Job Vacancies Decrease in Canada in First Quarter of 2025

Job vacancies in Canada fell to 524,300 in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of 20,600 positions (3.8%) from the previous quarter, according to Statistics Canada. This figure is similar to the pre-pandemic average of 506,300 vacancies between 2017 and 2019. Year over year, job vacancies declined by 116,100 positions, or 18.1%.

Statistics Canada published these figures on June 17, 2025, using data from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey.

In the first quarter of 2025, declines were observed in both full-time (down 14,000 to 394,900) and part-time (down 6,600 to 129,400) roles. Permanent positions also fell by 18,000 to 433,300, while temporary positions remained largely unchanged.

Total labour demand—the sum of filled and vacant jobs—increased by 42,200 in the quarter, with payroll employment rising by 62,800. The job vacancy rate dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 2.9%. Compared to a year earlier, the rate was down by 0.7 percentage points.

The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio increased to 2.9, up from 2.8 in the previous quarter and 2.0 in the first quarter of 2024. Statistics Canada reported this rise was due to an increase of 200,900 unemployed individuals (up 15.6%) alongside a decline in job vacancies.

Decreases in job vacancies were recorded across six broad occupational groups in the first quarter: health occupations (down 5,400); sales and service (down 4,600); business, finance and administration (down 3,400); trades, transport and equipment operators (down 3,300); natural and applied sciences (down 1,600); and art, culture, recreation, and sport (down 900). The other four broad occupational groups saw little change. All ten broad occupational groups showed fewer job vacancies compared with the first quarter of 2024, led by sales and service (down 36,300 or 19.6%), trades, transport and equipment operators (down 27,200 or 21.8%), and health occupations (down 17,500 or 18.9%). Seven of ten broad groups saw a smaller share of vacancies that remained open for 90 days or more compared to one year earlier.

Within health occupations, job vacancies fell by 5,400 to 75,100. The largest year-over-year declines occurred among registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (down 7,700 to 21,000), nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates (down 4,900 to 16,100), and licensed practical nurses (down 2,700 to 10,000). These three occupations collectively represented 63% of health occupation vacancies in the first quarter.

Sales and service job vacancies dropped by 4,600 to 148,600, the lowest since the fourth quarter of 2016. Within this group, retail salespersons and visual merchandisers (down 3,900 to 12,100), food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related occupations (down 3,800 to 22,900), and customer and information services representatives (down 3,600 to 5,900) showed the largest decreases. Trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations saw vacancies fall by 3,300 to 97,300, including notable declines in construction trade helpers and labourers (down 4,400 to 8,500) and transport truck drivers (down 3,700 to 11,800).

The average offered hourly wage for vacant positions rose 6.1% over the year to $28.90. The largest year-over-year wage increases were seen in legislative and senior management occupations (up 13.7% to $88.15), natural resources, agriculture and related production (up 9.7% to $24.35), and manufacturing and utilities (up 8.6% to $26.55).

By education level, vacancies requiring a high school diploma or less dropped by 66,800 (22.3%), representing about 60% of the overall decline. The ratio of unemployed people with this level of education per vacancy increased from 2.0 to 2.9 in the same period. Vacancies for jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher fell by 10,700 (11.0%), while the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio for these roles rose from 3.7 to 5.1. The average hourly wage for jobs needing a bachelor’s degree or higher was $43.35, while jobs requiring a high school diploma or less offered $22.10 per hour on average.

Regionally, fewer job vacancies were reported in Quebec (down 9,500), British Columbia (down 6,600), Alberta (down 4,300), Manitoba (down 1,200), New Brunswick (down 700), and the Northwest Territories (down 300) in the first quarter of 2025. The job vacancy rate declined in 50 of 69 economic regions. The largest decreases were in the Northwest Territories, Swift Current–Moose Jaw, and Yukon. Vacancy rates rose slightly in Laval, Côte-Nord and Nord-du-Québec, and Northwest Ontario.

Statistics Canada noted that the next release of quarterly data from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey is scheduled for September 16, 2025, covering the second quarter of the year.