Job vacancies in Canada hit a record high of nearly one million in the first quarter of the year.
Statistics Canada said the number of job vacancies across the country rose 2.7% from the
previous all-time high reached in the fourth quarter of last year as the labour market continued
to tighten in the January through March period.
Job vacancies in healthcare and social assistance reached a record high of 136,800, up 5%
from the previous quarter and 90% higher than the first quarter of 2020 before COVID-19 was
declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The construction industry also found it hard to fill jobs in the first quarter of this year, as 81,500
positions were vacant, up 7.1% from the final quarter of 2021, and more than double the
number in the first quarter of 2020.
Job vacancies also hit record highs in the manufacturing and retail sectors, up 5.3% and 12.8%,
respectively, compared with the fourth quarter of 2021.
Across Canada, job vacancies rose in Newfoundland and Labrador by 12.6%, New Brunswick
by 8.7%, and Ontario by 3.1% compared to the fourth quarter of last year.
