Vacancies up nearly 10% from last year: Statistics Canada report

A new Statistics Canada report found that job vacancies increased by almost 10% between the first quarter of 2019 and the first quarter of 2018.

The agency's job vacancy and wages survey, which covers 100,000 jobs in Canada, reveals that there were 506,000 job vacancies in the first three months of the year. 2019, up 44,000 – or 9.6% – over the same period last year.

He also found that 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 experienced increases during the quarter .

"Today's vacancy figures are consistent with the upward trend in vacancies seen in recent years," said Brendon Bernard, labor market economist at Indeed Canada. .

Bernard pointed out that the growth rate of job offers is slower than in 2018, the year in which the economy grew by 17 to 18% over the previous year.

"The increase has therefore decreased slightly in the first quarter, but overall, the trend is still on the rise," he said. "This upward trend is really continuing in the three major provinces where the labor market situation has improved in recent years."

Growth in Quebec was the strongest at 23%, with 21,400 more job openings compared to the first quarter of 2018.

"The job creation rate in British Columbia is also very high right now," said Bernard, with job offers up 10.1 percent, or 9,300 new positions. Growth in Ontario was the third fastest growth at 6.9%, an increase of 12,400.

Persistent issues in Alberta and Saskatchewan

The situation is not as rosy in the resource dependent provinces.

In Alberta and Saskatchewan, vacancy rates are below the national average.

"At the end of 2018, we witnessed real problems in the [energy] Bernard "Although the sector has rebounded somewhat by 2019," the number of vacancies suggests that employers are still feeling the pressure of these previous problems. "

The survey also breaks down data on job vacancies by sector of activity, showing a sharp decline in the first quarter of 2019 in the mining, quarrying, mining and quarrying sectors. of oil and gas extraction

"This will likely be felt in Alberta and Saskatchewan and there will also be repercussions on the entire economy."

Industries with the greatest growth

The report found that vacancies increased in seven of Canada's ten largest industrial sectors.

At the top of the list are positions in the health care and social badistance sector, which increased by 9,900 new vacancies, or 19%, compared to the same quarter last year.

Occupations in professional, scientific and technical services – which includes many high-tech jobs and accounting and legal professionals – registered the second-fastest job growth at 9,100, or 28 % in the same year.

The manufacturing, retail, accommodation and food sectors are the fastest growing sectors from one year to the next.

Small businesses hardest hit

While job vacancies bode well for Canadians with the right skills in most parts of the country, they are a challenge for some businesses.

Small businesses are the hardest hit by the labor shortage, said Ted Mallett, vice-president and economist with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).

"For a small business of just five employees, if it's missing one, that's 20% and this has a very important effect on their ability to provide goods and services to their customers."

CFIB members report that hiring and retention of workers is becoming an increasingly important part of their management requirements, given the growing expectations of workers. "They need to think more carefully about their pay practices and where they work," said Mallet.

"Small businesses, even in some of the smallest cities in the country, are starting to struggle to find enough people."

Dylan Saunders, an badyst at Statistics Canada and author of the latest vacancy report, said nearly four-fifths of the new vacancies in the first quarter of 2019 were permanent.

"The number of permanent positions has increased from 74.7% of total vacancies in the first quarter of 2016 to 79.9% in the first quarter of 2019."