Canada Unemployment At 5% After Adding 35,000 Jobs

Canada’s unemployment rate held at 5 per cent in March, with 35,000 more people landing paying jobs, reveals the latest Canada jobs Labour Force Survey.

“There were more people employed in transportation and warehousing, up 41,000 paying positions or 4.2 per cent; business, building and other support services, up 31,000 jobs or 4.4 per cent; as well as finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing which added 19,000 jobs, rising 1.3 per cent,” notes Statistics Canada.

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That’s 91,000 workers who found jobs in those sectors in March, according to the statistical and demographic services agency. There were, though, also 41,000 jobs lost in the construction, personal and repair services and natural resources sectors.

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Three Industry Sectors in Canada Showed Robust Employment Growth In March

 

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“Employment has generally trended up since September 2022. Over that period, the number of people employed has increased by 383,000, or 1.9 per cent,” reports Statistics Canada.

As employment climbed in March, Statistics Canada noted that visible minorities are landing more jobs and becoming a greater portion of the workforce, a result of growing immigration. 

“Canada’s workforce is growing and is also becoming more diverse,” notes Statistics Canada.

Seven years ago in Mary, only 21.3 per cent of those who held down jobs in Canada were what Statistics Canada calls members of racialized groups, that is, visible minorities.

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By May, 2021, that percentage had grown to 26.5 percent and, in March this year, visible minorities comprised 28.6 per cent of the employed population in Canada. 

“The largest groups were South Asian, Chinese and Black Canadians,” notes Statistics Canada. “Taken together, the three groups accounted for 17 per cent of Canada’s employed population in the month.”

Not only are visible minorities in Canada making up a greater proportion of the labour force but they are also seeing their employment rates rise, meaning they are more likely to land paying work.

“From March 2022 to March 2023, the employment rate among core-aged South Asian Canadians rose 2.4 percentage points to reach 84.2 per cent,” reports Statistics Canada. 

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“This primarily reflected an increase in the employment rate of South Asian women, which was up 4.7 percentage points over the period to reach 78.3 per cent in March. The employment rate for South Asian men was 89.5 per cent in March, little changed from 12 months earlier.”

Core-aged Black Canadians, those 25 to 54 years old, had an employment rate of 79.9 per cent in  March, up from 78.6 per cent a year earlier. 

“Among (Black) men, the employment rate rose 2.3 percentage points over the period and reached 85 per cent in March 2023,” notes Statistics Canada. “The increase was most notable in Ontario, where the employment rate for core-aged Black men rose 6.3 percentage points to reach 83.7 per cent.”

Across the county, employment rose in Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta and Prince Edward Island in March but declined in Saskatchewan. 

Ontario saw 21,000 more people land jobs, bringing cumulative gains in employment in that province to 172,000 since September last year, as the unemployment rate held steady at 5.1 per cent.

Ontario Workers Landed 21,000 Jobs And Albertans 14,000 In March

In the Prairie province of Manitoba employment increased by 3,300 in March, the second consecutive monthly gain, while Alberta saw employment rise by 14,000, the third such increase in four months.

In Atlantic Canada, Prince Edward Island recorded employment growth of two per cent in March, the third increase in four months. The unemployment rate for the province was 6.6 per cent.

In Saskatchewan, employment fell by 4,300 in March, the first notable decline since July last year as some part-time work dried up.

Canadian employers hoping to attract workers through economic immigration can recruit them through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP).

The Global Talent Stream (GTS), a part of the TFWP, can under normal processing situations lead to the granting of Canadian work permits and processing of visa applications within two weeks.

Employers can also bring in foreign nationals to fill available positions through the Express Entry system, which receives immigration applications online.

It powers the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW), Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST), and Canada Experience Class Program (CEC) which all draw from the Express Entry pool of candidates. Those with the required Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores are then sent Invitations to Apply (ITAs) in regular draws.