Quick facts

In November 2020:

  • There were 12.4 million people in Ontario aged 15 years or older
    • 8.0 million (65%) were in the labour force, including those who had worked, were unemployed or did not work at their job, which includes people on temporary layoff because of ongoing COVID-related business closures. The labour force was similar in November compared to October
    • 7.3 million (59%) were employed, up 0.6% (36,600 jobs) from October
  • Ontario's unemployment rate decreased to 9.1% in November from 9.6% in October and 733,700 people were unemployed, down 3.5% (34,300) from October

Important note:

This report is based on the Labour Force Survey (LFS), a household survey carried out by Statistics Canada. November’s LFS results covers labour market conditions as of the week of November 8 to 14.

Ontario’s mandatory closure of non-essential businesses and other measures aimed at addressing the impact of covid 19 took effect on March 24.

On October 10, some businesses in Ottawa, Peel, Toronto, and York Region were required to close or significantly restrict services due to modified Stage 2 public health restrictions by the Ontario government. Further restrictions have since been introduced across the province on a regional basis based on five levels of public health measures. These restrictions remained in place in November.

The types of businesses that were deemed essential and remained open during the covid 19 economic shutdown and the types of businesses that reopened at the different stages of the Ontario government’s plan for reopening the economy should be considered in the context of information provided in this report.

Employment increased in November

Employment increased by 36,600 (0.5%) in November compare to 30,600 (0.4%) in October, marking the sixth consecutive increase since May. The pace of employment increase has slowed.

With November’s increase and net job gains of 905,200 over the past six months, employment is within 3.3% of its pre-COVID February level and now totals 7,303,800.

The total number of hours worked in Ontario in November (at all jobs) was down by 4.5% compared to November 2019 (data are not seasonally adjusted).

Chart 1 shows employment in Ontario from January 2015 to November 2020.

Line graph for chart 1 shows employment in Ontario from January 2005 to November 2020

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 jobs accounted for all the increase in November (59,300 or 1.0%), while part-time jobs decreased (−22,700 or −1.7%).

Employment change by sex and age

Employment among women rose by 0.6% (19,800) between October and November, faster than the pace of employment increase for men (0.4% or 16,600). Women’s employment level remains 3.8% (135,900) lower than in February, while November’s employment level for men was 2.9% (115,100) lower compared to February.

Youth employment (those aged 15 to 24) increased by 12,100 (1.3%) in November, compared with an increase of 13,100 (1.5%) in October. Youth were disproportionally impacted by job losses during the February-May downturn period and are furthest from their pre-COVID February employment level (−9.6%) than other age groups.

Employment for people aged 25 to 54 was largely unchanged in November (1,700 or 0.0%), following an increase of 22,900 (0.5%) in October. Employment for those aged 55 and older increased by 22,800 (1.4%) jobs in November, following a modest decline of 5,300 (−0.3%) in October.

Nationally, employment in Canada increased by 62,100 (0.3%) in November, after rising by 83,100 (0.5%) in October. November’s increase brought employment to within 573,800 (3.0%) of its pre-COVID February level and now totals 18,615,600.

Employment increase and decrease by industry

The government’s restrictions on the types of businesses that were deemed essential and other measures aimed at addressing the impact of covid 19 should be considered in the context of employment change by sector.

Over half (57.0%) of the job losses over the February to May period were concentrated in four sectors — wholesale and retail trade, accommodation and food services, manufacturing and health care and social assistance. These sectors account for 58.8% of the jobs gained since May.

Employment was furthest from pre-COVID February levels in accommodation and food services (−19.1%), transportation and warehousing (−14.2%), business, building and other support services (−13.3%), agriculture (−8.5%) and utilities (−6.1%).

Employment was above pre-COVID February levels in forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas (12.8%), finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (3.5%), professional, scientific and technical services (2.7%), and manufacturing (1.7%).

Chart 2 shows industries by employment change in Ontario, February 2020 to November 2020.

Bar graph for chart 2

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

Download data, chart 2

Unemployment rate decreased to 9.1%

hart 3 shows unemployment rates, Ontario and Canada, January 2005 to November 2020.

Line graph for Chart 3

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

Download data, chart 3

Ontario’s unemployment rate in November was 9.1%, down from 9.6% in October. The unemployment rate is still much higher than the rate in February (5.5%).

Canada’s unemployment rate fell to 8.5% in November from 8.9% in October.

Unemployment rate by sex and age

The unemployment rate for women was 9.8% in November, down from 10.2% in October, while the rate for men fell to 8.5% from 9.0% during the period. Women remain further behind their pre-COVID employment level than men.

The pace of recovery has been uneven across the province and Ontarians who belong to groups designated as visible minorities continued to have a higher unemployment rate (10.7%) in November than Ontarians who were not Indigenous and not visible minority (7.0%).

For individuals aged 15 to 24, the unemployment rate declined to 20.2% in November from 22.1% in October and remain the highest among all age groups. The youth unemployment rate reached a record high of 30.0% in May and June.

The unemployment rate for individuals aged 25 to 54 increased to 7.6% in November from 7.5% in October; it dropped to 6.5% from 7.3% for those aged 55 and older.

Long-term unemployment

In November, an average of 184,600 people or a quarter of all unemployed people were unemployed for 27 weeks or longer (long-term unemployed). This was down from 190,300 in October and more than 2.6 times higher that the pre-COVID February 2020 total of 70,700 long-term unemployed people.

The average time in unemployment increased to 18.1 weeks in November 2020 from 15.8 weeks in February.

Chart 4 shows the number of people unemployed for 27 weeks or more in Ontario, January 2005 to November 2020.

Line graph for Chart 4

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

Download data, chart 4

Employment and unemployment in urban centres

Employment change in urban centres

Chart 5 shows the rate of employment change for Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) from October 2020 to November 2020.

Bar graph for chart 5

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 5

Employment levels rose across most CMAs between October and November, although gains were generally modest. Hamilton (2.2% or 8,300) recorded the highest percentage employment increase, followed by Toronto (1.5% or 52,100), Kingston (1.4% or 1,200) and Thunder Bay (1.2% or 700).

Barrie (−2.2% or −2,700) recorded the largest percentage decline in employment, notably followed by Guelph (−0.9% or −800) and Peterborough (−0.6% or −300),

Employment in all but three of Ontario's urban centres remained below February 2020 levels in November, led by Barrie (−9.0% or −11,600), Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (−8.6% or −26,700) and Windsor (−8.3% or −13,900).

In November, employment was above February 2020 levels in Oshawa (1.6% or 3,500), Brantford (1.2% or 900) and Guelph (1.1% or 1,000).

Lowest and highest unemployment rates in urban centres

Chart 6 shows Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) with highest and lowest unemployment rates in Canada, November 2020.

Bar graph for chart 6

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 6

Ontario Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) recorded some of the highest unemployment rates in Canada in November. Peterborough recorded the highest unemployment rate in Canada in November (11.9%), followed by Edmonton, at 11.3%.

Brantford recorded the lowest unemployment rate in Ontario in November (6.6%), while the City of Quebec had the lowest unemployment rate in Canada (4.3%).

Download data

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey

November 2020 Labour Market Report:

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