Canada’s rapid population growth is leading to a mismatch in the job market, with many newcomers unable to find work. The country added over 82,000 people to its labor force in August, but net employment rose by only 22,100.
This trend highlights challenges in absorbing new residents into the workforce.
A growing pool of newcomers to Canada can’t find work or aren’t looking, as businesses hire at a slower pace while the population continues to balloon.
The number of working-age people in the country rose by 96,400 in August, Statistics Canada reported Friday, a result of the country’s rapid population growth, which is among the fastest in the world. Over 82,000 people joined the country’s labor force last month, but net employment rose just 22,100.
In the last three months, Canada’s economy has created one new job for every six workers who joined the labor force on net, the lowest rate in over a year. It’s a stark deceleration from the start of the year, when the number of jobs was actually growing faster than the number of available workers.
While labor force growth was high in August, the longer trend shows a rising share of newcomers — many of whom are students — aren’t searching for work.
Over the last year, the number of people over 15 surged by 1.1 million. About half looked for employment, and only 54% of those looking were successful, according to Bloomberg calculations.
