Payroll Employment Down in March 2025; Job Vacancies Remain Steady

Payroll employment in Canada declined by 54,100 jobs, or 0.3%, in March 2025, following a decrease of 40,200 jobs (0.2%) in February, according to seasonally adjusted data released by Statistics Canada. On an annual basis, payroll employment in March was 32,800 jobs higher than in March 2024—a 0.2% increase.

Statistics Canada reported decreases in payroll employment for 10 out of 20 sectors in March. The largest declines occurred in educational services (down 10,400 jobs, or 0.7%), health care and social assistance (down 9,500 jobs, or 0.4%), accommodation and food services (down 8,400 jobs, or 0.7%), retail trade (down 8,400 jobs, or 0.4%), wholesale trade (down 4,200 jobs, or 0.5%), and construction (down 4,000 jobs, or 0.3%). Sectors with increases included mining, quarrying and oil and gas (up 2,500 jobs, or 1.1%), arts, entertainment and recreation (up 1,800 jobs, or 0.5%), and management of companies and enterprises (up 900 jobs, or 0.7%). Seven sectors remained little changed.

In educational services, payroll employment fell by 10,400 jobs in March. Over the past year, the sector rose by 7,200 jobs (0.5%), with elementary and secondary schools seeing the largest annual increase (up 19,000 jobs, or 2.2%), but with losses in universities (down 8,100 jobs, or 2.4%) and community colleges and CEGEPs (down 3,100 jobs, or 2.2%).

Payroll employment in health care and social assistance declined by 9,500 jobs (0.4%) in March, according to Statistics Canada. This is the first monthly decline in the sector since June 2024. The decrease was concentrated in Quebec, where payroll employment dropped by 9,000 jobs (1.6%). Prior to March, the sector had added 224,400 jobs (10.1%) nationally from August 2022 to February 2025.

Employment in accommodation and food services declined by 8,400 jobs (0.7%) in March, marking the third consecutive monthly decrease. Since January 2025, employment in this sector has fallen by 22,100 jobs (1.7%). Full-service and limited-service restaurants accounted for most of this decline (down 18,300 jobs, or 1.8%). Compared to March 2024, the sector was down 20,800 jobs (1.6%).

In retail trade, payroll employment dropped by 8,400 jobs (0.4%) in March. Over the period from February 2023 to March 2025, the sector lost 53,400 jobs (2.6%). Major areas of decline include sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, book, and miscellaneous retailers (down 14,600 jobs, or 6.7%), furniture, home furnishings, electronics and appliances retailers (down 13,800 jobs, or 12.0%), clothing and accessories retailers (down 8,700 jobs, or 4.1%), general merchandise retailers (down 8,500 jobs, or 3.2%), and building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (down 7,100 jobs, or 4.7%).

Wholesale trade saw a decrease of 4,200 jobs (0.5%) in March, the fourth consecutive month of decline, bringing cumulative losses to 7,300 jobs (0.9%) since December 2024. On a year-over-year basis, wholesale trade employment was down 6,000 jobs (0.7%) in March.

Construction payroll employment decreased by 4,000 jobs (0.3%) in March, adding to a total loss of 17,800 jobs (1.5%) since January. Since March 2024, construction employment declined by 5,800 jobs (0.5%), led by heavy and civil engineering construction (down 8,100 jobs, or 4.6%). Specialty trade contractors and non-residential building construction posted annual gains, up 1,400 jobs (0.2%) and 2,500 jobs (2.1%), respectively, while residential building construction declined by 1,600 jobs (1.0%).

Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings across Canada were $1,290.80 in March 2025, an increase of 4.3% over the previous year. Provincial averages ranged from $1,088.96 in Prince Edward Island to $1,743.94 in Nunavut. Average weekly earnings were little changed compared to February. Average weekly hours worked was 33.5, unchanged month-over-month and year-over-year.

There were 529,700 job vacancies in Canada in March, marking the seventh consecutive month of little change, according to Statistics Canada. Vacancies declined by 72,800 (12.1%) compared to March 2024. The national job vacancy rate stood at 3.0% in March, up from 2.9% in February but down from March 2024. The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio increased to 2.9 in March, up 0.1 from February and 0.7 from the previous year. Statistics Canada attributes the annual increase to a decrease in job vacancies and an increase in unemployed persons.

In March, Alberta saw an increase in job vacancies (up 7,500 to 69,800), while Manitoba recorded a decrease (down 3,700 to 18,400). Job vacancy rates were highest in British Columbia (3.5%) and Alberta (3.2%), and lowest in Ontario (2.7%). Year-over-year, job vacancy rates declined in seven provinces, especially in Saskatchewan (down 0.8 percentage points to 2.9%) and Manitoba (down 0.6 percentage points to 2.9%). Newfoundland and Labrador recorded an increase (up 0.7 percentage points to 3.1%).

Sector-specific data from Statistics Canada show March job vacancies increased in transportation and warehousing (up 3,300 jobs, or 13.8%), utilities (up 800 jobs, or 51.8%), and management of companies and enterprises (up 300 jobs, or 19.6%). Retail trade was the only sector with a decrease in job vacancies (down 4,400 jobs, or 8.4%). Year-over-year, the largest decreases in vacancies were in health care and social assistance (down 17,600 jobs, or 14.4%), retail trade (down 11,500 jobs, or 19.3%), and transportation and warehousing (down 8,200 jobs, or 23.0%).

All figures are based on seasonally adjusted data released by Statistics Canada on May 29, 2025, from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours and the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey.