Private sector job vacancies in Canada

The quarterly private sector job vacancy rate in Canada held steady at 2.8% in the second quarter of 2025, down by 0.3 percentage points on a yearly basis.

Moderate changes in vacancy rates across provinces

Year-over-year, Saskatchewan (-0.7), New Brunswick (-0.7), and British Columbia (-0.5) recorded the largest decline. Prince Edward Island (+0.9), Newfoundland and Labrador (+0.2) and Manitoba (+0.2) were the only provinces to experience a year-over-year increase.

Highest vacancy rates in personal services and construction

On a yearly basis, information, arts and recreation (-0.8), agriculture (‑0.8), personal services (-0.6) and natural resources (-0.6) saw the biggest drop in their vacancy rates. Manufacturing was the only sector reporting an increase (+0.1).

Smaller businesses lead in vacancy rate declines

On a yearly basis, businesses with fewer than 20 employees have shown the largest decreases in vacancy rates. However, their rates remain three times higher compared to businesses with more than 100 employees.