There were three unemployed Canadians for every job vacancy in December, according to a report from Statistics Canada released Thursday.
That marks a slight increase from a year earlier as the job market tightens and competition grows amid the trade war and U.S. tariffs, which will hit the one-year mark in March.
There were 514,600 job vacancies in December 2025, which was down 3.8 per cent from a year earlier and the highest number of vacant positions since March of last year.
At the same time, the number of unemployed Canadians increased in December by 49,100, according to the Labour Force Survey released separately.
December’s unemployment rate was 6.8 per cent of Canada’s working age population, and up from 6.5 per cent in November.
A job vacancy can exist for a variety of reasons.
Some businesses may be facing a skills gap or sector-specific shortage, where employers may not be able to find candidates with specific qualifications or skills for the roles that are open.
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Employee departures can also lead to job openings that are counted as vacancies in the month if they haven’t been filled yet. This can include people who may have resigned, retired or taken a temporary absence, such as maternity/paternity leave or for sickness.
Job vacancies were up the most in accommodation and food services with 10,600 openings, while construction job openings increased by 6,000, manufacturing by 2,900 and educational services by 2,000.
Sectors where job vacancies fell in December, meaning vacant jobs were either filled or eliminated, included health care and social assistance with a 10,700 decline, while retail trade fell by 7,300 openings, and agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting fell by 1,700.
The Bank of Canada released a report in December after surveying more than 500 Canadian hiring managers the month before about their outlook for the first six months of 2026. Nearly a third of companies, or 29 per cent, said they have open positions they haven’t been able to fill.
The report from the Bank of Canada said one of the challenges for hiring managers appeared to be a skills gap, with 49 per cent saying applicants lacked relevant experience, 47 per cent cited a lack of hard skills and 44 per cent said it was soft skills.
Thursday’s report from Statistics Canada also included a measure of what it calls “payroll employment,” or the number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer.
Unlike the Labour Force Survey, payroll employment does not include self-employed people, owners and partners of unincorporated businesses and professional practices and those employed in agriculture.
Payroll employment decreased in December by 0.2 per cent, or 35,400 from November, and down 0.2 per cent from a year earlier.
The decrease was mainly seen in manufacturing by 7,400, in wholesale trade by 6,300, and in transportation and warehousing by 5,900.
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