Which sectors recorded employment increases?
The number of payroll employees in Canada dropped by 54,100 (-0.3%) to 18,188,000 in March, reports Statistics Canada (StatCan).
That follows a decline of 40,200 (-0.2%) in February (18,242,100).
The numbers had increased in the two months prior: to 18,267,900 in December 2024 and to 18,282,300 in January 2025 from 18,201,500 in November 2024.
Employment in Canada rose by 76,000 (+0.4%) in January 2025, marking the third consecutive month of job gains, according to a previous Indeed report.
Payroll employment changes across sectors
Payroll employment in March decreased in 10 sectors, according to StatCan.
The sharpest drop in numbers was in educational services, followed by health care and social assistance, and finance and insurance.
“Payroll employment in the educational services sector fell by 10,400 (-0.7%) in March. Leading up to this monthly decline, payroll employment in the sector had remained relatively steady since July 2024, following a cumulative gain of 42,200 (+2.9%) from January to July 2024,” notes StatCan.
“On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in educational services was up by 7,200 (+0.5%) in March 2025. This increase was concentrated in elementary and secondary schools (+19,000; +2.2%) but was partially offset by declines in universities (-8,100; -2.4%) and community colleges and CEGEPs (-3,100; -2.2%).”
Meanwhile, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; public administration; and arts, entertainment and recreation were among the few sectors that saw payroll employment count increases.
Meanwhile, there were 529,700 job vacancies in Canada in March, the seventh consecutive month of little change, according to StatCan.
The job vacancy rate was 3.0% in March, up 0.1 percentage points from February (2.9%), but down 0.4 percentage points from March 2024.
On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 72,800 (-12.1%).
“There were 2.9 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in March, up by 0.1 since February. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was up by 0.7,” said StatCan.
“This increase was the result of a decrease in job vacancies (-72,100; -12.0%, excluding territories), coupled with an increase in the number of unemployed persons (+166,500; +12.4%). Over the same year-over-year period, the unemployment rate rose from 6.1% to 6.7% (according to the Labour Force Survey).”
Nearly half of HR professionals admit they regularly post ghost jobs, according to a previous report from LiveCareer.
