It’s no secret that the job market in Canada isn’t doing too hot, but if you’re struggling to get hired, it could be because you live in the city.
That’s according to a recently published report from Hiring Lab, Indeed’s data insights division.
The report highlights that job opportunities have been on the decline nationwide since 2022, and job growth has been mixed across various regions.
However, there are particular parts of the country where job opportunities are more promising than others.
What parts of Canada are seeing more job vacancies?
Certain provinces are seeing higher job vacancy rates when compared to levels at the beginning of the pandemic.
The report referenced Statistics Canada data for these findings.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia saw their Q2 2024 job vacancy rates exceed those of February 2020.
Indeed
However, these rates were also low to begin with, as they were below 3% in all four provinces at the start of 2020.
Almost every other province (excluding Newfoundland) saw its Q2 2024 job vacancy rates drop compared to early 2020 levels.
Where in Canada will you find more postings?
While it may seem that living in a larger city may result in more job postings, Hiring Lab says that’s not exactly the case.
“On average, the smaller the size of the labour market, the stronger the job postings are compared to pre-pandemic levels,” reads the report.
Hiring Lab grouped census agglomerations and rural areas and found that less-populated regions in the country showed a 17% increase in overall job postings in early September compared to February 2020.
Indeed
Conversely, large job markets like Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver were down 19% during the same period.
When it comes to net changes in specific cities, the largest drop in postings were reported in St.Catharines/Niagara (-26%), Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge (-24%), Vancouver (-23%), Toronto (-22%), and Fort McMurray (-21%).
Indeed
The largest gains were seen in smaller communities like North Bay (79%), Saguenay (61%), Lethbridge (57%), and Medicine Hat (51%).
“This pattern also extended outside urban areas: Job postings in non-urban areas were up more than 10% from early-2020 levels in all provinces except Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland and Labrador,” states the report.
As for demand for certain jobs, that depends on the local labour market.
Higher-paying roles in areas like management, legal services, and industrial engineering, will see their availability tied to the strength of that job market.
This trend is also seen in mid-wage jobs like accounting, construction, and manufacturing.
Other jobs, like healthcare, aren’t necessarily tied to the strength of local labour demand, notes Hiring Lab.
Why are we seeing weaker trends in bigger cities?
The report states that weaker job trends in bigger cities can be due to a few factors.
First, the “industry mix” of these cities can mean they’re likely to experience more hiring freezes — particularly in the tech sector.
These places have also felt more pressure from past interest rate hikes, with elevated home prices and household debt.
This, in turn, impacts other economic factors like consumer spending.
So, if you’re on the hunt for work, you’re best bet might be leaving the big city for a smaller town.