Before summer and the holidays, provinces are deconfining their populations, but the job market has yet to recover from 15 months of the pandemic.
Employment continued to decline for a second consecutive month in May in Canada, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent Labor Force Survey (LFS). The losses (-68,000) are much smaller than in April (-207,000) and most of the decline in May (-54,000) is attributable to part-time work.
The declining job market in some provinces
The two provinces which adopted the most stringent public health measures during the third wave of the pandemic, namely Ontario (- 31,600) and Nova Scotia (- 22,200), are at the origin of the most of the total employment decline in May.
Employment increased in Saskatchewan, while it was little changed in the other provinces.
Quebec for its part lost 8,000 jobs in May compared to the previous month, but the unemployment rate remains stable at 6.6%. In one year, since May 2020, employment has increased by 691,900, which corresponds to nearly 84% of the 825,900 jobs lost from February to April 2020.
Another Statistics Canada report says women have been hit hardest by job losses from the pandemic. From March 2020 to February 2021, women held 53.7% of the jobs lost.
Hires to be expected
ManpowerGroup’s Employment Outlook Survey of 1,500 active businesses across the country notes that they expect moderate hiring increases, especially in the public administration, manufacturing and transportation sectors over the years. next three months. This optimism is highest in Quebec, particularly in the Capitale-Nationale region.
With the arrival of summer, the summer outlook for students is as better as in 2020, but not as good as in 2019. In May 2021, the unemployment rate for returning students stood at 23. 1%, compared to 40.0% in May 2020 and 13.7% in May 2019.
In addition, many companies that employ in the agrifood industry are still looking to fill positions, since the volume of production is on the rise as this crisis emerges. For example, Olymel will need 3,000 to 4,000 employees over the next five years.
The multinational food processing company Bonduelle had the idea to print its job offers on 45,000 cans of corn. Farms have suffered from delays in the arrival of seasonal foreign workers caused by health restrictions and have several vacancies.