Canada’s labour market stayed mostly steady in June, with a small gain in employment and a slight dip in the unemployment rate.
Source(s): Labour Force Survey (3701), tables 14-10-0287-02 and 14-10-0292-02./Credit: Statistics Canada
Employment rose by 18,000, or 0.1 per cent, after a much stronger increase of 88,000 jobs in May. The national unemployment rate edged down to 6.5 per cent, while the employment rate rose by 0.1 percentage points to 60.8 per cent. That brings the employment rate back to where it stood in January.
The story looks different depending on age. Young workers, aged 15 to 24, saw employment rise by 33,000, or 1.2 per cent. Their unemployment rate fell to 12.7 per cent, down 0.7 percentage points from May. That is a clear improvement, though it is still above the pre-pandemic average of 10.8 per cent recorded from 2017 to 2019.
Core-aged workers, those between 25 and 54, also gained 33,000 jobs. The unemployment rate held at 5.5 per cent for women and 5.7 per cent for men in that group.
Older workers moved in the other direction. Employment among people aged 55 and over fell by 47,000, or 1.1 per cent, and their unemployment rate rose to 5.2 per cent.
Students looking for summer work had a somewhat better June than last year. Among returning students aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate was 15.3 per cent, down from 17.4 per cent in June 2025. The picture was strongest for returning students aged 20 to 24, whose unemployment rate fell to 8.2 per cent.
Source(s): Labour Force Survey (3701), table 14-10-0355-01./Credit: Statistics Canada
By industry, accommodation and food services added 15,000 jobs, marking a third straight monthly increase. Manufacturing lost 17,000 jobs, wiping out May’s gain. Agriculture fell by 7,600 jobs, while utilities declined by 7,300.
Wages continued to rise. Average hourly wages reached $37.20 in June, up 3.3 per cent, or $1.19, from a year earlier.
Provincially, Nova Scotia added 4,800 jobs and Saskatchewan gained 2,900. Quebec edged up by 14,000, while Ontario, British Columbia and the other provinces were little changed.
In the territories, unemployment has been rising in Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Yukon reached 7.3 per cent in the second quarter of 2026, while the Northwest Territories hit 8.1 per cent. Nunavut remained higher at 11.6 per cent.