Canadian job vacancies hit quarterly record high in Q1 led by demand in health sector

June 21, 2022

Job vacancies reached a record quarterly high of nearly one million in the first three months of 2022, continuing a trend started in the first quarter of 2016.

Statistics Canada data shows the number of job vacancies increased 2.7 per cent from the previous peak in the fourth quarter as the pool of unemployed workers shrunk to half the level in the first quarter of 2021.

Vacancies in the health care and social assistance sector reached a record high of 136,800, up five per cent from the peak of three months earlier and up 90.9 per cent compared with the first quarter of 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic pummeled the economy.

Nurse aide positions, in addition to registered nurses and licensed practical nurses accounted for 67.7 per cent of the overall vacancies in the health sector compared to the first quarter of 2020.

Employers in the construction industry also found it challenging to fill jobs in the first quarter, as 81,500 positions were vacant, up 7.1 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2021, and more than double the number observed in the first quarter of 2020.

Helper and labourer job vacancies soared 97 per cent and vacant carpenter positions were up 149.1 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2020.

Source: CTV News