January to March, 2024

Introduction

About the Ontario Employment Report

The Ontario Employment Report is released four times a year and provides an assessment of the current trends and developments in the Ontario labour market. The Ontario Employment Report is a companion report to the Ontario Economic Accounts, which provides an overall assessment of the current state of the Ontario economy.

Methodological note

In the current issue, year-over-year change represents change between the averages in the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024. Note that the Ontario Economic Accounts report primarily shows changes between two consecutive quarters.

This report uses seasonally adjusted data in charts displaying data with a monthly frequency in the Overview section.

Unadjusted data are used in charts and tables showing the changes for the current quarter compared with the same quarter for the previous year. Unadjusted data are also used to calculate annual averages, year-to-date averages and 2024 first quarter averages.^{footnote 1[1]}

All estimates in this report are based on Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey (LFS), which measures the current state of the national, provincial, and territorial labour market. The LFS is based on a household survey carried out monthly by Statistics Canada in reference weeks of each month. The reference periods for the three months of the first quarter of 2024 are January 14 to 20, February 11 to 17, and March 10 to 16.

Overview

Ontario’s labour market overview

Employment:

• +89,600 net jobs in Q1 2024, year-over-year
• +31,200 net full-time jobs in Q1 2024, year-over-year
• +26,100 net jobs in March 2024
• -1,400 net full-time jobs in March 2024

Unemployment rate:

• 6.6% in Q1 2024
• 6.7% in March 2024

Year-over-year, Ontario’s employment increased by 1.2% (+89,600) in the first quarter of 2024, while Canada’s employment grew by 1.8% (+355,600).

Ontario’s unemployment rate was 6.6% in the first quarter of 2024, higher than the Canadian rate of 6.2%.

In March 2024, Ontario’s employment increased (+26,100, +0.3%), driven by gains in part-time employment (+27,500, +2.0%). Canada’s employment was little changed in March 2024 (-2,200, -0.0%).

In March 2024, the unemployment rate in Ontario increased for the second consecutive month to 6.7%, compared to 6.5% in February 2024 and 6.2% in January 2024. The unemployment rate in Canada also increased to 6.1% in March 2024 from 5.8% in the previous month and 5.7% in January 2024.

Year-over-year overview

Ontario’s labour market, January 2014 – March 2024 (seasonally adjusted)

Between the first quarters of 2023 and 2024:

• employment gains were driven by growth in part-time employment (+4.2%), while full-time employment also increased (+0.5%);
• employment increased in all the sectors with the largest growth in the public sector (+4.4%), followed by the private sector (+0.3%), and self-employment (+0.5%);
• employment increased in services-producing industries (+1.4%) and slightly declined in goods-producing industries (-0.1%);
• employment increased in most regions, with Southwestern Ontario (+2.0%) experiencing the highest rate of employment growth; and
• employment increased for core-aged workers (+2.5%) and older workers (+1.1%), while youth employment declined (-5.4%).

Type of Work

Employment change by work status, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023

Year-over-year, full-time employment increased by 0.5% and part-time employment increased by 4.2% in the first quarter of 2024.

Employment change by employment sector, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023

Year-over-year, employment increased by 4.4% in the public sector,^{footnote 2[2]} by 0.3% in the private sector, and by 0.5% for the self-employed.

Employment change by above-average wage and below-average wage industries, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023^{footnote 3[3]}

Year-over-year, paid employment increased by 1.9% in above-average wage industries and by 0.8% in below-average wage industries.

Sector and occupation

Employment change by industry, goods-producing industries, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023

Employment in goods-producing industries was little changed (-0.1%) in the first quarter of 2024, compared to the same period in 2023. Employment gains in manufacturing (+12,400, +1.6%) were offset by employment declines in the remaining goods-producing industries, with the largest declines in construction (-6,600, -1.2%) and agriculture (-4,800, -6.5%).

Employment change by industry, services-producing industries, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023

In the first quarter of 2024, employment increased in the services-producing industries (+90,600, +1.4%) compared to the same period in 2023. Seven services-producing industries experienced employment growth with professional, scientific and technical services (+53,700, +6.6%) experiencing the largest employment gain, followed by transportation and warehousing (+34,100, +9.1%), which also experienced the largest rate of employment growth. Four industry groups experienced a decline in employment with the largest decrease in wholesale and retail trade (-32,400, -2.9%).

Employment change by occupational group, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023^{footnote 4[4]}

Year-over-year, management occupations (+114,700, +14.4%) experienced the largest employment gain followed by natural and applied sciences and related occupations (+32,500, +4.3%) and occupations in education, law and social, community and government services (+21,300, +2.3%). Four occupational groups experienced a decline in employment with the largest decrease in sales and service occupations (-48,700, -3.0%).

Geographic region

Ontario regions^{footnote 5[5]}

Employment change by Ontario region, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023^{footnote 6[6]}

Year-over-year, employment increased in all Ontario regions in the first quarter of 2024, except for Northern Ontario (-11,000, -3.1%). The Greater Toronto Area (GTA)^{footnote 7[7]} experienced the largest employment gain (+47,400, +1.3%), followed by Central Ontario (+22,500, +1.3%), Southwestern Ontario (+17,300, +2.0%), and Eastern Ontario (+13,400, +1.3%). Southwestern Ontario had the highest rate of employment growth (+2.0%).

Unemployment rates by Ontario region, Q1 2024^{footnote 8[8]}

In the first quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate increased in all regions. The GTA had the highest unemployment rate (7.3%), followed by Central Ontario (6.3%), Southwestern Ontario (6.1%), and Northern Ontario (6.1%). Eastern Ontario had the lowest unemployment rate (5.1%).

Participation rates by Ontario region, Q1 2024^{footnote 9[9]}

Labour force participation rates ranged from 57.1% in Northern Ontario to 65.8% in the GTA in the first quarter of 2024. Year-over-year, labour force participation rates declined in all regions.

Age and gender

Employment change by age group and gender, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023

Compared to the same quarter last year, core-aged workers aged 25 to 54 years posted the highest rate of employment growth (+2.5%), followed by older workers aged 55 years and over (+1.1%). Employment declined for youth aged 15 to 24 years (-5.4%).

Year-over-year, employment increased more for males (+1.3%) than females (+1.0%).

Unemployment rates by age group and gender, Ontario, Q1 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, youth had the highest unemployment rate (14.3%), followed by core-aged individuals (5.7%) and older individuals (4.6%). Compared to the same period last year, the unemployment rate increased by 3.5 percentage points for youth, 1.3 percentage points for core-aged individuals, and 0.2 percentage point for older individuals.

In the first quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate for males (7.2%) was higher than that of females (5.9%). Compared to the same period last year, the unemployment rate increased by 0.9 percentage point for females and 1.7 percentage points for males.

Participation rates by age group and gender, Ontario, Q1 2024

In the first quarter of 2024, core-aged individuals had the highest labour force participation rate (88.2%), followed by youth (54.8%) and older individuals (37.3%). Compared to the first quarter of 2023, the participation rate decreased by 4.9 percentage points for youth, increased by 0.1 percentage point for the core-aged population and decreased by 0.2 percentage point for older individuals.

Males had a higher participation rate (68.6%) than females (60.2%) in the first quarter of 2024. Compared to the same period last year, the participation rate decreased by 0.7 percentage point for females and 0.5 percentage point for males. The gap in labour force participation rates between males and females widened when compared to the first quarter of 2023 from 8.1 percentage points to 8.4 percentage points.

Education level and immigrant status

Employment rates by education level and immigrant status (core-aged population), Ontario, Q1 2024^{footnote 10[10]}

In the first quarter of 2024, core-aged individuals with less than a high school diploma continued to have the lowest employment rate (58.8%), while those with a university degree recorded the highest employment rate (87.8%), followed by those with a postsecondary certificate or diploma (85.4%).

Year-over-year, the employment rate for core-aged people decreased across all education levels.

Those born in Canada had the highest employment rate (85.6%), while very recent immigrants had the lowest employment rate (76.7%).

Year-over-year, the employment rate increased for the core-aged population born in Canada (+0.2 percentage point) and recent immigrants (+1.6 percentage points). Core-aged very recent immigrants (-2.0 percentage points) and established immigrants (-1.9 percentage points) recorded employment rate decreases.

Unemployment rates by education level and immigrant status (core-aged population), Ontario, Q1 2024^{footnote 11[11]}

In the first quarter of 2024, the core-aged population with a university degree and those with a postsecondary certificate/diploma had the lowest unemployment rates (5.1% and 5.2%, respectively), while those with a high school diploma (7.8%) and less than high school education (10.6%)^{footnote 12[12]} had higher unemployment rates. Year-over-year, the unemployment rate of core-aged people increased across all education levels.

In the first quarter of 2024, the core-aged population born in Canada had the lowest unemployment rate (4.9%), while very recent immigrants had the highest unemployment rate (10.0%). Year-over-year, the unemployment rate increased for all groups by immigrant status.

Participation rates by education level and immigrant status (core-aged population), Ontario, Q1 2024^{footnote 13[13]}

In the first quarter of 2024, among the core-aged population, those with a university degree continued to have the highest participation rate (92.5%), while those with less than high school education had the lowest participation rate (65.7%). Year-over-year, the participation rate increased among those with a university degree (+0.3 percentage point), but decreased for those with a high school diploma (-1.2 percentage points) and those with less than high school education (-0.1 percentage point). The participation rate for those with a postsecondary certificate/diploma was unchanged.

In the first quarter of 2024, core-aged very recent immigrants had the lowest participation rate (85.2%) compared to recent immigrants, established immigrants and those born in Canada. Year-over-year, the participation rate increased for most groups by immigrant status with the exception of established immigrants (-1.2 percentage points). Recent immigrants recorded the largest increase in the participation rate (+2.9 percentage points).

Wages

Average hourly wages by employment status, Ontario, 1997-2023

Over the last two and a half decades, the average hourly wage increased in real terms^{footnote 14[14]} (i.e., after accounting for inflation) from $28.88 in 1997 to $34.63 in 2023, with the growth rate averaging 0.7% per year. Over this period, part-time workers and full-time workers experienced similar annual growth in real wages (+0.7%).

Average hourly wage growth by type of work, Ontario, Q1 2024 over Q1 2023^{footnote 15[15]}

In the first quarter of 2024, the average hourly wage of Ontario employees was $36.01, an increase of 5.8% from the first quarter of 2023.^{footnote 16[16]}

Part-time employees (+7.5%), temporary employees (+6.5%) and employees with no union coverage (+6.7%) experienced larger increases in average hourly wages when compared to full-time employees (+5.9%), permanent employees (+5.7%) and employees with union coverage (+3.7%).

Consumer Price Index inflation over the first quarter of 2024 compared to the first quarter of 2023 was 2.6%.

Average hourly wage rate and wage growth by occupational group, Ontario, Q1 2024^{footnote 17[17]}

Year-over-year, almost all broad occupational groups experienced growth in average hourly wages, led by health occupations (+7.9%), occupations in natural resources, agriculture and related production (+5.5%), sales and service occupations (+5.5%) and management occupations (+5.1%). Occupations in art, culture, recreation and sport was the only group to record a decline in average hourly wages (-0.5%).

Appendix I

Overview of annual employment ten-year review, Ontario

Employment by region (000)

Unemployment rate by region (%)

Total employment by CMA (000)

Greater Toronto Area

Central Ontario

Eastern Ontario

Southwestern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Overview of quarterly employment year-over-year, Ontario

Employment by Region (000)

Unemployment Rate by Region (%)

Total Employment by CMA (000)

Greater Toronto Area

Central Ontario

Eastern Ontario

Southwestern Ontario

Northern Ontario

Overview of monthly* labour force characteristics, Ontario

* Seasonally adjusted.