Canada added 88,000 jobs in May, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent, Statistics Canada reported June 5.
The increase was the first significant employment gain since November 2025, according to the agency’s Labour Force Survey. The employment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 60.7 per cent. The unemployment rate dropped 0.3 percentage points in the month.
The gain followed a net decline of 112,000 jobs over the first four months of 2026. On a year-over-year basis, employment was up by 147,000, or 0.7 per cent.
Full-time work drove the increase. The number of people working full time rose by 154,000 in May, offsetting a drop of 156,000 from January to April. Part-time employment fell by 66,000 in the month.
Job gains spread across age groups
Employment rose among several groups in May, including:
- Core-aged women (25 to 54): up 31,000, or 0.5 per cent
- Core-aged men (25 to 54): up 25,000, or 0.3 per cent
- Youth (15 to 24): up 22,000, or 0.8 per cent
The unemployment rate for youth fell 0.9 percentage points to 13.4 per cent, the first decline since January. That was 1.2 percentage points below the recent peak of 14.6 per cent recorded in September 2025. Statistics Canada said youth have faced more difficult labour market conditions in recent years, with the rate staying above the pre-pandemic average of 10.8 per cent since January 2024.
The number of youth working full time rose by 99,000, or 7.7 per cent, in May. That offset a similar decline over the previous four months. A drop of 76,000 in youth part-time work partly cancelled out those gains.
For core-aged workers, the jobless rate fell to 5.5 per cent among women and 5.7 per cent among men, down 0.4 percentage points each. Employment among people aged 55 and older was little changed, and their unemployment rate held at 5.0 per cent.
Hiring picks up as job-finding rate rises
The unemployment rate had climbed from a recent low of 6.5 per cent in January to 6.9 per cent in April before falling in May. Since the spring of 2024, the rate has stayed above the 6.0 per cent average seen from 2017 to 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. It reached a recent high of 7.1 per cent in August and September 2025.
As hiring picked up, the job-finding rate ticked up. Just over one-quarter, or 26.3 per cent, of people who were unemployed in April found work in May. That was up 3.7 percentage points from the same period a year earlier but still below the pre-pandemic average of 31.5 per cent for those months.
The layoff rate stayed relatively stable at 0.6 per cent, little changed from a year earlier and in line with the pre-pandemic average.
Employment rose among private-sector employees by 56,000 and public-sector employees by 20,000. The number of self-employed workers was little changed.
Construction leads industry gains
Job gains in May were broad-based across industries. The largest increases came in:
- Construction: up 27,000, or 1.7 per cent
- Information, culture and recreation: up 19,000, or 2.3 per cent
- Transportation and warehousing: up 19,000, or 1.7 per cent
- Accommodation and food services: up 17,000, or 1.5 per cent
Manufacturing employment rose by 15,000 in May. The sector was little changed from a year earlier but down 44,000 from January 2025. Statistics Canada said the manufacturing sector has faced heightened economic uncertainty since early 2025, driven by U.S. tariff policies.
Employment fell in wholesale and retail trade, down 35,000 or 1.2 per cent. The agency said employment in that industry has trended down since October 2025 and was down 64,000 from a year earlier.
Average hourly wages among employees rose 3.0 per cent on a year-over-year basis in May, up $1.10 to $37.24. That followed wage growth of 4.5 per cent in April.
Ontario posts second straight monthly gain
Employment in Ontario increased by 42,000, or 0.5 per cent, in May. That brought cumulative gains for April and May to 84,000. The province’s unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 7.0 per cent, the lowest since September 2024.
Job gains also reached several other provinces in May:
- British Columbia: up 25,000, or 0.9 per cent
- Alberta: up 14,000, or 0.5 per cent
- Quebec: up 13,000, or 0.3 per cent
- Prince Edward Island: up 1,200, or 1.3 per cent
Alberta recorded the largest year-over-year increase among the provinces, with employment up 104,000, or 4.1 per cent. Its unemployment rate fell to 6.6 per cent. Employment fell in Saskatchewan, down 6,100 or 1.0 per cent, and its jobless rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 6.2 per cent.
The unemployment rate in the Toronto census metropolitan area fell 1.1 percentage points to 6.8 per cent, the lowest since November 2023. The rate also fell in Montreal, down 1.2 percentage points, and in Vancouver, down 0.6 percentage points to 6.4 per cent.
Students see better start to summer job season
May marks the start of the summer student job season, an important source of income and work experience for many young Canadians. The unemployment rate among returning students aged 15 to 24 was 18.0 per cent, down 2.1 percentage points from the same month in 2025.
Statistics Canada said returning students had faced the slowest start to the summer job market since 2009 in 2025, outside the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
Among returning students who were employed, the largest share worked in retail trade at 28.4 per cent, little changed from the previous year. A higher proportion worked in accommodation and food services compared with May 2025, up 2.5 percentage points to 23.0 per cent. Information, culture and recreation employed 12.6 per cent.
Fewer Canadians work only from home
The share of employed Canadians working exclusively outside the home was 78.8 per cent in May, higher than 77.6 per cent in May 2025 and 75.0 per cent in May 2022.
The proportion working exclusively from home was 11.4 per cent, down 1.0 percentage point from a year earlier and down 7.3 percentage points from May 2022.
About one in 10 workers, or 9.8 per cent, had a hybrid arrangement in May, working some hours at home and some at other locations. The agency said the share working in hybrid arrangements rose from 6.4 per cent in May 2022 to 10.0 per cent in May 2023 and has varied little since.
The Labour Force Survey estimates for May reflect labour market conditions during the reference week of May 10 to 16, 2026. The survey sample size is about 65,000 households, representing more than 100,000 respondents each month. Estimates at the Canada level do not include the territories. The next release, covering June data, is scheduled for July 10, 2026.
