per cent and South Asian youth at 17.1 per cent. Non-racialized and non-Indigenous youth had an unemployment rate of 12.0 per cent.
Students struggle to find summer work
Students planning to return to school in the fall faced particular challenges. The unemployment rate for returning students aged 15 to 24 reached 17.5 per cent in July — the highest for that month since 2009, excluding 2020.
High school-aged students between 15 and 16 years old faced the most difficulty, with an unemployment rate of 31.4 per cent. Older returning students aged 17 to 19 had an 18.0 per cent unemployment rate, while those aged 20 to 24 saw 10.4 per cent.
Job losses spread across multiple sectors
The information, culture and recreation sector lost 29,000 positions in July, a 3.3 per cent decline. Construction employment fell by 22,000 jobs, or 1.3 per cent, after five months of little change.
Business, building and other support services shed 19,000 positions, marking the third decline in four months. Health care and social assistance lost 17,000 jobs, offsetting gains from June.
Transportation and warehousing added 26,000 positions in July, the sector’s first increase since January.
Western provinces see employment declines
Alberta lost 17,000 jobs in July, partially offsetting June’s gain of 30,000 positions. The province’s unemployment rate jumped one percentage point to 7.8 per cent.
British Columbia employment fell by 16,000, with core-aged women accounting for most losses. The provincial unemployment rate rose 0.3 percentage points to 5.9 per cent.
Saskatchewan was the only province to add jobs, gaining 3,500 positions. The province maintained the lowest unemployment rate at 5.0 per cent.
Ontario employment remained unchanged after June gains, with the unemployment rate holding at 7.9 per cent. The Toronto area unemployment rate reached 9.0 per cent.
Quebec also saw steady employment following June increases. The provincial unemployment rate dropped 0.8 percentage points to 5.5 per cent as fewer people searched for work.
Long-term unemployment reaches 27-year high
Job seekers faced increasing difficulty finding work. Nearly one-quarter (23.8 per cent) of unemployed Canadians had been searching for work for 27 weeks or more — the highest share of long-term unemployment since February 1998, excluding pandemic years.
Almost two-thirds of people unemployed in June remained jobless in July, compared with 56.8 per cent during the same period in 2024.
Workers maintain confidence despite uncertainty
Most employees aged 25 to 64 reported confidence in their employment prospects, with 54.9 per cent saying they were very confident in their current line of work. Another 41.1 per cent expressed some level of confidence.
Among the 4.1 per cent who lacked confidence, the main reasons included industry layoffs (27.5 per cent), lack of skills or credentials (14.4 per cent) and tariff-related trade uncertainty (12.3 per cent). Only 6.6 per cent cited automation or artificial intelligence as their primary concern.
Health care and social assistance workers showed the highest confidence at 64.2 per cent, followed by utilities (62.9 per cent), educational services (62.4 per cent) and construction (61.2 per cent).
Employees in industries dependent on U.S. demand for Canadian exports were 7.1 percentage points less likely to express strong confidence compared with workers in other sectors. These workers more often cited tariff uncertainty as their main concern (26.7 per cent versus 10.1 per cent).
Wages continue modest growth
Average hourly wages increased 3.3 per cent year-over-year to $36.16 in July, following 3.2 per cent growth in June.
Total hours worked remained virtually unchanged both monthly and compared with July 2024.
Jobless rates by province
Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
• Newfoundland and Labrador 10.5 per cent (9.9)
• Prince Edward Island 8.8 per cent (8.6)
• Nova Scotia 7.0 per cent (6.7)
• New Brunswick 7.5 per cent (7.3)
• Quebec 5.5 per cent (6.3)
• Ontario 7.9 per cent (7.8)
• Manitoba 5.5 per cent (5.5)
• Saskatchewan 5.0 per cent (4.9)
• Alberta 7.8 per cent (6.8)
• British Columbia 5.9 per cent (5.6)
Jobless rate by city
Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
• St. John’s, N.L. 6.7 per cent (6.8)
• Halifax 5.4 per cent (5.9)
• Moncton, N.B. 6.7 per cent (6.0)
• Saint John, N.B. 7.3 per cent (7.3)
• Fredericton 5.9 per cent (6.1)
• Saguenay, Que. 4.0 per cent (4.4)
• Quebec City 4.7 per cent (4.5)
• Sherbrooke, Que. 5.0 per cent (5.2)
• Trois-Rivières, Que. 5.6 per cent (5.7)
• Drummondville, Que. 6.3 per cent (7.0)
• Montreal 6.7 per cent (7.0)
• Gatineau, Que. 6.6 per cent (6.5)
• Ottawa 6.4 per cent (6.2)
• Kingston, Ont. 6.8 per cent (7.5)
• Belleville-Quinte West, Ont. 7.2 per cent (7.1)
• Peterborough, Ont. 7.7 per cent (10.0)
• Oshawa, Ont. 9.7 per cent (9.3)
• Toronto 9.0 per cent (8.7)
• Hamilton, Ont. 6.3 per cent (6.3)
• St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 6.9 per cent (7.0)
• Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 7.3 per cent (7.2)
• Brantford, Ont. 7.8 per cent (7.0)
• Guelph, Ont. 7.2 per cent (5.8)
• London, Ont. 6.5 per cent (7.2)
• Windsor, Ont. 10.2 per cent (11.2)
• Barrie, Ont. 6.5 per cent (7.5)
• Greater Sudbury, Ont. 5.7 per cent (5.4)
• Thunder Bay, Ont. 5.2 per cent (5.4)
• Winnipeg 5.8 per cent (5.6)
• Regina 5.6 per cent (4.9)
• Saskatoon 4.5 per cent (4.6)
• Lethbridge, Alta. 5.7 per cent (5.2)
• Calgary 7.7 per cent (7.4)
• Red Deer, Alta. 5.4 per cent (5.5)
• Edmonton 7.9 per cent (7.5)
• Kelowna, B.C. 4.7 per cent (6.2)
• Kamloops, B.C. 10.7 per cent (9.2)
• Chilliwack, B.C. 5.6 per cent (6.1)
• Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 6.4 per cent (6.5)
• Vancouver 6.1 per cent (6.2)
• Victoria 4.8 per cent (3.9)
• Nanaimo, B.C. 7.8 per cent (7.4)
— with files from Statistics Canada
