Fewer Canadian workers expect to leave their jobs than one year ago, according to recent data from Statistics Canada. In January 2025, 6.1 percent of permanent employees reported plans to quit within 12 months, down from 6.9 percent in January 2024.
The agency also reported a decline in job switching. The job changing rate, which tracks employees who remain in the workforce but move to a different employer, fell to 0.4 percent in January, compared with 0.5 percent a year earlier. That figure was also lower than the pre-pandemic average of 0.7 percent for January from 2017 to 2019.
Some occupational groups saw a more significant drop in planned departures. In health care, 4.8 percent of permanent employees intended to leave their jobs in the next year, down from 6.5 percent in January 2024. Meanwhile, workers in sales and service occupations were the most likely to consider leaving, with 9.0 percent reporting plans to quit. That group also had the lowest average hourly wages, at $23.21.
Statistics Canada also found that recent immigrants were less likely to report plans to leave their jobs than a year ago. Among permanent employees who arrived in the past five years, 9.3 percent said they intended to quit within 12 months, down from 11.6 percent in January 2024. Among workers born in Canada, the proportion declined to 5.8 percent from 6.7 percent over the same period.
The report comes as Canada’s unemployment rate remains elevated compared to last year, though job numbers have increased in recent months.
