Monthly Jobs Report

Every month, Adecco Canada interprets the data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. Here’s what happened in February:

Employment softens at the start of the year

Employment declined in February, falling by 84,000 (-0.4%) after a smaller decrease in January. These back-to-back losses partly offset job gains seen in late 2025. Overall employment was little changed when compared with a year earlier.

The employment rate fell 0.2 percentage points to 60.6%, also marking the second consecutive monthly decline. This level is just above the recent low of 60.5% recorded in August 2025 and is 0.4 percentage points lower than a year ago.

Job losses were mainly concentrated in full-time positions and in the private sector. Full-time employment dropped by 108,000 (-0.6%), while part-time work remained stable. The private sector employment also fell by 73,000 (-0.5%).

Rising unemployment pressures

The Canadian unemployment rate increased 0.2 percentage points to 6.7% in February as employment declined and more people searched for work. This rate was similar to a year earlier and remained below the recent peak of 7.1% recorded in August and September 2025. Meanwhile, the participation rate edged down to 64.9%, indicating fewer people were active in the labour market.

Among the 1.5 million unemployed people, 22.8% were in long-term unemployment, meaning they had been searching for work for over 6 months. This share remained higher than pre-pandemic levels, which suggests ongoing challenges for some job seekers.

Employment declined in several provinces in February

Job losses led by Quebec, where jobs fell by 57,000 (-1.2%), the first significant decline since January 2022. British Columbia also recorded losses of 20,000 (-0.7%), while employment decreased in Saskatchewan (-0.9%) and Manitoba (-0.5%).

In contrast, employment increased slightly in Newfoundland and Labrador (+0.8%), while Ontario’s employment remained stable after a sharp decline in the previous month. Despite stable employment, Ontario’s unemployment rate rose to 7.6% as more people searched for work.

Job losses spread across services and goods industries

Employment declines in February were observed across both services-producing and goods-producing industries. Services industries lost 56,000 jobs (-0.3%), while goods-producing industries declined by 28,000 (-0.7%).

The largest losses within services industries were in wholesale and retail trade (-0.6%), and in “other services” (-1.8%), which includes repair and maintenance, personal care, and laundry services. Among goods-producing industries, employment decreased in construction (-0.7%) and manufacturing (-0.5%).

Women in the workforce: progress and gaps

Women continue to represent a growing share of Canada’s workforce. In February 2026, women accounted for 47.3% of total employment, up significantly from 36.9% in 1976 when comparable data first became available. Among core-aged women (25–54), the employment rate reached 80.1%, a major increase from 48.2% in 1976.

Although the gender wage gap has narrowed over time, women still earned $0.88 for every dollar earned by men in February 2026. Core-aged women were also more likely to work part-time (15.6%) than men (6.4%), most commonly due to childcare responsibilities or because they were unable to find full-time work.

Don’t have time for a long reading? We’ve summarized the key takeaways from this month:

• Employment went down by -84,000 individuals in February (-0.4%), pushing the employment rate down by 0.2 percentage points to 60.6%./li>
• The unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.7% as employment fell and more people searched for work.
• Employment increased in Newfoundland and Labrador (+0.8%), while losses were observed in Quebec (-1.2%), British Columbia (-0.7%), Saskatchewan (-0.9%), and Manitoba (-0.5%).
• Employment decreased among youth aged 15 to 24 (-1.7%) and core-aged men (-0.6%), while it changed little among core-aged women and people aged 55 and older.
• Most industries show employment declines, led by wholesale and retail trade (-0.6%), other services (-1.8%), construction (-0.7%), and manufacturing (-0.5%).
• Average hourly wages rose +3.9% year-over-year (+$1.42 to $37.56).

References

Statistics Canada. (2026). Table 14-10-0287-01 Labour force characteristics, monthly, seasonally adjusted and trend-cycle, last 5 months [Data table]. https://doi.org/10.25318/1410028701-eng

Statistics Canada. (2026). Table 14-10-0355-01 Employment by industry, monthly, seasonally adjusted and unadjusted, and trend-cycle, last 5 months (x 1,000) [Data table]. https://doi.org/10.25318/1410035501-eng