Statistics Canada Reports Steady Payroll Employment and Lower Job Vacancies for April 2025

Payroll employment in Canada was largely unchanged in April 2025, with 6,200 fewer employees receiving pay and benefits from employers compared to March, according to Statistics Canada figures released June 26. Over the past year, payroll employment rose by 30,400, an increase of 0.2%.

The report is important as it provides current figures on national employment, wage trends, and job vacancies, all of which can affect workers, employers, and job seekers across the country.

Statistics Canada stated that employment declined in nine out of 20 sectors in April. The largest drops occurred in manufacturing (down 7,300 jobs, or 0.5%), accommodation and food services (down 5,800, or 0.4%), retail trade (down 5,000, or 0.3%), and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (down 4,700, or 0.6%). Gains were reported in health care and social assistance (up 10,800, or 0.4%), public administration (up 6,200, or 0.5%), and educational services (up 5,200, or 0.4%). Eight other sectors were little changed during the month.

Within manufacturing, the April decrease was led by transportation equipment manufacturing (down 2,100), plastics and rubber products manufacturing (down 1,000), and machinery manufacturing (down 900). Motor vehicle parts manufacturing decreased by 900 and aerospace product and parts manufacturing dropped by 800. In accommodation and food services, full-service restaurants and limited-service eating places lost 14,800 jobs since January and traveller accommodation declined by 3,500 in the same period. Retail trade employment fell for the third straight month, with declines led by building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (down 1,800), clothing, accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers (down 1,000), and general merchandise retailers (down 1,000).

Payroll employment in health care and social assistance rose by 10,800 in April, with increases led by general medical and surgical hospitals (up 4,000), out-patient care centres (up 3,800), and nursing and care facilities (up 1,700). Gains in public administration were led by local, municipal, and regional public administration, which added 2,800 jobs. Year over year, federal government public administration fell by 13,000 while local, municipal, and regional public administration increased by 9,500 over the same period.

Nationally, average weekly earnings increased 0.8% from March, reaching $1,297 in April. Over the past year, average weekly earnings grew by 4.4%. Average weekly hours worked remained at 33.5 hours, unchanged from previous months.

Among provinces and territories, Nunavut ($1,735) and the Northwest Territories ($1,734) recorded the highest average weekly earnings for April. Prince Edward Island had the lowest at $1,125. Ontario's figure was $1,330, an increase of 4.4% over the year.

Job vacancies across Canada dropped by 16,800 in April to a total of 501,300. The job vacancy rate fell to 2.8%, the lowest level since October 2017. There were an estimated 3.1 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in April, up from 2.9 in March. Over the past year, job vacancies declined by 91,400, or 15.4%.

Regionally, job vacancies fell in 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%). Manitoba (3.3%) and Saskatchewan (3.3%) reported the highest job vacancy rates, while Newfoundland and Labrador (2.1%) and New Brunswick (2.3%) had the lowest.

By industry, the largest annual decreases in job vacancies were 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%).

All figures are sourced from the Statistics Canada release, "Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, April 2025," published June 26, 2025.