Canada sheds 68,000 jobs as youth employment falls: StatCan
- Canada lost 68,000 jobs in September as unemployment rose to 6.5%.
- Youth aged 15 to 24 accounted for 48,000 of the lost jobs.
- Public sector employment fell by 70,000, a fourth straight monthly drop.
- Labour force participation fell to 64.8%, the lowest since 1997 excluding 2020.
OTTAWA, CANADA — Canada lost 68,000 jobs in September, its second monthly decline in a row, as young workers and the public sector took the biggest hits. The unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage point to 6.5%, and the share of people working or looking for work fell to its lowest level in almost three decades outside the pandemic.
Youth and public sector lead the decline
Employment fell among youth aged 15 to 24 by 48,000, or 1.8%, and among women aged 25 to 54 by 28,000, according to Statistics Canada. Educational services, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing all had fewer workers.
Employment fell in Quebec, British Columbia and Manitoba and rose in Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island.
The number of public sector employees dropped by 70,000, the fourth consecutive monthly decline. Private sector employment was little changed for a second month but was up 163,000 from a year earlier. Self-employment edged down by 23,000 after rising from April to July.
An aging workforce
The labour force participation rate fell 0.2 percentage point to 64.8%, the lowest level since December 1997, excluding 2020. Statistics Canada attributed much of the year-over-year decline to population aging, with people aged 65 and older now making up 23.2% of the working-age population.
The job-finding rate, the share of unemployed people who found work within a month, was 30.6%, down from 32.8% a year earlier. Average hourly wages rose 2.3% from a year earlier to C$37.64 ($27.40). The layoff rate was 0.7%, similar to a year earlier.
Employment had trended up from April to July, adding 181,000 jobs, before the two monthly declines. Compared with a year earlier, employment was still up 95,000.
When an aging population shrinks the pool of available workers, offshore outsourcing and nearshore outsourcing partners give Canadian employers access to capacity beyond the domestic labour market.
When hiring slows, buyers comparing the top BPO companies in Canada can weigh flexible staffing models against permanent headcount.
Statistics Canada’s data shows a labour market cooling as its workforce ages. For enterprise buyers, that combination makes long-term domestic staffing plans harder to build. BPO operators that offer flexible, multi-location capacity are positioned to fill the gap.
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