Canada added 154,000 new jobs in November as the country took a significant step towards economic recovery.
The addition of 154,000 new jobs exceeded the expectations of analysts, who predicted that 38,000 new jobs would be added to the Canadian economy in November.
The 154,000 new jobs raised Canada’s employment by a full percentage point over the pre-pandemic levels while also dropping unemployment in the country down to 6 per cent.
Adding such a large number of new jobs comes as a welcome relief for the Canadian economy, which was facing around one million job vacancies as recently as September 2021.
The employment opportunities in November were largely driven by Canada’s private sector, with jobs added in both full-time and part-time capacities.
According to analysts, the expiry of most government Covid-19 financial assistance measures – such as the Canadian Recovery Benefit for individuals – contributed towards the addition of 154,000 new jobs last month, as it would have forced people to accept job offers during the pandemic.
However, a bigger disincentive towards employment in Canada during the pandemic was the stagnant wage growth, especially in Canada’s low-wage service industries.
Despite adding more than 150,000 new jobs last month, Canada is still facing labour shortages in some of its crucial sectors, including hospitality, health care and retail.
Addressing Canada’s surge in employment in November, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) economist Nathan Janzen wrote that the service sectors were still experiencing exceptionally low levels of workers.
He said that despite seeing a rise in employment, sectors such as accommodation and food services were still more than 200,000 workers short of pre-shock levels.
Moreover, he mentioned that Canada’s travel and hospitality sector was also facing such high levels of unemployment, but with new jobs being added in other sectors, it is unclear whether Canada has enough remaining unemployed workers to fill its vacancies.
This could make a case for skilled migrants, with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) offering numerous skilled migration pathways to foreign workers looking to apply for Canadian skilled migration.
Many of these pathways also provide a pathway to Canadian permanent residency, which increases the appeal of skilled migration to Canada for foreign workers.
