According to the latest Labour Force Survey (November 2022) released by Statistics Canada, women between 25 and 54 years of age (considered to be of core working age) experienced
a rise in employment of 0.4%.
Of particular interest, especially after Canada’s most recent Immigration Levels Plan (2023-2025) announced record-high immigration targets over the next several years, is the latest
employment outcomes of recent Canadian immigrants. Among recent immigrants, core working-aged women who immigrated to Canada over the last five years saw an employment
rate of 69.7% in November 2022. This represents the highest employment rate, in the month of November, for recent Canadian immigrant women of core working age in the last 16 years.
The total employment rate among core working-aged Canadians rose 0.8% year-over-year (YOY) to 84.7% in November 2022, an increase led by core-aged women. This group now has
an employment rate of 81.6%, besting a previous record-high of 81.4% set in May 2022. The employment rate for core working-aged men is now up to 87.8%.
General employment trends across Canada
Taking a more general view of Canadian employment, November 2022 saw employment across the country grow by 10,000 jobs. The national unemployment rate in Canada dropped 0.1
points, falling to 5.1%. Canada’s employment participation rate also fell to 64.8% in November.
Despite this relatively minor employment growth, the “average hourly wages of employees remained above 5% for a sixth consecutive month in November, up to $32.11” from November
of 2021. This would suggest that newcomers to this country will continue to have more opportunities to work in Canada, while also seeing increased earning potential over time.
Employment trends by province
Newcomers to Canada consider many factors when choosing where to live, including where they will be able to find the most employment opportunity. The latest Labour Force Survey shows
that, across Canada’s 13 provinces and territories, different regions experienced different employment outcomes.
For instance, employment increased in Quebec but declined in five other provinces, while there was minor movement in Canada’s remaining four provinces and three territories. These outcomes
are outlined below.
Quebec: Overall employment increased by 28,000 jobs, while the provincial unemployment rate “reached a new record low of 3.8%” in November 2022. Most of the reported employment gains
were concentrated in Montréal, where employment rose by 1.1%.
Prince Edward Island: Employment fell by 1.7% overall, causing the unemployment rate to jump to 6.8%.
Newfoundland and Labrador: Total employment declined by 1.5%, though the unemployment rate remained relatively steady at 10.7%.
Manitoba: Employment declined by 0.8% but the provincial unemployment rate held steady at 4.4%.
Alberta: The unemployment rate rose to 5.8% as employment in the province went down 0.6%.
British Columbia: Total employment in this province declined by 0.5% in November. All losses were felt in the part-time employment sector.
Ontario: The unemployment rate throughout the province declined by 0.4 percentage points (to 5.5%).
