As per the most recent Labour Force Survey, the number of people employed in Canada nearly reached pre-pandemic levels in August.
Recruitment in Canada increased by 90,000. These gains from August and previous months managed to bring Canada’s employment up to just 156,000 employees short of the pre-pandemic level in February 2020, which is the closest it has come. The data from Statistics Canada reflect the labor market during the week of August 15 to 21. Most Canadian provinces had scaled back public health measures to near-final stages by this time.
Furthermore, the border had been re-opened to fully vaccinated travelers from the United States. For the first time since March 2020, the tourism industry may be able to attract potential American customers. Increment in employment was primarily in service-producing industries, particularly lodging and dining services. Substantial gains were also seen in the information, culture, and recreation industry. For the first time since March, the number of people employed in the construction industry increased.
Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia all saw increases in employment. The rest of the provinces experienced very little or no change. At 7.1 percent, unemployment was at its lowest level since the outbreak, though the rate for visible minorities remained unchanged for the second month in a row. Long-term unemployment fell by nearly 7% in August, but it was still 120 percent higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Immigrants who arrived in Canada within the last five years have seen their employment rate rise to nearly 70%, up more than six percentage points from August 2019. Part of this is due to a reduction in the number of new immigrants admitted in 2020. Those who had lived in Canada for more than five years had a nearly 59 percent employment rate, down one and a half percentage points from the previous year. More than 61 percent of Canadian-born people were employed, down more than two percentage points from pre-COVID levels.
In August, the employment rate among Filipino Canadians increased by nearly five percentage points to around 78 percent. Black Canadians’ employment rate dropped four percentage points to nearly 72%. White Canadians were employed at a rate of nearly 71%, unchanged from the previous month.
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