Job vacancies held steady in the fourth quarter of 2025 at 495,100, following three straight quarters of decline, according to Statistics Canada.
Year over year, job vacancies were down by 8.9% (-48,100) in the fourth quarter, the smallest proportional year-over-year decline since the fourth quarter of 2022.
Job vacancies rose for full-time positions (up 5,100 or 1.4%) and fell for part-time positions (down 4,300 or 3.4%) in the fourth quarter of 2025. At the same time, job vacancies held steady for both permanent and temporary positions.
The job vacancy rate, or the number of vacant positions over total labour demand, was 2.8% for the third straight quarter. The job vacancy rate had previously declined steadily from the record high of 5.6% reached in the second quarter of 2022.
Employers had an easier time filling posts in Q4, with the proportion of vacancies where recruitment efforts have been ongoing for 90 days or more falling to 28.5% from 32.6% in the same period in 2024.
As it became easier to fill roles, employers raised the bar on required experience. The proportion of vacant positions requiring five or more years of experience was 12.9% in the fourth quarter of 2025, a record high. And the proportion of jobs that required a bachelor’s degree or higher was 16.9%, just below the 17.7% recorded in the first quarter of the same year.
The number of unemployed persons per job vacancy fell from 3.2 to 3.1 in the fourth quarter of 2025, the first quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2022. The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of 2025 was 6.8%, down from 7% in the previous quarter.
The average hourly wage offered for vacant positions was $29.25 in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 95 cents (3.4%) year over year. In the same period, the average hourly wage for all employees was up 3.5%.
On a quarterly basis, job vacancies were up in three broad occupational groups in the fourth quarter: trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (up 3,800 or 4.3%); business, finance and administration occupations (up 3,300 or 5%); and manufacturing and utilities (up 1,100 or 6.3%).
Meanwhile quarterly vacancies were down in two broad occupational groups: sales and service (down 4,100 or 2.8%); and legislative and senior management (down 200 or 27.8%).
Job vacancies increased in Quebec (up by 5,300 to 118,700) and Saskatchewan (up by 1,200 to 17,100) in the fourth quarter, but was little changed in other provinces and territories.
Monthly Statistics Canada data released last week showed an uptick in unemployment by 0.2 percentage points to 6.7% in February 2026. Canadian employers cut 84,000 positions last month, surprising economists. Compared to February 2025, total employment was little changed.
Despite a flurry of hiring in late 2025, back-to-back months of job losses to start 2026 mean the economy has added just 80,000 positions over the past six months.