Discover youth job vacancy trends in Canada

Understanding job vacancies

The number of job vacancies is the number of unfilled positions among employers, illustrating the extent of unmet labour demand. A high number of vacancies could indicate labour shortages, meaning there is insufficient labour to fill the open positions.  

A position is considered vacant in the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS) if it meets the following criteria (Statistics Canada, 2024e):    

• The position is vacant on the reference date, or is expected to become vacant in the following month,  
• There are associated tasks to be carried out over the following month,    
• The employer is actively recruiting outside the organisation, and
• The position is not reserved for non-employees such as volunteers, external consultants, or subcontractors.  Vacancy rates can signal a lot about the labour market. High and prolonged vacancy rates can tell us where employers are struggling to fill positions, and where there is a high demand for work from employers.  

Vacancies data is subject to revision, and exact counts may flucuate with subsequent releases. Data may be suppressed when drilling down into smaller geographies and/or detailed occupations due to small sample sizes or unreliable data quality.Why view job vacancies?

Vacancies can provide early signals of where additional training or upskilling is needed in a region. A higher number of vacancies could indicate a need for more training, while a lower number typically signals a healthy balance between labour supply and demand.  

Table notes  

Geography

Provinces, territories, and Canada.  

Category

Choose between the minimum level of education required (“Educational attainment”) or the minimum experience level sought (“Experience level”).  

Educational Attainment

No minimum level of experience required
Jobs that have no education requirement listed.

High school diploma or equivalent
Job postings that require a high school education

Non-university certificate or diploma
Includes the following credentials:

• Trade certificate or diploma, or apprenticeship certificate
• College, CEGEP and other non-university certificates or diplomas

University degree below a bachelor’s level

• This usually includes professional associations in fields such as accounting, banking, insurance or public administration. The certificates and diplomas referred to in this category do not require a bachelor's degree as a prerequisite.

Bachelor’s degree 
Those with a bachelor’s degree.  

Graduate degree (above a bachelor’s degree) 
Master’s or doctoral degree.  

Experience Level

The minimum experience level sought. Including:  

• All levels of experience
• Less than 1 year of experience
• 1-3 years of experience
• 3-5 years of experience
• 5-8 years of experience
• 8 years or more

Occupation Groups  

The occupations provided align with broad categories of the 2021 National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes (or the first-digit NOC groupings).

References

Statistics Canada. Job vacancies, proportion of job vacancies and average offered hourly wage by occupation and selected characteristics, quarterly, unadjusted for seasonality. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=1410044301  

Statistics Canada. National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0. https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3VD.pl?Function=getVD&TVD=1322554

Statistics Canada, Classification of highest educational attainment. https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3VD.pl?Function=getVD&TVD=1313761

Statistics Canada. Guide to the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, 2024. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-514-g/75-514-g2024001-eng.htm