The number of job vacancies in Canada continues to rise sharply, reaching an all-time high of 912,600 in the third quarter of 2021, 62.1% more than in the corresponding period in 2019, before the onset of the crisis of COVID-19.
Statistics Canada found that the record number of job vacancies coincided with overall job growth and declining unemployment in the country.
Compared to the third quarter of 2019, the number of job vacancies jumped in all provinces in the most recent corresponding period: by 82.7% in Saskatchewan, 73.1% in Quebec and 64.5% in Ontario.
Five sectors were responsible for two-thirds of the increase in Canada: accommodation and food services, health care and social assistance, construction, retail trade and manufacturing.
It is in Quebec where the number of vacant positions in health care and social assistance increased the most in two years in the third quarter: by 117.4%.
Statistics Canada reports that in the third quarter of 2019, the 20% of occupations with the lowest average wages were responsible for 35% of employees and 48.9% of vacancies. Two years later, these same occupations accounted for 32.3% of employees and 50.9% of vacancies.
Watch video