Looking for work? Our labour market data can help with your job search

Job loss ranks among the top five most stressful life events. We have an easy-to-use tool that may ease some of that stress. The tool provides a range of current labour market data at the regional level, including the unemployment and job vacancy rates, as well as the average offered hourly wage for your area and across Canada.

Let’s take a virtual labour market tour through three provinces to see how the tool can help Canadians better understand job prospects in their region.

Tough labour market in Newfoundland and Labrador

Residents of Newfoundland and Labrador faced the toughest job market nationally. The unemployment rate in December, based on the three-month mobile average ending in December, was 9.4%, over double the national average (4.5%).

However, a few clicks in the tool will show that the job market varies markedly within the province. For example, the unemployment rate in the Avalon Peninsula was the lowest provincially (6.7%), while that in West Coast–Northern Peninsula–Labrador was more than double that (13.9%). The unemployment rate for South Coast-Burin Peninsula and Notre Dame-Central Bonavista Bay stood at 12.1%.

A good benchmark when looking for work is the number of job vacancies in a region. Statistics Canada’s job vacancy rate tracks the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand (the sum of filled and vacant positions). Canada’s job vacancy rate stood at 5.6% in the third quarter of 2022.

Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest job vacancy rate among the provinces. The job vacancy rate was highest in West Coast–Northern Peninsula–Labrador (5.1%) and lowest in the Avalon Peninsula (3.3%).

Employers in Central Newfoundland offered the highest average hourly wages in December ($22.65).

Tight labour market in Quebec

Quebec had the lowest unemployment rate (3.6%) nationally in December (three-month mobile average) and the second-highest job vacancy rate (6.1%) among the provinces, following British Columbia (6.2%).

Laurentides (1.6%) and Chaudière-Appalaches (1.7%) had the lowest unemployment rates in Quebec, and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine (8.8%) had the highest.

Estrie (7.1%) and the Capitale-Nationale (7.0%) had the highest job vacancy rates in the third quarter, and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine (4.3%) had the lowest.

Employers in Montréal offered the highest average hourly wages ($25.80); just over $4 more than that offered in Mauricie ($21.70).

Alberta has the highest unemployment rate in the west

Alberta (5.1%) had the highest unemployment rate in Western Canada in December (three-month mobile average). The unemployment rate in Calgary (5.7%) was 0.8 percentage points higher than that in Edmonton (4.9%).

The unemployment rate ranged from 2.8% in Lethbridge–Medicine Hat to 6.4% in Red Deer.

The job vacancy rate in Alberta stood at 5.0% in the third quarter. The job vacancy rate was highest in the Rocky Mountain House and Northwestern Alberta (7.0%) and lowest in the Camrose–Drumheller region (4.2%).

Employers in the Wood Buffalo–Cold Lake region offered the highest average hourly wages ($29.70), $8.00 more than those offered in Lethbridge–Medicine Hat ($21.70).

You are three short clicks away from a complete labour market profile of your community

To learn more about the labour market conditions in your area, simply click on this link, and then click on the Economic Regions tab just above the map of Canada. From there, click on the region where you live and voilà: 11 labour market indicators will appear, showing how your region fares compared with your province or the nation overall.

All national, provincial and economic region estimates used in this tool are not seasonally adjusted. The Labour Force Survey data are presented as three-month mobile averages, while job vacancy data are available on a quarterly basis.