In May, Canada recorded the fewest job vacancies since 2017 as the pool of available jobs contracted from the month before.
Job vacancies fell by 4.1 per cent in May month-over-month, Statistics Canada reported. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 89,700 (-15.8 per cent). In total, there were 478,200 vacant posts in May, the fewest since October 2017.
Meanwhile, there were 3.3 persons looking for work for every job vacancy in May 2025, up from 3.1 in April.
That represents the largest gap since January 2017, excluding 2020 and 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, the department reported.
The increase is due to a rise in the number of unemployed persons – who saw their numbers rise by 190,900, or 13.8 per cent, since last year – and a decrease in available jobs.
Year over year, the number of available jobs dropped by 17.7 per cent nationally, excluding the territories.
Hardest-hit sectors
On a month-to-month basis, the construction sector saw the largest drop, shedding 5,400 vacancies. Professional, scientific and technical services were next, with 4,100 fewer postings, followed by mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction, which saw a decline of 900 vacant positions.
