OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says the number of job vacancies in Canada in August edged down 2.4 per cent from July to reach their lowest figure since 2017.
The agency says the 457,400 vacancies was the lowest number since August 2017, excluding the April-to-September 2020 period when data was unavailable during the pandemic.
On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down 15.2 per cent in August.
Statistics Canada says the job vacancy rate — which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand — was 2.6 per cent in August, unchanged from July.
The job vacancy rate in August 2024 was 3.0 per cent.
The agency says there were 3.5 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in August, the highest unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio since November 2016, excluding the April-to-September period in 2020.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 30, 2025.
