Canada’s January 2023 Job Surge Exceeded Economists’ Expectations
150,000 jobs have been added to the Canadian economy in January alone. This fact has left economists dumbfounded and Canadian workers ready to work. Last December, the Canadian labour market noted that 104,000 jobs were added and although there were no signs of the job surge slowing down, economists did not expect such a stark rise. Statistics Canada reported that of these new jobs in January, more than 120,000 were full-time. The gain exceeded expectations tenfold.
Every province, excluding Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and P.E.I. experienced job growth. However, the increase occurred primarily in Ontario and Québec. The majority of these jobs were in the private sector and accounted for 132,000 new roles. There is a strong demand for workers in a variety of sectors and for various position types.
| Total employed, all industries | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 19286000 to 20032300. 19.3M20M | 3.9% |
| Construction | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 1496500 to 1610900. 1.5M1.6M | 7.6% |
| Public administration | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 1108700 to 1173200. 1.1M1.2M | 5.8% |
| Manufacturing | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 1783500 to 1791800. 1.8M1.8M | 0.5% |
| Business, building and other support services | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 686100 to 704900. 686.1K704.9K | 2.7% |
| Wholesale and retail trade | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 2991600 to 2959900. 3M3M | −1.1% |
| Transportation and warehousing | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 1003900 to 967300. 1M967.3K | −3.6% |
| Other services (except public administration) | Small line chart with 13 values, ranging from 710800 to 752100. 710.8K752.1K | 5.8% |
Women in the trades and construction are finding more opportunities in the country than ever. The Canadian construction sector has been one of the fastest-growing industries adding 114,000 in 2022. Jenna Wood of Aecon Group explains how “there’s a labour shortage that continues to grow in the upcoming years and there’s a huge opportunity to look at how we can bring more talent in.” The construction and trade industries want to hire women and are confident that they will play an important role in these sectors.
Increased Demand for Full-Time Workers
Loren Buchanan, Aecon Ltd. construction worker in training says “it’s really helpful in the sense that you’re building part of your community. You can look at things and say that I built that.” ‘Women in Trades’ programs are becoming more popular than ever. Buchanan notes “it gets your foot in the door, in construction, doing what you’re meant to do and not having any limitations because you’re a woman.”
“We hear of some layoffs at some big tech firms but we’re also hearing of many small- to mid-sized companies having trouble attracting … high-skilled talent,” says Robert Half’s national director Michael French.
Robert Half, human sources firm, believes that several of the firms they work with a plan to add a number of full-time workers to their business in the next six months. This increased demand for full-time workers is likely to boost wages as well with the average hourly salary rate arriving at $33.01. That rate is up by $1.42 from last year which is a 4.5% escalation. Inflation in jobs is great for Canadian workers and the economy and may even act as a glimmer of hope that can mitigate recession fears.