Quick facts

In June 2019:

  • There were 12.1 million people in Ontario aged 15 years or older
    • 7.9 million (65%) were either working or actively looking for work
    • 7.4 million (61%) were employed and 81% of them had a full-time job
  • Ontario's unemployment rate was 5.4% (427,900 unemployed people)

Employment decreased in June

Employment in Ontario decreased in June (7,000), following an increase of 20,900 jobs in May.

Chart 1 shows employment in Ontario from January 2014 to June 2019.

Line graph for chart 1 shows employment in Ontario increasing from 6,843,000 in January 2014 to 7,431,000 in June 2019.

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

Download data, chart 1

Full-time vs. part-time

Full-time employment declined by 12,900 and accounted for all the net job losses. Part-time jobs increased by 6,000.

Employment increase/decrease by age

Youth employment (those aged 15 to 24) decreased by 8,600 jobs in June, after decreasing by 9,000 jobs in May.

Employment for people aged 25 to 54 decreased by 18,900 in June, compared to May. Those aged 55 and older gained 17,100 jobs.

Employment in Canada was unchanged in June, after increasing by 27,700 in May.

Unemployment rate increased to 5.4%

Chart 2 shows unemployment rates, Ontario and Canada, January 2014 to June 2019.

Line graph for chart 2

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

Download data, chart 2

Ontario’s unemployment rate increased to 5.4% in June from 5.2% in May. Ontario’s unemployment rate has remained at or below 6.0% since August 2017.

Canada’s unemployment rate increased to 5.5% in June from 5.4% in May.

Unemployment rate by age

For people aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate was 12.0% in June, up from 11.3% in May.

The unemployment rates for people aged 25 to 54 increased to 4.4% in June from 4.1% in May and fell to 4.1% from 4.3% for those aged 55 and older.

Lowest and highest unemployment rates

Chart 3 shows Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) with highest and lowest unemployment rates in Canada, June 2019.

Bar graph for image 3

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0294-01, (seasonally adjusted data three-month moving average to reduce volatility caused by small sample size).

Download data, chart 3

Barrie recorded the highest unemployment rate in Ontario in June (6.4%), while St. John’s, Newfoundland recorded the highest unemployment rate in Canada (8.1%).

Kingston recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario in June (4.6%), while Québec City recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Canada (2.4%).

Year-over-year comparisons

Over the first six months of 2019, employment in Ontario increased by 173,500 net jobs for adults 25 years and older compared to the first half of 2018.

Employment increase and decrease by education level

Chart 4 shows Ontario employment change by highest level of education attained, aged 25 and older, June 2018 year-to-date to June 2019 year-to-date.

Bar chart , image 4

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0019-01, unadjusted data

Download data, chart 4

Adults with a university degree led gains with 126,700 net new jobs, followed by those with a postsecondary certificate or diploma (67,100)

Individuals with some postsecondary education recorded job losses of 47,400.

People with less than high school education also recorded job losses (11,400), while those with high school education recorded job gains of 38,100.

Unemployment rate by education level

The unemployment rate for adults aged 25 and older with postsecondary education credentials was unchanged at 4.1% in the first half of 2019, compared with a year earlier.

The unemployment rate for adults without postsecondary education credentials was 6.3%, up from 6.1% a year ago.

Employment increase and decrease by occupation

Chart 5 shows Ontario employment change by occupation, June 2018 year-to-date to June 2019 year-to-date 

Bar graph, image 5

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0297-01, unadjusted data.

Download data, chart 5

Eight of the ten major occupational groups in Ontario had net employment gains in over the fist six months of 2019 compared to a year earlier.

Learn more about the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system.

These occupations gained the most jobs:

  • sales and service (67,900)
  • trades, transport and equipment operators (43,400)
  • natural and applied sciences and related (37,300)

These occupations lost jobs:

  • manufacturing and utilities (18,900)
  • management (17,000)

Long-term unemployment decreased

Chart 6 shows Ontario's long-term unemployed (27 weeks or more) as a percentage of total unemployment, June 2011 year-to-date to June 2019 year-to-date

Bar graph, image 6

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, Table 14-10-0056-01, unadjusted data.

Download data, chart 6

Over the first six months of 2019, an average of 68,600 people were unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, or long-term unemployed. This was down from 73,200 a year earlier.

Long-term unemployed individuals accounted for 15.2% of the total number of unemployed people in the first six months of 2019. This compared with 16.8% a year earlier.

Average time in long-term unemployment

The average time in unemployment decreased to 16.0 weeks in over the first six months of 2019 from 17.4 weeks a year earlier.

Download data

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

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