Good News about Jobs in Canada!
People who live and work in Canada have much to be thankful for as the Canadian economy continues to create thousands of jobs across the country. For example, from July 2016 to July 2017, the economy produced 387,600 new jobs in Canada (of which 353,500 were full-time). Not since 2007 has Canadian job growth been this high. With more people working in Canada, the country’s unemployment rate (6.3 percent) also dropped to its lowest rate since 2008. Thus, Canada’s sustained economic growth is providing Canadian citizens and permanent residents with many excellent employment opportunities.
The widespread availability of work in Canada is, of course, good news for the country as a whole. Nonetheless, some parts of Canada are enjoying especially strong economic growth and job generation. For example, the unemployment rate (5.8 percent) in the Canadian province of Quebec is at its lowest level since 1976. In the Montreal metropolitan area, the unemployment rate (6.1 percent) is the lowest in a decade, while Quebec City enjoyed a very low unemployment rate of only 4.0% in July 2017. Quebec's provincial economy also created 124,000 new jobs in Canada over the past 12 months (115,000 in the Montreal metropolitan area alone). Furthermore, hourly wages in the province of Quebec were 3.3% higher in July 2017 compared to July 2016. Therefore, if you want to live and work in Canada (and especially if you have good French language skills), you might consider moving to the primarily French-speaking province of Quebec!
Knowing which provinces and territories have the lowest unemployment rates can be useful information for people who want to move to Canada. As of July 2017, Manitoba boasted the lowest unemployment rate (5.0 percent) of any Canadian province or territory. British Columbia had the next lowest unemployment rate in July 2017 (5.3 percent), followed by Quebec (5.8 percent), Ontario (6.1 percent), New Brunswick (6.5 percent), and Saskatchewan (6.6 percent).
Nonetheless, most Canadian employment takes place in the cities, so it may be more helpful to find out which cities and towns are producing the most jobs in Canada. Several cities across Canada had low unemployment rates in July 2017, including: Kelowna, British Columbia (3.6 percent); Quebec City, Quebec (4.0 percent); Guelph, Ontario (4.5 percent); Victoria, British Columbia (4.6 percent); Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario (4.8 percent); Brantford, Ontario (5.0 percent); Vancouver, British Columbia (5.1 percent); Moncton, New Brunswick (5.2 percent); Hamilton, Ontario (5.4 percent); Regina, Saskatchewan (5.4 percent); Thunder Bay, Ontario (5.4 percent); Kingston, Ontario (5.5 percent); Winnipeg, Manitoba (5.5 percent); Gatineau, Quebec (5.5 percent); London, Ontario (5.6 percent); Sherbrooke, Quebec (5.6 percent); Abbotsford, British Columbia (5.6 percent); and Oshawa, Ontario (5.9 percent). Many other cities and towns throughout Canada also had low unemployment rates in July 2017.
This Canadian employment data, provided by Statistics Canada in August 2017, is a good indication that now is an excellent time to move to Canada. With such low unemployment across the country, there is a need for skilled foreign workers to fill high-demand jobs in Canada that are currently vacant because there aren’t enough qualified Canadian workers available locally. In order to help maintain the current economic expansion, Canada’s government has established a goal to approve 172,500 skilled foreign workers for Canadian immigration during 2017. If you would like to live and work in Canada and want to find out if you are likely to qualify for one of several Canadian immigration programs available for skilled foreign workers and their families, click here!
