Ottawa, ON — In the construction sector, employers were looking to fill 81,900 vacancies, reports Statistics Canada. Job openings in the construction sector saw an unprecedented rise in March, increasing 27 per cent following five consecutive monthly declines.
With the jump in openings, the job vacancy rate reached a record high of 7.3 per cent, up 1.3 percentage points from February.
Across all sectors, Canadian employers were seeking to fill more than one million vacant positions at the beginning of March 2022, which Statistics Canada reports is a record high. Vacancies increased by 186,400 (22.6 per cent) in March and were up 382,000 (60.5 per cent) from March 2021.
Across the country, job vacancies increased in all provinces in March. Saskatchewan (plus 49.4 per cent to 26,600), Nova Scotia (plus 45.6 per cent to 23,000), and Newfoundland and Labrador (plus 43.1 per cent to 8,300) recorded the largest increases.
Nova Scotia (23,000), Manitoba (30,000), Saskatchewan (26,600), and British Columbia (178,300) all reached record highs in the number of vacancies.
The overall Canadian economy saw the number of employees receiving pay or benefits increase by 118,100 in March. In addition, the national average weekly earnings rose by about a per cent, to $1,170 in March.
On a year-over-year basis, average weekly earnings have increased 4.3 per cent, more than double the year-over-year increases observed in February and January.