Canadian job market sees modest rebound in September

Canada’s employment landscape showed signs of improvement in September, with a net gain of 60,000 jobs (+0.3%) and the national unemployment rate holding steady at 7.1%.

The employment rate edged up to 60.6%, reflecting a partial recovery after summer declines, found Statistics Canada.

"The September job numbers were a reminder that volatility doesn’t just work in a downward direction. The Canadian labour market capped off a choppy third quarter on the upside, with employment posting a solid 60,000 increase, reversing nearly all of the decline of a month prior," says Brendan Bernard, senior economist at Indeed Canada.

"On net, the number of people working was nearly unchanged from May, a sign of soft, but not spiraling underlying conditions."

The majority of September’s employment gains came from full-time positions, which increased by 106,000 (+0.6%). In contrast, part-time employment dropped by 46,000 (-1.2%).

Public sector employment rose by 31,000 (+0.7%), outpacing more modest increases in the private sector (+22,000; +0.2%) and among self-employed workers (+7,900; +0.3%).

The government notes that, “from January to September, employment has recorded little net growth (+22,000; +0.1%).”

Canada’s labour market took a sharp downturn in August, with employment falling by 66,000—marking the largest monthly drop so far in 2025.

Core-aged workers see biggest gains

Adults aged 25 to 54 were the main beneficiaries of September’s job growth. Women in this group gained 76,000 jobs (+1.2%), while men added 33,000 (+0.5%).

This reversed declines seen in August and pushed the employment rate for core-aged women to 80.4% and for men to 86.1%, found Statistics Canada.

Unemployment rate

Employment for Canadians aged 55 and over fell by 44,000 (-1.0%), with their employment rate dropping to 33.6%. Over the past year, this group’s employment rate has declined by 0.6 percentage points.

Youth aged 15 to 24 saw little change in employment, with their rate holding at 53.8%.

“The youth employment rate had trended down from a high of 59.6% in March 2023 to 54.0% in August 2024, a rate not previously seen since February 1999 (excluding 2020 and 2021),” said Statistics Canada.

The youth unemployment rate climbed to 14.7% in September—the highest since 2010, outside pandemic years: “The increase in the youth unemployment rate over the 12 months to September was primarily due to rising unemployment among students.”

Among students, the jobless rate reached 17.1%, up 3.1 points from last year, while non-students saw little change at 11.9%. The summer job market was especially tough for returning students, who faced an average unemployment rate of 17.9% from May to August—the highest since 2009, excluding 2020.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is urging governments to enhance efforts to ensure Canadian youth are job-ready when they enter the workforce.

Jobs snapshot by sector, region

Manufacturing employment rose by 28,000 (+1.5%) in September, marking the first increase since January. Most of these gains were in Ontario and Alberta. Health care and social assistance added 14,000 jobs (+0.5%), and agriculture grew by 13,000 (+6.1%), with increases concentrated in Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia.

Employment change by industry, September 2025

However, employment decreased in wholesale and retail trade (-21,000; -0.7%), despite year-over-year growth in that sector, found Statistics Canada.

"Trade-exposed industries are far from out of the woods given ongoing tariff uncertainty. But the solid month highlights how things are holding on, at least in the near-term," said Bernard.  

Alberta recorded the largest employment gain, adding 43,000 jobs (+1.7%) and offsetting losses from July and August. The province’s unemployment rate dropped by 0.6 percentage points to 7.8%. New Brunswick (+4,700; +1.2%) and Manitoba (+3,900; +0.5%) also posted job gains, though both provinces saw their unemployment rates rise as more people entered the workforce.

In contrast, Newfoundland and Labrador lost 2,200 jobs (-0.9%). Quebec’s employment was stable for a third consecutive month, with the unemployment rate at 5.7%, found Statistics Canada. Ontario saw little change in employment, but its jobless rate increased to 7.9%, up 0.8 points from a year earlier. In Toronto, the unemployment rate remained at 8.9%.