Canadian Payroll Employment Falls in February

On Thursday, Statistics Canada (StatCan) reported that payroll employment fell 0.3% in February, a decrease of 60,200 jobs. The decline partially reversed the 0.2% increase (44,300 jobs) recorded in January. Year-over-year, payroll employment was little changed.

Payroll employment declines were led by transportation and warehousing, which fell 1.6% (14,000 jobs); administrative and support services, down 0.9% (7,500 positions); retail trade, down 0.3% (5,900 jobs); construction, down 0.3% (4,200 positions); and accommodation and food services, down 0.3% (4,100 jobs).

Job vacancies held steady in February at 497,200. Year-over-year, vacancies were down 5.5%, or 29,000 positions—a smaller decline than the 19.1% drop recorded between February 2024 and February 2025.

The job vacancy rate was 2.8%, unchanged from January. There were 3.1 unemployed persons for every vacancy in February, up from 3.0 in January.