The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—was little changed in April (-6,200), following two consecutive declines in February and March. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 30,400 (+0.2%) in April.
Chart 1: Payroll employment little changed in April, following two consecutive months of declines in February and March
Description - Chart 1
Source: Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (2612), table 14-10-0220-01.
In April, monthly payroll employment declines were recorded in 9 of 20 sectors, including manufacturing (-7,300; -0.5%), accommodation and food services (-5,800; -0.4%), retail trade (-5,000; -0.3%), and administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (-4,700; -0.6%). These declines were partially offset by gains in health care and social assistance (+10,800; +0.4%), public administration (+6,200; +0.5%) and educational services (+5,200; +0.4%). The remaining eight sectors were little changed.
Meanwhile, job vacancies decreased by 16,800 (-3.2%) to 501,300 in April, following nine consecutive months of little change. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 91,400 (-15.4%).
Chart 2: Payroll employment in April decreases in nine sectors and increases in three
Description - Chart 2
Data table: Payroll employment in April decreases in nine sectors and increases in three
1. Payroll employment changes are not statistically significant.
Source: Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (2612), table 14-10-0220-01.
Payroll employment in manufacturing decreases in April
Payroll employment in the manufacturing sector decreased by 7,300 (-0.5%) in April, following little change in March and a decline of 5,900 (-0.4%) in February. Payroll employment in manufacturing was down by 13,500 (-0.9%) in the period from January to April.
The decline in April was led by the transportation equipment manufacturing (-2,100; -1.1%), plastics and rubber products manufacturing (-1,000; -1.0%) and machinery manufacturing (-900; -0.7%) subsectors. Motor vehicle parts manufacturing (-900; -1.2%) and aerospace product and parts manufacturing (-800; -1.8%) accounted for most (80.2%) of the decline in the transportation equipment manufacturing subsector in April.
On a year-over-year basis in April, payroll employment in automotive manufacturing industries (which include motor vehicle, motor vehicle parts and motor vehicle body and trailer manufacturing) was down by 2,100 (-1.7%), largely reflecting a decline in motor vehicle parts manufacturing (-2,400; -3.3%).
Payroll employment in accommodation and food services trends downward since January
Payroll employment in accommodation and food services (-5,800; -0.4%) decreased in April, contributing to a cumulative decline of 15,000 (-1.2%) since January 2025. The declines over this period were driven by full-service restaurants and limited-service eating places (-14,800; -1.5%) and traveller accommodation (-3,500; -2.1%).
Payroll employment in retail trade records third consecutive monthly decline in April
Payroll employment in retail trade decreased by 5,000 (-0.3%) in April, following declines in February and March. Since February, payroll employment in retail trade has fallen by 20,300 (-1.0%).
Monthly declines in April were recorded in eight out of nine subsectors, led by building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers (-1,800; -1.3%); clothing, clothing accessories, shoes, jewelry, luggage and leather goods retailers (-1,000; -0.5%) and general merchandise retailers (-1,000; -0.4%).
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in retail trade was down by 33,400 (-1.7%) in April.
Health care and social assistance records payroll employment increase in April
Payroll employment in health care and social assistance increased by 10,800 (+0.4%) in April, more than offsetting the decrease recorded in March (-5,100; -0.2%). Since August 2022, payroll employment in this sector has generally trended upward, recording an increase of 230,000 (+10.4%) over the period.
The monthly gain in April 2025 was broad-based, with increases recorded in 10 out of 18 industries, led by general medical and surgical hospitals (+4,000; +0.6%), out-patient care centres (+3,800; +2.2%) and nursing and care facilities (+1,700; +0.7%).
Payroll employment gains in public administration in April
Payroll employment in public administration rose by 6,200 (+0.5%) in April, following three consecutive months of little change. The gains in April were led by local, municipal and regional public administration (+2,800; +0.6%).
Year over year, payroll employment in public administration was down by 4,400 (-0.3%) in April. This was led by a decline of 13,000 (-3.3%) in federal government public administration, which was partially offset by an increase of 9,500 (+1.9%) in local, municipal and regional public administration over this period.
Average weekly earnings increase both on a month-over-month and year-over-year basis
Month over month, average weekly earnings were up 0.8% to $1,297 in April, following little change in March.
Year over year, average weekly earnings were up 4.4% in April, following an increase of 4.1% in March. In general, growth in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects.
Average weekly hours (33.5 hours) were little changed on a month-over-month and year-over-year basis in April.
Job vacancies decrease in April
In April, job vacancies in Canada decreased by 16,800 (-3.2%) to 501,300, following nine consecutive months of little change. On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were down by 91,400 (-15.4%).
The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—was 2.8% in April, down from 2.9% in March. That was the lowest job vacancy rate since October 2017 (when it was also 2.8%). Year over year, the rate was down by 0.5 percentage points from April 2024 (3.3%).
There were 3.1 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in April, up from 2.9 in March. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was up by 0.8. This increase was the result of a decrease in job vacancies (-90,000; -15.3%, excluding territories) coupled with an increase in the number of unemployed persons (+188,500; +13.9%). Over the same time period, the unemployment rate increased from 6.2% to 6.9% (according to the Labour Force Survey).
Chart 3: Total labour demand and job vacancy rate decrease in April
Description - Chart 3
The title of the chart is "Total labour demand and job vacancy rate decrease in April"
This is a linear and bar combination chart.
The vertical axis on the left shows the number of job vacancies and number of payroll employment in thousands, by increments of 1000. It starts at 13,000 and ends at 19,000.
The vertical axis on the right shows the job vacancy rate by percentage, by increments of 1 percentage point. It starts at 0.0 and ends at 6.0.
The horizontal axis shows each month from October 2020 to April 2025.
The dark red bar represents the number of job vacancies (in thousands) in the last 55 months, with 587.3 in October 2020, 573.7 in November 2020, 569.3 in December 2020, 554.5 in January 2021, 611.0 in February 2021, 636.8 in March 2021, 640.8 in April 2021, 659.0 in May 2021, 767.7 in June 2021, 815.4 in July 2021, 893.1 in August 2021, 939.9 in September 2021, 931.0 in October 2021, 912.7 in November 2021, 977.0 in December 2021, 911.9 in January 2022, 906.6 in February 2022, 984.4 in March 2022, 979.6 in April 2022, 987.7 in May 2022, 988.4 in June 2022, 983.6 in July 2022, 945.5 in August 2022, 946.3 in September 2022, 902.5 in October 2022, 872.4 in November 2022, 850.5 in December 2022, 845.5 in January 2023, 817.1 in February 2023, 795.1 in March 2023, 787.1 in April 2023, 763.2 in May 2023, 745.1 in June 2023, 726.2 in July 2023, 713.6 in August 2023, 658.4 in September 2023, 683.2 in October 2023, 672.7 in November 2023, 632.2 in December 2023, 656.0 in January 2024, 650.8 in February 2024, 598.8 in March 2024, 592.7 in April 2024, 567.9 in May 2024, 551.1 in June 2024, 549.3 in July 2024, 539.5 in August 2024, 535.8 in September 2024, 532.2 in October 2024, 539.4 in November 2024, 536.3 in December 2024, 527.9 in January 2025, 527.4 in February 2025, 518.2 in March 2025, and 501.3 in April 2025.
The blue bar represents the payroll employment (in thousands) in the last 55 months, with 15,100.6 in October 2020, 15,278.0 in November 2020, 15,248.1 in December 2020, 15,291.0 in January 2021, 15,157.4 in February 2021, 15,228.0 in March 2021, 15,432.2 in April 2021, 15,555.5 in May 2021, 15,329.8 in June 2021, 15,516.9 in July 2021, 15,835.5 in August 2021, 15,941.8 in September 2021, 16,026.9 in October 2021, 16,134.7 in November 2021, 16,202.4 in December 2021, 16,317.5 in January 2022, 16,288.0 in February 2022, 16,411.7 in March 2022, 16,512.2 in April 2022, 16,625.4 in May 2022, 16,616.2 in June 2022, 16,714.0 in July 2022, 16,751.1 in August 2022, 16,757.2 in September 2022, 16,852.9 in October 2022, 16,860.5 in November 2022, 16,928.4 in December 2022, 16,986.5 in January 2023, 17,020.5 in February 2023, 17,080.5 in March 2023, 17,077.3 in April 2023, 17,084.7 in May 2023, 17,127.6 in June 2023, 17,178.0 in July 2023, 17,151.4 in August 2023, 17,153.2 in September 2023, 17,210.1 in October 2023, 17,196.6 in November 2023, 17,129.3 in December 2023, 17,175.9 in January 2024, 17,217.4 in February 2024, 17,234.5 in March 2024, 17,284.1 in April 2024, 17,278.5 in May 2024, 17,328.0 in June 2024, 17,273.4 in July 2024, 17,290.5 in August 2024, 17,328.2 in September 2024, 17,304.0 in October 2024, 17,320.6 in November 2024, 17,305.8 in December 2024, 17,354.8 in January 2025, 17,417.0 in February 2025, 17,360.6 in March 2025, and 17,290.0 in April 2025.
The black line represents the job vacancy rate (in percentage) in the last 55 months, with 3.7% in October 2020, 3.6% in November 2020, 3.6% in December 2020, 3.5% in January 2021, 3.9% in February 2021, 4.0% in March 2021, 4.0% in April 2021, 4.1% in May 2021, 4.8% in June 2021, 5.0% in July 2021, 5.3% in August 2021, 5.6% in September 2021, 5.5% in October 2021, 5.4% in November 2021, 5.7% in December 2021, 5.3% in January 2022, 5.3% in February 2022, 5.7% in March 2022, 5.6% in April 2022, 5.6% in May 2022, 5.6% in June 2022, 5.6% in July 2022, 5.3% in August 2022, 5.3% in September 2022, 5.1% in October 2022, 4.9% in November 2022, 4.8% in December 2022, 4.7% in January 2023, 4.6% in February 2023, 4.4% in March 2023, 4.4% in April 2023, 4.3% in May 2023, 4.2% in June 2023, 4.1% in July 2023, 4.0% in August 2023, 3.7% in September 2023, 3.8% in October 2023, 3.8% in November 2023, 3.6% in December 2023, 3.7% in January 2024, 3.6% in February 2024, 3.4% in March 2024, 3.3% in April 2024, 3.2% in May 2024, 3.1% in June 2024, 3.1% in July 2024, 3.0% in August 2024, 3.0% in September 2024, 3.0% in October 2024, 3.0% in November 2024, 3.0% in December 2024, 3.0% in January 2025, 2.9% in February 2025, 2.9% in March 2025, and 2.8% in April 2025.
Note: Total labour demand is equal to the sum of payroll employment and job vacancies. Data are seasonally adjusted.
Source: Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (5217), table 14-10-0406-01.
Job vacancies decrease in two sectors
In April, job vacancies were down in finance and insurance (-4,000; -18.0%) and wholesale trade (-2,700; -13.7%).
Despite the monthly decline in April, job vacancies in finance and insurance were little changed on a year-over year basis. Compared with the peak of April 2022, vacancies in the sector in April 2025 were down by 27,000 (-59.7%).
In wholesale trade, vacancies fell for the second consecutive month in April, bringing the overall decrease since February to 5,000 (-22.9%). Vacancies in wholesale trade in April were the lowest since April 2017.
In April 2025, the job vacancy rate was highest in health care and social assistance (4.1%) and accommodation and food services (4.0%). In contrast, it was lowest in educational services (1.1%), utilities (1.7%) and management of companies and enterprises (1.7%).
Year over year, job vacancies were down in 11 of the 20 sectors in April. The largest declines were recorded in health care and social assistance (-32,700; -23.9%), accommodation and food services (-14,700; -21.7%), and construction (-6,600; -13.8%). Job vacancies were little changed in the remaining nine sectors.
Job vacancies down in four provinces
The number of job vacancies in April decreased in British Columbia (-7,300; -8.5%), Alberta (-6,300; -9.4%), New Brunswick (-1,600; -16.8%), and Newfoundland and Labrador (-1,500; -26.3%). Job vacancies were little changed in the remaining six provinces.
In April, the job vacancy rate was highest in Manitoba (3.3%) and Saskatchewan (3.3%), while it was lowest in Newfoundland and Labrador (2.1%) and New Brunswick (2.3%).
Year over year, the job vacancy rate was down in seven provinces in April, with the largest decreases being in British Columbia (-1.0 percentage points to 3.1%) and New Brunswick (-1.0 percentage points to 2.3%).
Map 1: Job vacancy rate and unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio in April 2025
Description - Map 1
The title of the map is "Job vacancy rate and unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio in April 2025"
This is a map of Canada by province showing job vacancy rate and unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Canada was 2.8% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 3.1 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Newfoundland and Labrador was 2.1% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 6.0 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Prince Edward Island was 2.5% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 3.7 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Nova Scotia was 2.8% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 3.1 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in New Brunswick was 2.3% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 3.7 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Quebec was 3.1% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 2.4 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Ontario was 2.5% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 4.0 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Manitoba was 3.3% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 2.0 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Saskatchewan was 3.3% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 1.6 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Alberta was 2.8% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 3.2 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in British Columbia was 3.1% and the unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio was 2.5 in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Yukon was 4.2% in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Northwest Territories was 3.0% in April 2025.
The job vacancy rate in Nunavut was suppressed due to its low quality (F) in April 2025.
Notes: Data are seasonally adjusted. The unemployment-to-job-vacancy ratio is not available for the territories and the ratio for Canada excludes the territories for consistency with the geographic coverage of the Labour Force Survey. Data for Nunavut were suppressed due to their low quality.
Sources: Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (5217), table 14-10-0432-01; Labour Force Survey (3701), table 14-10-0287-01.
Sustainable Development Goals
On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals. The Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. This release will be used in helping to measure the following goals:
Note to readers
Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours
The key objective of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is to provide a monthly portrait of the level of earnings, employment and hours worked, by detailed industry, at the national, provincial and territorial levels.
Payroll employment, as measured by the SEPH, refers to the number of employees receiving pay and benefits (employment income) during a given month. The survey excludes the self-employed, owners and partners of unincorporated businesses and professional practices, and employees in the agricultural sector.
SEPH estimates are produced by integrating information from three sources: a census of approximately 1 million payroll deduction records provided by the Canada Revenue Agency; the Business Payrolls Survey, which collects data from a sample of 15,000 establishments; and administrative records of federal, provincial and territorial public administration employment, provided by these levels of government.
Estimates of average weekly earnings and hours worked are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level. Payroll employment estimates are based on a census of administrative data and are not subject to sampling variability.
With each release of SEPH data, data for the preceding month are revised. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.
Statistics Canada also produces employment estimates from its Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS is a monthly household survey, the main objective of which is to divide the working-age population into three mutually exclusive groups: the employed (including the self-employed), the unemployed and those not in the labour force. This survey is the official source for the unemployment rate, and it collects data on the sociodemographic characteristics of all people in the labour market.
Employment trends from the SEPH and from the LFS generally track each other closely, especially over longer periods of time. That said, because of differences in concepts, definitions and methodologies, variations in employment levels in SEPH and in the LFS may differ, especially over shorter periods. For a more in-depth discussion of the conceptual differences between employment measures from the LFS and the SEPH, refer to Section 8 of the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (72-203-G).
The SEPH and LFS both also provide monthly indicators of pay received by employees. Used together, average weekly earnings (from SEPH) and average hourly wages (from the LFS) can provide a comprehensive portrait of pay dynamics in Canada. For information on definitions for each indicator, key conceptual and measurement differences, and guidance to data users on when to use each indicator, refer to the report "Earnings and Wages – A guide to using indicators from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours and the Labour Force Survey."
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate comparisons because the effects of seasonal variations are removed. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Non-farm payroll employment data are for all hourly and salaried employees and for the "other employees" category, which includes piece-rate and commission-only employees.
Unless otherwise specified, average weekly hours data are for hourly and salaried employees only and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 version 1.0 code.
All earnings data include overtime and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a NAICS code. Earnings data are based on gross taxable payroll before source deductions. Average weekly earnings are derived by dividing total weekly earnings by the number of employees. Changes in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects.
Base-year effect refers to the impact that trends from 12 months earlier (base month) have on the current month's estimate of year-over-year change. In the case of SEPH, when the average weekly earnings in the base month is at the peak of a short-term trend, this tends to have a downward effect on year-over-year average weekly earnings growth in the current month. In contrast, if the value of the base month is at a low point of a trend, this tends to have an upward effect on the current month's year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings.
Job Vacancy and Wage Survey
The Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS) collection is done on a quarterly basis. The quarterly sample of business locations is allocated to the three collection months of the quarter, approximately balanced by province and by industrial sector across each of the three months. This allows both quarterly and monthly estimates to be produced.
Preliminary monthly estimates are produced for job vacancies, job vacancy rates and payroll employment using available responses from business locations sampled in the corresponding reference month. The reference period for the JVWS is the first day of the respective month. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level.
These preliminary monthly estimates are revised and finalized when the corresponding quarterly estimates are released or shortly thereafter. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate comparisons because the effects of seasonal variations are removed. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
While JVWS employment is calibrated to the SEPH, SEPH payroll employment and JVWS preliminary monthly employment figures may differ because of calibration grouping and differences in scope and reference period.
The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio excludes the territories for consistency with the geographic coverage of the available LFS data (table 14-10-0287-01).
The JVWS also provides comprehensive quarterly data on job vacancies by industrial sector and detailed occupation for Canada and the provinces, territories and economic regions; offered hourly wages; and job vacancy characteristics. More information about the concepts and use of data from the JVWS is available in the Guide to the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (75-514-G).
Revisions to seasonally adjusted Job Vacancy and Wage Survey tables
On June 26, 2025, revised monthly JVWS seasonally adjusted data were released resulting in minor changes to the estimates. Estimates from April 2015 to March 2025 were republished incorporating a fine-tuning of the parameters used in the seasonal adjustment process. Estimates from April 2025 onward also use the updated seasonal adjustment parameters.
Real-time data tables
Tables 14-10-0357-01 and 14-10-0358-01 have now been archived.
Real-time data tables 14-10-0331-01 and 14-10-0332-01 will be updated on July 14, 2025.
Reference
Data tables: Access the latest tables.
- Note: some data tables may best be viewed on desktop.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers 2612 and 5217.
Previous release: Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, March 2025.
Next release: July 31, 2025.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).