Up only in the three biggest
In July 2026 Canada had 2.9 unemployed people for every job vacancy, against 2.2 in July 2019. Statistics Canada published the 2.9 on 24 September and put it 0.3 lower than a year earlier, mostly because 105,200 fewer people were unemployed. The number of vacancies, 501,000, was little changed on the month and on the year; in July 2019 it was 534,900.
The rise since 2019 is not spread across the country. It sits entirely in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia: Ontario went from 2.3 unemployed people per vacancy to 3.5, Quebec from 1.6 to 2.5 and British Columbia from 1.3 to 2.5. In the six other provinces with a July figure it fell: Newfoundland and Labrador from 9.5 to 5.8, New Brunswick from 4.2 to 3.3, Alberta from 3.6 to 2.8, Saskatchewan from 3.3 to 2.4, Nova Scotia from 3.0 to 2.7 and Manitoba from 2.9 to 1.9.
In July 2019 the three biggest provinces had the three lowest ratios in the country. Taken together, they went from 1.8 unemployed people per vacancy to 3.0, while the six others went from 3.7 to 2.7. The three are home to 74% of Canada’s unemployed, which is why their turn moves the national figure.
Fewer vacancies where most of the unemployed live
In the three biggest provinces the two halves of the ratio moved against each other. Between July 2019 and July 2026 vacancies fell by 13% in Ontario, 18% in Quebec and 22% in British Columbia, while the number of unemployed people rose by 36%, 24% and 48%.
Elsewhere vacancies rose. Saskatchewan had 58% more than in July 2019, Manitoba 51% more and Alberta 49% more, and Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick between 6% and 22% more. Saskatchewan and Alberta also had more unemployed people than in 2019, by 18% and 15%, but their vacancies rose faster.
In all, the three biggest provinces have 72,000 fewer vacancies than in July 2019, a fall of 17%, and the six others 39,000 more, a rise of 40%. Ontario alone had 170,800 vacancies in July, against 196,200 in July 2019; Alberta had 73,100, against 49,200.
| Province | Unemployed per vacancy, July 2019 | Unemployed per vacancy, July 2026 | Change | Vacancies, July 2019 | Vacancies, July 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | 2.2 | 2.9 | +0.7 | 534,900 | 501,000 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 9.5 | 5.8 | -3.7 | 3,500 | 4,300 |
| Ontario | 2.3 | 3.5 | +1.2 | 196,200 | 170,800 |
| New Brunswick | 4.2 | 3.3 | -0.9 | 8,600 | 9,100 |
| Alberta | 3.6 | 2.8 | -0.8 | 49,200 | 73,100 |
| Nova Scotia | 3.0 | 2.7 | -0.3 | 12,400 | 13,300 |
| Quebec | 1.6 | 2.5 | +0.9 | 133,400 | 109,200 |
| British Columbia | 1.3 | 2.5 | +1.2 | 102,200 | 79,600 |
| Saskatchewan | 3.3 | 2.4 | -0.9 | 10,300 | 16,300 |
| Manitoba | 2.9 | 1.9 | -1.0 | 13,800 | 20,900 |
| Prince Edward Island | 2.6 | No data | 2,900 | No data | |
What the ratio counts
It divides one survey by another. The unemployed come from the Labour Force Survey: people without work who are available and looking, or about to start a job. The vacancies come from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey: posts that are empty or about to be, with work to do that month, for which the employer is recruiting outside the organisation.
It is not the number of applicants per job. An unemployed person can apply for many vacancies or for none, and a vacancy can be filled by someone already in work or by someone who was not looking. The ratio compares the size of two pools.
And its latest month is not final. Statistics Canada revises the monthly vacancy estimates when the quarterly survey is complete, and grades each one from A to F. Every estimate used here is graded between A and D; Prince Edward Island’s July 2026 estimate, graded F, was not published.
- UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE, from the Labour Force Survey: people without work who are available and looking for it, or on temporary lay-off, or about to start a job, counted where they live. Not everyone who would like a job, and not the number of people claiming benefits.
- JOB VACANCIES, from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey: posts that are empty on the first day of the month or will be during it, with work to do that month, for which the employer is actively recruiting outside the organisation, counted where the job is. Not job advertisements, and not jobs that exist.
- A RATIO OF TWO POOLS, not applicants per job. An unemployed person can apply for many vacancies or for none, and a vacancy can be filled by someone already in work or by someone who was not looking. Every comparison here is July against July, seasonally adjusted.
So 3.5 in Ontario does not say that three and a half people apply for each job, or that jobs were lost: it says that in July 2026 Ontario had 3.5 residents without work and looking for every vacancy its employers were trying to fill, against 2.3 in July 2019.
Two surveys, one divided by the other, and a reading that forgets what each counts says what the source does not.
What these figures do not say
They name no cause. Population growth, immigration, interest rates, tariffs and artificial intelligence have all been offered to explain Canada’s labour market, and none of them is measured here.
They do not say that jobs were lost. A vacancy is a post an employer is still trying to fill, so fewer vacancies means fewer unfilled posts, not fewer posts. Nor do they say that anyone moved from one province to another.
They cover the ten provinces and not the territories, which the ratio leaves out, and they forecast nothing.
