Last Updated On 26 June 2024, 4:45 PM EDT (Toronto Time)
Job vacancies in Canada continue to decline, with Statistics Canada reporting 648,600 vacant jobs in the first quarter of 2024.
This is about a 34% decline from the record high of 983,600 job vacancies in the second quarter of 2022.
The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio is now the highest since the second quarter of 2021, with 2.0 unemployed persons for every job vacancy.
In the first quarter of 2024, the number of vacant positions in trades, transport, and equipment operators and related occupations decreased by 39,300 (-25.6%) on a year-over-year basis.
This is a matter of concern for candidates preparing to align their profiles with skilled trades and transport occupation-specific express entry draws since IRCC may revise the list of occupations eligible for these draws next year.
Furthermore, this might also be one of the potential reasons for IRCC not holding any trade occupation-targeted draws so far in 2024.
Professional occupations in health (40,300 vacancies), technical occupations in health (24,800), and specialized middle management occupations in health care (1,000 vacancies) experienced minimal fluctuations in the first quarter compared to the previous year.
In this article, we enlist:
20 Occupations With Highest Job Vacancies
| Occupations and NOC Codes | Job vacancies | Average offered hourly wage |
| Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses [31301] | 28,635 | $34.90 |
| Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations [65201] | 26,720 | $16.60 |
| Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates [33102] | 21,060 | $23.05 |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers [64100] | 15,955 | $17.50 |
| Transport truck drivers [73300] | 15,460 | $27.15 |
| Construction trades helpers and labourers [75110] | 12,800 | $22.90 |
| Licensed practical nurses [32101] | 12,740 | $29.35 |
| Cooks [63200] | 12,505 | $18.40 |
| Social and community service workers [42201] | 12,355 | $23.60 |
| Early childhood educators and assistants [42202] | 9,950 | $20.95 |
| Other customer and information services representatives: [64409] | 9,515 | $21.30 |
| Light-duty cleaners [65310] | 9,430 | $19.25 |
| Food and beverage servers [65200] | 8,970 | $15.85 |
| Store shelf stockers, clerks and order fillers [65102] | 6,455 | $16.00 |
| Material handlers [75101] | 6,375 | $20.50 |
| Administrative officers [13100] | 5,990 | $25.55 |
| Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers [72410] | 5,970 | $29.60 |
| Food service supervisors [62020] | 5,950 | $18.10 |
| Carpenters [72310] | 5,680 | $27.80 |
| Receptionists [14101] | 5,545 | $20.75 |
10 occupations with the largest annual increases in job vacancies
Below are the top 10 occupations that saw the largest annual increase in the number of job vacancies in the first quarter of 2024.
| Occupations | First quarter of 2024 | first quarter of 2023 | %age change year-on-year |
| Police officers (except commissioned) | 820 | 300 | 173.3% |
| Other technical occupations in therapy and assessment | 1665 | 755 | 120.5% |
| Respiratory therapists, clinical perfusionists and cardiopulmonary technologists | 1475 | 690 | 113.8% |
| Concrete finishers | 905 | 475 | 90.5% |
| Instructors of persons with disabilities | 1155 | 640 | 80.5% |
| Web developers and programmers | 910 | 510 | 78.4% |
| Pharmacists | 2145 | 1370 | 56.6% |
| Banking, insurance and other financial clerks | 2245 | 1550 | 44.8% |
| Drafting technologists and technicians | 1725 | 1230 | 40.2% |
| Civil engineers | 3050 | 2595 | 17.5% |
10 occupations with the largest annual decreases in job vacancies
Below are the top 10 occupations that saw the largest annual decrease in the number of vacant jobs in the first quarter of 2024.
| Occupations | First quarter of 2024 | first quarter of 2023 | First quarter of 2023 to first quarter of 2024 |
| Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations | 26,720 | 49,355 | -45.9% |
| Retail salespersons and visual merchandisers | 15,955 | 27,540 | -42.1% |
| Material handlers | 6,375 | 10,695 | -40.4% |
| Store shelf stockers, clerks and order fillers | 6,455 | 10,645 | -39.4% |
| Other customer and information services representatives | 9,515 | 14,760 | -35.5% |
| Light-duty cleaners | 9,430 | 14,290 | -34% |
| Transport truck drivers | 15,460 | 23,245 | -33.5% |
| Cooks | 12,505 | 18,475 | -32.3% |
| Food and beverage servers | 8,970 | 13,095 | -31.5% |
| Social and community service workers | 12,355 | 16,185 | -23.7% |
What is the unemployment rate in Canada?
6.2% is the unemployment rate in Canada as of May 2024.
Which Canadian province has the highest unemployment rate in Canada?
Newfoundland and Labrador has the highest unemployment rate in Canada, at 7.9%, followed by New Brunswick at 7.5%, Alberta at 7.2%, PEI at 7.1%, and Ontario at 6.7%.
Which Canadian province has the lowest unemployment rate in Canada?
In May 2024, Manitoba had the lowest unemployment rate in Canada, at 4.9%, ahead of Quebec at 5.1%, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan at 5.6%.
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