Payroll Employment Stable in April 2025 as Job Vacancies Decline, Statistics Canada Reports

Payroll employment in Canada changed little in April 2025, with 6,200 fewer employees receiving pay and benefits compared to March, according to Statistics Canada data released on June 26. This followed two straight months of declines in February and March. Over the previous year, payroll employment increased by 30,400 employees or 0.2%, according to Statistics Canada.

The figures matter as they indicate the stability of employment in recent months, following previous declines, and provide insights into trends across sectors and provinces as reported by Statistics Canada.

According to Statistics Canada, monthly declines in payroll employment in April 2025 were seen in nine of twenty sectors. Manufacturing fell by 7,300 employees (-0.5%), accommodation and food services by 5,800 (-0.4%), retail trade by 5,000 (-0.3%), and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services by 4,700 (-0.6%). Gains were recorded in health care and social assistance (+10,800; +0.4%), public administration (+6,200; +0.5%), and educational services (+5,200; +0.4%). The remaining eight sectors saw little change, according to Statistics Canada.

Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings were $1,297.44 in April 2025, up 4.4% from April 2024. Among the provinces and territories, Prince Edward Island had the lowest average weekly earnings at $1,125.29 and Nunavut had the highest at $1,734.91. In Ontario, average weekly earnings were $1,329.64 (an increase of 4.4% year-over-year). Average earnings in British Columbia were $1,310.45 (up 4.3%), and in Alberta, $1,362.04 (up 3.2%), according to Statistics Canada. Monthly average weekly hours worked stood at 33.5, with little change from both the previous month and previous year.

Statistics Canada stated that job vacancies in Canada declined by 16,800 positions (3.2%) to 501,300 in April 2025. Compared to April 2024, the number of job vacancies fell by 91,400 jobs (15.4%), according to the same source. According to Statistics Canada, the national job vacancy rate was 2.8% in April 2025—which it reports is the lowest since October 2017, when it was also 2.8%. Statistics Canada reported 3.1 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in April, up from 2.9 in March 2025. On a year-over-year basis, the number of unemployed persons increased by 188,500 (13.9%), according to Statistics Canada.

At the sector level, Statistics Canada reported that job vacancy rates in April 2025 were highest in health care and social assistance (4.1%) and accommodation and food services (4.0%). The lowest rates were found in educational services (1.1%), utilities (1.7%), and management of companies and enterprises (1.7%). Over the last year, job vacancies declined most in health care and social assistance (down 32,700, or 23.9%), accommodation and food services (down 14,700, or 21.7%), and construction (down 6,600, or 13.8%), according to Statistics Canada.

Statistics Canada reported provincial declines in the number of job vacancies in April 2025: British Columbia (down 7,300, or 8.5%), Alberta (down 6,300, or 9.4%), New Brunswick (down 1,600, or 16.8%), and Newfoundland and Labrador (down 1,500, or 26.3%). The job vacancy rate was highest in Manitoba and Saskatchewan (both at 3.3%), and lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (2.1%) and New Brunswick (2.3%), according to Statistics Canada.

Payroll employment figures from Statistics Canada measure the number of employees receiving pay and benefits, excluding self-employed and agricultural workers. All reported numbers are seasonally adjusted and may be revised in future releases, as noted by Statistics Canada.