Economic and Social Reports, January 2026

There are three new articles available in today's release of Economic and Social Reports.

Employment continues to grow regardless of potential occupational exposure to artificial intelligence

Since the widespread availability of generative artificial intelligence (AI), marked by the release of ChatGPT in November 2022, employment generally grew regardless of potential occupational exposure to and complementarity with AI. The article "Canadian employment trends in the era of generative artificial intelligence: Early evidence" found that, from November 2022 to December 2025, jobs potentially more exposed to and less complementary with AI (e.g., coders, accountants, financial analysts) grew by 10% for men and 5% for women. These growth rates were not substantially different from other occupations.

Over the same period, employees aged 30 to 49 years and employees with a bachelor's degree or above saw job gains in the 10% to 20% range, while younger employees and less educated employees (except for those with a trades certificate or diploma) saw gains of 5% or less. However, similar trends were observed prior to the mass availability of generative AI tools.

Job vacancies rose sharply in late 2021 and continued to increase into 2022 as the economy was recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but vacancies began decreasing to their pre-pandemic levels shortly after. There is no clear evidence that vacancies in jobs potentially more exposed to and less complementary with AI declined at a faster rate than other types of job vacancies following the widespread availability of generative AI.

The diffusion of AI is still in its early stages. Moreover, multiple overlapping economic shocks—ranging from post-pandemic labour market adjustments and increased immigration to recent trade tensions with the United States—make it challenging to disentangle the potential impacts of AI on employment growth. The transformative potential of AI and uncertainty about longer-term consequences highlight the need for continued tracking and monitoring of the labour market to inform discussions surrounding career planning and reskilling.

Journeyperson occupations may be less exposed to artificial intelligence but could face a higher risk of automation-related job transformation

AI and automation hold the potential to transform the nature of work, raising concerns about how different occupations may be affected. In May 2025, journeypersons—e.g., plumbers, carpenters, welders—represented over 1 million employees or 6% of all employees aged 18 years and older in Canada.

The article "Potential occupational exposure to artificial intelligence and automation among certified journeypersons in Canada" found that journeyperson occupations may face lower exposure to AI-related job transformation relative to other occupations because they tend to be more labour-intensive. However, they could face a higher risk of automation because of the repetitive nature of some tasks.

In journeyperson occupations, 20% of employees could face a high risk of automation (i.e., 70% chance or higher of a job becoming automated in the future) compared with 13% of employees in other occupations. Men made up 85% of all employees in these occupations. The results did not vary significantly between men and women.

These results offer insights into how different technologies may transform labour-intensive occupations. Moreover, the findings can inform discussions related to reskilling and career planning given concerns surrounding the potential implications of emerging technologies on the workforce.

Indigenous-owned businesses employ more Indigenous workers than non-Indigenous-owned businesses

The study "Indigenous employment and income in Indigenous-owned businesses: A comparative analysis" fills an important data gap by linking business ownership information with employee characteristics to provide a novel analysis of Indigenous employment within Indigenous-owned and non-Indigenous-owned businesses.

Across all sectors, regions and firm sizes, Indigenous-owned businesses employ substantially higher shares of Indigenous workers than non-Indigenous-owned businesses. For example, in the construction sector, Indigenous employees represented 24.8% of workers in Indigenous-owned businesses in 2022, compared with 4.3% of those in non-Indigenous-owned businesses. In the manufacturing sector, Indigenous employees represented 16.0% of workers in Indigenous-owned businesses compared with 2.6% of those in non-Indigenous-owned businesses. Indigenous employees also earned more in Indigenous-owned businesses in nearly every sector, with income gaps exceeding 25% in 8 of the 13 sectors.

Disaggregated data by Indigenous distinction group show that Indigenous-owned businesses also tended to employ notable shares of workers from the same identity group. For example, 16.1% of employees in First Nations-owned businesses identified as First Nations, 15.2% of those in Métis-owned businesses identified as Métis, and 43.1% of those in Inuit-owned businesses identified as Inuit. These patterns may, in part, reflect the demographic composition of the areas where Indigenous-owned businesses are located and the tendency for businesses to hire locally.

By combining administrative and survey data, the study provides new insights into labour market inclusion, representation and income outcomes for Indigenous peoples. The findings of the study can inform policies aimed at supporting Indigenous entrepreneurship, promoting Indigenous peoples' labour market inclusion, and strengthening their economic participation.