Quick facts

In August 2022:

  • There were 12.5 million people in Ontario aged 15 years or older
    • 8.1 million (64.9%) were in the labour force. The labour force increased in August (18,500 or 0.2%) compared to July.
    • 7.7 million (61.2%) were employed, down by 19,200 (-0.2%) from July.
  • Ontario's unemployment rate increased to 5.7% in August from 5.3% in July and 464,700 people were unemployed, up 37,800 (8.9%) from July.

Important note:

This report is based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), a household survey carried out by Statistics Canada. July’s LFS results cover labour market conditions during the week of August 14 to 20.

Employment decreased in August

Employment in Ontario decreased in August by 19,200 (-0.2%) to 7,667,800, after decreasing by 27,400 (-0.4%) in July. This was the third consecutive month with a decline in provincial employment.

Employment in Canada declined by 39,700 (-0.2%) in August, after decreasing by 30,600 (-0.2%) in July. A total of 19,526,800 people were employed in Canada in August.

Chart 1 shows employment in Ontario from January 2005 to August 2022.

Line graph for chart 1 shows employment in Ontario from January 2005 to August 2022.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0287-01, (seasonally adjusted data).

Download data, chart 1

Full-time vs. part-time

Part-time jobs decreased by 17,900 (-1.3%) in August, while full-time employment was little changed (-1,300 or 0.0%).

Employment change by sex and age

Employment decreased by 7,200 (-0.2%) to 3,632,200 for women in August after decreasing by 28,000 (-0.8%) in July. Employment decreased by 12,000 (-0.3%) for men, after little change (500 or 0.0%) in July. Total male employment was 4,035,600 in August.

Youth (aged 15 to 24) employment decreased by 8,000 (-0.8%) to 1,018,300 in August, after increasing by 5,800 (0.6%) in July. Employment for people aged 25 to 54 decreased by 13,300 (-0.3%) to 4,997,100, after declining by 36,800 (-0.7%) July. Employment for those aged 55 and older increased by 2,100 (0.1%) to 1,672,400, following an increase of 3,500 (0.2%) in July.

Employment change by industry

Ontario’s largest industry groups by employment in August include wholesale and retail trade (1,115,100 or 14.5% of total employment), health care and social assistance (921,300 or 12.0%), professional, scientific and technical services (801,700 or 10.5%), manufacturing (783,000 or 10.2%) and finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (671,700 or 8.8%).

Employment declined in seven of the sixteen major industry groups in August. There were notable employment losses in educational services (-19,300 or -3.4%), information, culture and recreation (-11,700 or -3.5%), construction (-9,600 or -1.6%), accommodation and food services (-5,600 or -1.4%) and transportation and warehousing (-5,200 or -1.3%).

Eight of the sixteen major industry groups recorded job gains in August. Wholesale and retail trade (8,600 or 0.8%), other services, except public administration (7,300 or 3.0%), utilities (5,100 or 8.7%), health care and social assistance (4,900 or 0.5%) and finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (4,400 or 0.7%) led job gains. Employment was little changed in professional, scientific and technical services in August.

Employment was little changed in professional, scientific and technical services in August.

Chart 2 shows industries by employment change in Ontario, July 2022 to August 2022.

Bar graph for chart 2 shows employment change by industry.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0355-02, (seasonally adjusted data).

Download data, chart 2

Employment change by occupation

Ontario’s largest occupational groups by employment in August included sales and service (1,675,500 or 21.6% of total employment), business, finance and administration (1,324,100 or 17.1%), trades, transport and equipment operators (1,007,900 or 13.0%) and management (823,300 or 10.6%).

Nine of the ten major occupational groups in Ontario had net employment gains in the first eight months of 2022 when compared to the same period in 2021. Sales and service (97,200 or 6.2%), management (96,700 or 14.3%) and natural and applied sciences (81,000 or 11.3%) led job gains.

Employment losses were recorded in art, culture, recreation and sport (-3,300 or -1.5%).

Chart 3 shows occupations by employment change in Ontario, August 2021 (year-to-date) to August 2022 (year-to-date).

Bar graph for chart 2 shows employment change by industry.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0296-01, (data unadjusted for seasonality).

Download data, chart 3

Employment change in urban centres

In August 2022, employment in all sixteen Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) was at or above its August 2021 level, led by Toronto (168,100 or 4.9%) and followed by Oshawa (19,600 or 9.5%), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (16,000 or 5.0%), St. Catharines-Niagara (15,400 or 7.8%) and Ottawa-Gatineau (15,100 or 1.9%).

Chart 4 shows employment change for Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) from August 2021 to August 2022.

Bar graph for chart 4 shows employment change by Ontario Census Metropolitan Area.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0380-01, (seasonally adjusted data three-month moving average to reduce volatility caused by small sample size).

Download data, chart 4

Unemployment rate increased to 5.7%

Chart 5 shows unemployment rates, Ontario and Canada, January 2005 to August 2022.

Line graph for Chart 5 shows unemployment rates in Canada and Ontario from January 2005 to August 2022.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0287-01, (seasonally adjusted data).

Download data, chart 5

Ontario’s unemployment rate was 5.7% in August, up from 5.3% in July. This was the second consecutive month with an increase in the provincial unemployment rate. August’s unemployment rate was well below the rate from August 2021 (7.7%).

Canada’s unemployment rate was 5.4% in August, up from a record low of 4.9% in July but below the rate from a year ago (7.1%). This was the first month with an increase in the national unemployment rate since it reached 6.5% in January 2022 (up from 6.0% in December 2021).

Unemployment rate by sex, age and visible minority status

The unemployment rate for women increased to 5.8% in August from 5.7% in July. The rate for men increased to 5.6% in August from 4.9% in July.

For individuals aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate rose to 11.4% in August from 10.7% in July. The youth unemployment rate reached a record high of 29.5% in May 2020.

The unemployment rate for individuals aged 25 to 54 increased to 4.8% in August from 4.2% in July. The unemployment rate for those aged 55 and older remained stable at 4.7% in August.

In Ontario, the unemployment rate among population groups designated as visible minorities was estimated at 7.5% in August in compared to a 4.8% rate for those who are not visible minorities and did not identify as Indigenous (data are three-month moving averages for the population aged 15 years and over and are not adjusted for seasonality).

Unemployment rate by urban centre

In August, the average unemployment rate decreased from July in six of the sixteen Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs). The largest decreases were seen in Greater Sudbury (4.5% in July to 4.0% in August), Barrie (5.4% to 5.0%) and Kingston (5.4% to 5.0%).

Eight CMAs had average unemployment rates that increased from July to August. The largest increases were seen in Belleville (3.6% in July to 5.0% in August), Windsor (6.5% to 7.5%) and St. Catharines-Niagara (4.9% to 5.8%).

The average unemployment rate was unchanged in Toronto and Hamilton.

Chart 6 shows the average unemployment rate for Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) in August 2022.

Bar graph for chart 6 shows unemployment rate by Ontario Census Metropolitan Area.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0380-01, (seasonally adjusted data three-month moving average to reduce volatility caused by small sample size).

Download data, chart 6

Long-term unemployment

In August, an estimated 90,000 Ontarians or 19.4% of all unemployed people were unemployed for 27 weeks or longer (long-term unemployed). This compared to 67,800 Ontarians or 15.9% of all unemployed people in July and 160,700 or 25.8% of all unemployed people a year earlier in August 2021. The long-term unemployed share increased by 3.5 percentage points in August after declining for two consecutive months.

The average time in unemployment was 20.9 weeks in August, well above the average in July (16.5 weeks) but below the average in August 2021 (24.0 weeks).

Chart 7 shows Ontario’s long-term unemployment (27 weeks or more) as a percentage of total unemployment, January 2006 to August 2022.

Line graph for Chart 7 shows Ontario’s long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) as a percentage of total unemployment from January 2006 to August 2022.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0342-01, (seasonally adjusted data).

Download data, chart 7

Spotlight: Average hourly wages by sex, age and industry

Important note:

The average hourly wage rates reported in this section have not been adjusted to account for the rate of inflation.

Source:Chart 8 shows average hourly wages rates, Ontario and Canada, January 2015 to August 2022.

Bar graph for chart 6 shows unemployment rate by Ontario Census Metropolitan Area.

Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0063-01 (data unadjusted for seasonality).

Download data, chart 8

The average hourly wage rate in Ontario for employees was $32.25 in August, above the average rate across Canada ($31.33). Ontario’s average hourly wage rate in August rose by 6.2% on a year-over-year basis (by $1.89 from $30.36 in August 2021), compared with 4.9% in July.

August’s wage growth (6.2%) was lower than the growth seen in the Ontario Consumer Price Index as of July (7.6%). The Consumer Price Index (CPI) is a measure of inflation that represents changes in prices for goods and services as experienced by consumers.

The average hourly wage rate was $30.15 for women in August, rising by 5.2% ($1.50) from $28.65 a year ago. For men, the average hourly wage rate was $34.21, an increase of 6.9% ($2.20) from $32.01 in August 2021.

For youth aged 15 to 24, the average hourly wage rate was $19.24 in August, an increase of 6.5% ($1.18) from $18.06 in August 2021. The average hourly wage rate for individuals aged 25 to 54 rose to $35.37 in August, up 6.8% ($2.25) from $33.12 a year ago. The average hourly wage rate for those aged 55 and older increased by 3.5% ($1.13) to $33.32 in August from $32.19 a year earlier.

In August, the industries with the largest increases in average hourly wage rates compared to a year ago were:

  1. Accommodation and food services: +18.2% ($3.07) to $19.94
  2. Professional, scientific and technical services: +13.2% ($5.07) to $43.57
  3. Business, building and other support services: +9.9% ($2.25) to $24.98

Industries with decreases in average hourly wage rates in August compared to a year ago were:

  1. Agriculture: -7.8% (-$1.68) to $19.77
  2. Public administration: -0.5% (-$0.19) to $40.77

Download data

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

August 2022 Labour Market Report:

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