July 23, 2026

Employment was little changed in June (+18,000; +0.1%) and the employment rate rose 0.1 percentage points to 60.8%. The unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 6.5%.

Employment was up among youth (15 to 24 years old) (+33,000; +1.2%) and among core-aged people (25 to 54 years old) (+33,000; 0.2%), while it fell among those aged 55 and older (-47,000; -1.1%).

In June, the youth unemployment rate fell 0.7 percentage points to 12.7%. The unemployment rate held steady for women (5.5%) and men (5.7%) in the core working age. For people aged 55 and older, the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 5.2%.

Employment increased in accommodation and food services (+15,000; +1.2%) while it decreased in manufacturing (-17,000; -0.9%), agriculture (-7,600; -3.3%), and utilities (-7,300; -4.3%).

Employment rose in Nova Scotia (+4,800; +0.9%) and Saskatchewan (+2,900; +0.5%) and was little changed in the remaining provinces.

Average hourly wages among employees were up 3.3% (+$1.19 to $37.20) on a year-over-year basis in June, following growth of 3.0% in May (not seasonally adjusted).

Employment holds steady

Employment was little changed in June (+18,000; +0.1%), following an increase of 88,000 (+0.4%) in May. On a year-over-year basis, employment was up by 99,000 (+0.5%) in June, driven by a net increase in full-time employment (+131,000; +0.8%).

Chart 1
Employment rate increases in June

The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—rose 0.1 percentage points to 60.8% in June. The employment rate in June matched the rate observed at the start of the year (60.8% in January) and was little changed on a year-over-year basis.

Infographic 1
Employment rate by age group, June 2026

The number of public sector employees declined by 31,000 (-0.7%) in June. At the same time, employment edged up among private sector employees (+32,000; +0.2%), following an increase of 56,000 (+0.4%) in May. Overall employment growth in the 12 months to June (+99,000; +0.5%) was concentrated among private sector employees (+94,000; +0.7%). Over the same period, there was little change in the number of public sector employees and self-employed workers.

Unemployment rate falls for second consecutive month

The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 6.5% in June—matching the rate last observed in January. The decline in June follows a 0.3 percentage point decline in May. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate was down 0.4 percentage points in June.

Chart 2
Unemployment rate falls to 6.5% in June

The job finding rate—the proportion of unemployed people who found a job between May and June—was 24.3%. This was higher than the proportion observed for the same period 12 months earlier (21.3%). The layoff rate remained stable at 0.6% in June, unchanged compared with a year earlier and compared with the average observed from 2017 to 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (not seasonally adjusted).

The number of people in the labour force was little changed and the participation rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who were employed or looking for work—held steady at 65.0%.

Youth unemployment rate declines

The unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 fell 0.7 percentage points to 12.7% in June, following a 0.9 percentage point decline in May. The youth unemployment rate in June was comparable to the recent low of 12.8% observed in November 2025 and January 2026. However, it remains higher than the pre-pandemic average of 10.8% observed during the period from 2017 to 2019.

Infographic 2
Unemployment rate by age group, June 2026

The decline in the youth unemployment rate in June was associated with an increase in employment (+33,000; +1.2%), driven primarily by part-time work (+25,000; +1.9%). The employment rate for youth in June (55.1%) was up both in the month (+0.7 percentage points) and compared with 12 months earlier (+0.9 percentage points).

Unemployment rate holds steady among people of core working age and rises among people aged 55 and older

Among people in the core working age (25 to 54 years old), the unemployment rate was unchanged for both women (5.5%) and men (5.7%) in June. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate for women was little changed while among men it was down 0.4 percentage points. Employment varied little for both core-aged women (+18,000; +0.3%) and core-aged men (+15,000; +0.2%) in June.

The unemployment rate among people aged 55 and older rose 0.2 percentage points to 5.2% in June, following three consecutive months of little variation. The increase in the unemployment rate in June was associated with a decline in employment (-47,000; -1.1%). Despite this, both employment and the unemployment rate among people aged 55 and older were little changed on a year-over-year basis.

More favourable student summer job market compared with 2025

From May to August, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) collects labour market information about students who attended school full time in March and who intend to return to school full time in the fall.

Chart 3
Unemployment rate for returning students, month of June, 1977 to 2026

The unemployment rate for returning students aged 15 to 24 was 15.3% in June, down 2.1 percentage points from June 2025 (17.4%) (not seasonally adjusted). However, this remained higher than the pre-pandemic average of 13.0% for the month of June during the period from 2017 to 2019.

The employment situation of returning students differed markedly by age group. Among returning students aged 20 to 24—those more likely to be in post-secondary education—the unemployment rate was 8.2% in June, 4.1 percentage points lower than a year earlier. For those aged 17 to 19 years, the unemployment rate was 16.5%, down 2.5 percentage points from June of last year.

The unemployment rate among returning students aged 15 to 16 was 30.6% in June and was up 2.8 percentage points year over year. Unemployed returning students in that age group during the June LFS reference week (June 14 to June 20) were most often searching for a summer job while still attending high school.

Among all returning students who were employed in June, most worked in retail trade (25.7%), accommodation and food services (23.3%) and information, culture and recreation (13.0%).

Employment increases in accommodation and food services while it falls in manufacturing

Employment in accommodation and food services rose by 15,000 (+1.2%) in June, the third consecutive monthly increase. Gains in June were concentrated in Quebec (+11,000; +4.3%) and Ontario (+9,800; +2.3%). On a year-over-year basis, employment in accommodation and food services was up by 39,000 (+3.4%).

Chart 4
Employment change by industry, June 2026

On the other hand, employment in manufacturing decreased by 17,000 (-0.9%) in June, offsetting the increase in May (+15,000; +0.8%). Employment in manufacturing has recorded a net decline of 61,000 (-3.2%) from the recent peak in January 2025, coinciding with a period of tariff-related uncertainty for the sector.

Employment rises in Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan

After holding steady for two consecutive months, employment in Nova Scotia increased by 4,800 (+0.9%) in June. The unemployment rate in Nova Scotia in June (6.5%) was down 0.6 percentage points from the previous month, but little changed on a year-over-year basis.

Map 1
Unemployment rate by province and territory, June 2026

Employment also rose in Saskatchewan (+2,900; +0.5%) in June, partly offsetting consecutive monthly declines over the previous two months. The unemployment rate in Saskatchewan was little changed at 6.1% in June.

Employment in Quebec edged up in June (+14,000; +0.3%) for a second consecutive month, following a net decline of 91,000 (-1.9%) from January to April. The unemployment rate in the province was 5.4% in June, little changed compared with the previous month but down 0.8 percentage points from the recent peak of 6.2% recorded in April. In the Montréal census metropolitan area (CMA), the unemployment rate fell 0.6 percentage points to 5.9% in June and was down 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier.

In Ontario, employment varied little in June following a cumulative increase of 84,000 (+1.0%) over the previous two months. The unemployment rate in the province was 7.0%, unchanged from May but down 0.8 percentage points from 12 months earlier. In the Toronto CMA, the unemployment rate was little changed at 6.9% in June, following a downward trend from a recent high of 8.5% in February.

Employment was also little changed in British Columbia in June, after increasing in May (+25,000; +0.9%). The unemployment rate in the province fell 0.3 percentage points to 6.5% in June. In the Vancouver CMA, the unemployment rate held steady at 6.6%, but was down 0.7 percentage points on a year-over-year basis.

In the spotlight: quarterly labour market trends in the territories

According to the most recent population estimates, approximately 136,500 people lived in the three territories in the first quarter of 2026, including 48,500 in Yukon, 45,800 in the Northwest Territories, and 42,200 in Nunavut. In Nunavut, the vast majority of the population (84.3% as of the latest available census data) is Inuit. Indigenous people also comprise large shares of the populations in the Northwest Territories (49.6%) and in Yukon (22.3%).

Chart 5
Unemployment rate in the territories

LFS data for the territories are collected using a questionnaire that is nearly identical to that used in the provinces. However, a different methodology is applied to account for the unique nature of data collection in the North. Estimates for the territories are reported separately from national and provincial totals and as three-month averages.

Unemployment rates have trended up from recent lows in both Yukon and the Northwest Territories. In Yukon, the unemployment rate rose 3.4 percentage points to 7.3% in the second quarter of 2026, its highest level since the second quarter of 2021. Similarly, the unemployment rate in the Northwest Territories reached 8.1% in the second quarter of 2026, up from a low of 4.2% recorded in the fourth quarter of 2025.

In Nunavut, the unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2026 was 11.6%, little changed from the previous quarter, when it was 12.1%. The Nunavut unemployment rate reached a recent peak of 15.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025, before easing to recent levels. However, it remained elevated relative to averages recorded over all of 2024 (8.3%) and the first three quarters of 2025 (8.5%).

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