Canada’s unemployment rate declined to 6.5% in November as the economy added 54,000 jobs, marking the third consecutive month of employment growth, according to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey released Friday.
The unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points from October’s 6.9%, while the employment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 60.9%. The November rate of 6.5% represents the lowest unemployment level since it peaked at 7.1% in September.
Part-time work drove the November gains, increasing by 63,000 positions. Private sector employment rose by 52,000, while public sector jobs and self-employment showed little change.
Youth see strongest gains
Employment among workers aged 15 to 24 jumped by 50,000 positions, a 1.8% increase that followed a 21,000-job gain in October. These were the first increases for youth since January.
The youth unemployment rate fell 1.3 percentage points to 12.8% in November. Youth had faced difficult labour market conditions through most of 2025, with their unemployment rate reaching 14.7% in September—the highest since September 2010, excluding pandemic years.
The employment rate for youth reached 55.3% in November, up 1.7 percentage points from the July low of 53.6%.
Core-aged workers show mixed results
Employment among workers aged 25 to 54 showed little change in November, though gains in September and October pushed employment up for both men and women since August.
The unemployment rate for core-aged men fell 0.4 percentage points to 5.6%, the third consecutive monthly decrease. The rate among core-aged women declined 0.2 percentage points to 5.5%.
Employment for workers aged 55 and older remained largely unchanged.
Health care leads sectoral growth
Health care and social assistance added 46,000 jobs in November, a 1.6% increase. The sector has added 79,000 positions over the past 12 months, with faster growth among self-employed workers and private sector employees than public sector workers.
Accommodation and food services added 14,000 jobs, the first monthly increase since January. Natural resources employment rose by 11,000 positions.
Wholesale and retail trade shed 34,000 jobs, largely offsetting October’s 41,000-job increase. Ontario lost 20,000 retail positions and Quebec lost 9,700.
Regional employment shifts
Alberta led provincial gains with 29,000 new jobs, pushing employment up 105,000 year-over-year. The province’s unemployment rate fell 1.3 percentage points to 6.5%, the lowest since March 2024.
New Brunswick added 5,500 jobs and Manitoba gained 4,500 positions. Employment remained largely unchanged in Ontario and Quebec, with both provinces showing little net growth since January.
Toronto’s unemployment rate fell 0.3 percentage points to 8.4%, while Montreal’s rate declined 0.4 percentage points to 5.9%.
Wage growth continues
Average hourly wages among employees increased 3.6% year-over-year to $37.00 in November, up from 3.5% growth in October.
The total labour force edged down by 26,000 in November. The participation rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 65.1%.
Job security concerns rise
Nearly three-quarters of employees—73.6%—felt secure in their jobs in November, meaning they did not believe they might lose their position in the next six months. However, this proportion was down 4.1 percentage points from November 2023.
Public administration saw the largest decline in perceived job security, falling 12 percentage points to 77%. Educational services dropped 8.5 percentage points to 77.6%, while professional, scientific and technical services fell 7.5 percentage points to 69.5%.
Employees in industries dependent on US demand for Canadian exports were less likely to feel secure—68.5% compared with 74.1% in other industries.
The share of employees who said finding another job with similar salary would be easy fell to 42.8%, down 6.2 percentage points from November 2023.
Unemployment rate by province
Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
- Newfoundland and Labrador 10.4 per cent (10.1)
- Prince Edward Island 7.7 per cent (8.5)
- Nova Scotia 6.7 per cent (6.7)
- New Brunswick 6.6 per cent (7.9)
- Quebec 5.1 per cent (5.3)
- Ontario 7.3 per cent (7.6)
- Manitoba 6.1 per cent (5.8)
- Saskatchewan 5.6 per cent (5.5)
- Alberta 6.5 per cent (7.8)
- British Columbia 6.4 per cent (6.6)
Unemployment rate by city
Here are the jobless rates last month by city (numbers from the previous month in brackets):
- St. John’s, N.L. 7.4 per cent (7.4)
- Halifax 5.7 per cent (5.8)
- Moncton, N.B. 6.5 per cent (7.2)
- Saint John, N.B. 7.4 per cent (7.8)
- Fredericton 6.7 per cent (6.7)
- Saguenay, Que. 5.0 per cent (4.7)
- Quebec City 4.2 per cent (4.4)
- Sherbrooke, Que. 5.4 per cent (5.5)
- Trois-Rivières, Que. 3.9 per cent (4.2)
- Drummondville, Que. 4.9 per cent (5.8)
- Montreal 5.9 per cent (6.3)
- Gatineau, Que. 7.6 per cent (7.4)
- Ottawa 7.3 per cent (7.4)
- Kingston, Ont. 5.6 per cent (6.1)
- Belleville-Quinte West, Ont. 8.8 per cent (8.8)
- Peterborough, Ont. 6.0 per cent (5.7)
- Oshawa, Ont. 8.6 per cent (8.5)
- Toronto 8.4 per cent (8.7)
- Hamilton, Ont. 7.3 per cent (7.0)
- St. Catharines-Niagara, Ont. 6.6 per cent (7.2)
- Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ont. 7.8 per cent (7.3)
- Brantford, Ont. 9.0 per cent (9.9)
- Guelph, Ont. 8.3 per cent (8.4)
- London, Ont. 7.0 per cent (6.5)
- Windsor, Ont. 8.1 per cent (9.6)
- Barrie, Ont. 8.4 per cent (8.6)
- Greater Sudbury, Ont. 6.6 per cent (6.6)
- Thunder Bay, Ont. 4.8 per cent (5.0)
- Winnipeg 6.4 per cent (6.6)
- Regina 6.8 per cent (6.4)
- Saskatoon 5.7 per cent (5.5)
- Lethbridge, Alta. 8.0 per cent (8.1)
- Calgary 7.3 per cent (7.9)
- Red Deer, Alta. 8.7 per cent (8.6)
- Edmonton 7.7 per cent (8.6)
- Kelowna, B.C. 11.0 per cent (9.3)
- Kamloops, B.C. 8.8 per cent (9.6)
- Chilliwack, B.C. 7.0 per cent (7.1)
- Abbotsford-Mission, B.C. 7.2 per cent (7.2)
- Vancouver 6.2 per cent (6.3)
- Victoria 4.1 per cent (4.2)
- Nanaimo, B.C. 6.6 per cent (8.2)
