Canada’s Labour Market Shows Modest Rebound in September

Canadian employment saw a modest rebound in September, increasing by 0.3% from the previous month. The economy added 60,000 jobs, bringing total employment to 21.015 million. The employment rate edged up by 0.1 percentage points to 60.6%, while the unemployment rate held steady at 7.1%. Average hourly wages rose 3.3% year-over-year to $36.78.

In British Columbia, employment climbed 0.3% to 2.944 million, with 7,800 jobs added in September. Metro Vancouver experienced stronger growth, with employment rising 0.8% to 1.691 million. Provincially, the unemployment rate ticked up by 0.2 percentage points to 6.4%, while Vancouver’s rate dipped by 0.2 points to 6.2%.

Although these figures reflect some momentum, the broader labour market remains soft. Canada has shed more than 100,000 jobs in recent months, and overall employment growth has been essentially flat since January. The national unemployment rate is still at its highest level since May 2016 (excluding the pandemic years).

Given these conditions, this moderate uptick is unlikely to influence the Bank of Canada’s policy direction ahead of its October meeting. However, markets still anticipate one more rate cut before year-end as the Bank works to support a slowing economy amid easing inflationary pressures from tariffs.