The number of job vacancies in Canada – positions that remain unfilled – were up 10% in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the same period of 2018, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency's "Job Vacancy and Wage Survey," which polled 100,000 job locations across Canada, found that there were 506,000 vacant jobs in the first quarter of this year, up 44,000 — or 9.6% — from the same time last year.
It also found that job vacancies increased in six provinces and one territory in the first quarter of 2019. Quebec, Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut all saw increases. Quebec's growth was the highest at 23% with 21,400 more job vacancies compared with the first quarter of 2018. In Alberta and Saskatchewan, the job vacancy rate is below the national average.
The report found that job vacancies increased in seven out of 10 of the largest industrial sectors in Canada. Topping the list were positions in health-care and social assistance, which increased by 9,900 new vacancies, or 19%, over the same quarter of last year. These sectors were followed by manufacturing, retail trade, and accommodation and food services in the biggest year-over-year growth in terms of job vacancies.
