Canada sees record-high job vacancies in the first quarter of 2022

June 24, 2022

Job vacancies in Canada climbed to 957,500 in the first quarter, the highest quarterly number on record according to Statistics Canada.

The number of job vacancies has spiked by more than 72% representing about 401,900 positions compared to the first quarter of 2020. Job vacancies in Q1 2022 surpassed the previous record high numbers recorded in Q4 2021 by nearly 3%, representing 24,900 more vacant positions.

The health care and social assistance sector reached another all-time high at 136,800 vacancies. Labour shortages in this sector were high before the pandemic, but COVID-19 pushed up demand even further. Compared with the first quarter of 2020, vacancies rose nearly 91% (65,100 positions) in the first quarter of 2022.

Source: By CIC News