Vacancies stall at 495,100 as labour demand grows, wages rise, and hiring pressures start to ease
Canada’s job market showed signs of stabilizing at the end of 2025, with job vacancies holding almost unchanged in the fourth quarter after three consecutive quarterly declines.
Statistics Canada reported there were 495,100 unfilled positions in the final three months of the year, little changed from the previous quarter. Compared with the same period a year earlier, vacancies were down 8.9%, or 48,100 positions, although the annual drop was the mildest since late 2022.
The job vacancy rate remained at 2.8% for a third straight quarter, continuing well below the 5.6% peak recorded in the second quarter of 2022.
Even with vacancy levels largely flat, overall labour demand edged up. Total labour demand, which combines occupied and vacant roles, increased by 26,500 positions in the quarter, supported by a 25,700 gain in payroll employment.
The data also pointed to slightly improved hiring conditions. The share of long-term vacancies, defined as positions left open for 90 days or more, fell to 28.5% from 32.6% a year earlier. That suggests employers were having less trouble filling jobs than they were in late 2024.
The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio declined from 3.2 to 3.1, marking its first quarterly drop since the second quarter of 2022. Over the same period, the unemployment rate eased to 6.8% from 7.0% in the third quarter.
By job type, vacancies rose in full-time work, up 5,100 or 1.4%, while part-time openings fell by 4,300 or 3.4%. Openings for permanent and temporary roles were essentially unchanged.
At the occupational level, the quarter brought a mixed picture. Vacancies increased in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations, up 3,800 or 4.3%, the first increase for that category since the second quarter of 2022. Business, finance and administration occupations also saw gains, rising by 3,300 or 5.0%, while occupations in manufacturing and utilities climbed by 1,100 or 6.3%.
By contrast, vacancies dropped in sales and service occupations, down 4,100 or 2.8%, and in legislative and senior management occupations, which fell by 200 or 27.8%.
Sales and service continued to account for the largest number of openings, but at 144,500 vacancies, the category fell to its lowest level since the second quarter of 2016. On an annual basis, vacancies in that group were down 10,300, with notable declines among retail salespersons and visual merchandisers, customer and information services representatives, and food service supervisors.
Health occupations remained another major area of weakness. Vacancies in the category were little changed from the third quarter at 66,400, but down 13,100 year over year, the largest annual decline among all broad occupational groups. The biggest pullbacks were among registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates, and licensed practical nurses.
Ontario, Quebec and Manitoba accounted for much of the yearly decline in health-sector vacancies.
Wage offers continued to move higher. The average offered hourly wage for vacant positions rose by $0.95 from a year earlier to $29.25 in the fourth quarter, a 3.4% increase. That was broadly in line with wage growth across the wider labour market, where average hourly pay for all employees rose 3.5% over the same period.
Vacancies fell across every education level compared with a year earlier. Jobs requiring a high school diploma or less posted the largest absolute decline, down 15,200, though that was a slower pace of contraction than in the prior quarter. Positions requiring a trade certificate or diploma fell 9,600, and this group recorded the sharpest increase in the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio.
At the same time, employers appeared to be raising the bar on experience. The share of vacant positions requiring five or more years of experience reached a record 12.9% in the fourth quarter. The proportion requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher stood at 16.9%, just shy of the record reached earlier in 2025.
Regionally, Quebec and Saskatchewan were the only provinces to post quarterly increases in vacancies. Quebec added 5,300 openings to reach 118,700, while Saskatchewan rose by 1,200 to 17,100. Elsewhere, vacancy levels were largely unchanged.
