The number of job vacancies across Canada in March were up 60% from the same period a
year ago, according to Statistics Canada.
The job vacancy rate in Canada, which is the number of unfilled jobs as a share of all positions,
stood at 5.9% in March, which was an increase of 13.4% from February this year and matched
a record high recorded last September.
In al, there were one million open job positions in Canada during March, Statistics Canada said.
There was an average of 1.2 unemployed people for each job vacancy across the country,
down from 1.4 in February and 2.6 a year ago.
The data illustrates the extent to which the nation’s labor market has been tightening this year.
According to Statistics Canada’s separate Labour Force Survey, Canada’s unemployment rate
hit a record low of 5.2% in April.
Separately, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) reported that its members
see wages rising by a record 3.5% average over the next year. About 35% of respondents see
wage growth of at least 5%, which would be a record dating back to 2009.
Labour concerns were the most cited reason for capacity limitations, according to the CFIB poll,
which was taken earlier in May. More than 54% of companies polled reported that shortages of
skilled labor were limiting their sales and production.
