November 2022 saw a rise in employment at the payroll, which suggest an active hiring market.
In over 10 of 15 industries, the number of payroll employees (the number of employees who receive payments or benefits from their employers) increased in November 2022. This is a positive sign of a healthy employment market and a return to the pre-COVID levels of economic production in Canada.
This led to several industries also seeing decreases in job vacancies since employers were more efficiently capable of hiring to fill vacancies in the face of the looming labor shortage. Payroll employment overall increased by 7,100 positions, and the growth in the technical and professional service, public administration, Insurance, and finance industries was offset by significant reductions in sectors like retail sales.
The number of jobs available was down by 20,700 jobs in November 2022. This equates to a total of 850,300 job openings across Canada. This is a drop of 151,900 open positions from the record-breaking 1 million job vacancies reported in May 2022. This can be taken as a signal that economic production of services and goods continues to increase up to the pre-pandemic level.
The increase in employment in the payroll sector indicates employers are hiring and experiencing the need for more workers. This is a measure of economic growth because increasing numbers of people can be a positive force in the economy due to increased work. In this regard, it could be necessary for those new to the country to know which industries are experiencing an increase in payroll employment and be aware of the types of companies experiencing a rise in hiring in Canada.
The industries that posted the most significant increases in employment at the payroll in November were:
- Professional technical and scientific services (+5,600 jobs);
- The public administration (+4,800 jobs);
- Financial and Insurance (+4,700 jobs); and
- Construction (+4,300 positions).
Constant job vacancies
Despite a substantial increase in employment on the payroll in November 2022, Canada still faced many job vacancies in different industries.
Social assistance and healthcare (131,800 vacancies)–an ongoing issue for Canada is the current need for health workers, as the many available jobs indicate. However, despite a decrease in vacancies of 19,300, the overall number of job vacancies in the field has remained high by about 45% since March 2020. This demand for people working in this field is also reflected in the Canadian government’s policy changes that include targeting an increase in simplified accreditation for foreign-educated healthcare professionals and decreasing the barriers to immigration for physicians.
Construction (79,000 vacancies)–It is fascinating to look at the lingering job vacancies in buildings. Despite gaining significant ground on payroll employment during November, openings remain high in this industry. This could signify an increase in business output and a constant demand for workers in this area. Indeed, there were vacancies in the construction industry in November 2021 were virtually unaffected (73,900), which suggests that this is another industry where Canada is in constant demand for workers, particularly in the context of economic recovery. In addition, policies such as Canada’s recent pledge to assist construction workers who are outside the status of a worker highlight the importance of this type of work to the nation’s economy.
Professional scientific, technical, and Services (52,000 vacancies)–similar to the construction industry, The Professional, Scientific and technical industry saw significant increases in payroll employment but has a higher percentage of job openings. This is a sign of the strength of hiring and the ongoing demand for workers within Canada. Indeed, the industry has seen positive employment growth since October 2020. With the high volume of jobs available, it is an excellent indication of the ongoing high demand for these employees in Canada.
Immigration is essential in addressing the current labor shortage in the coming years since Canadian demographics aren’t currently able to support filling the current vacancies in employment. With the passing of the bill C-19 in 2022, the Honourable Sean Fraser (as Minister of Immigration) has the power to establish groups within the national Express Entry pool (possibly dependent on factors such as the professions, educational qualifications, or language abilities that candidates possess)–and give the invitation to submit (ITAs) for the applicants to better focus on Canada’s social and economic requirements. Professionals with long-running vacancies have a good chance of being targeted by these draws.
