Canada loses 68,000 jobs in September

Unemployment rises to 6.5%

October 9 2026 - Canadian employment fell for a second straight month in September, with the economy shedding 68,000 jobs and the unemployment rate edging up to 6.5 per cent, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The decline left 21.105 million people employed, down 0.3 per cent from August.

The employment rate slipped 0.2 percentage points to 60.6 per cent.

Average hourly wages rose 2.3 per cent from a year earlier to $37.64.

The September loss followed a drop of 42,000 jobs in August. Those two months reversed part of a spring and early-summer gain of 181,000 positions from April through July. Compared with September 2025, employment was still higher by 95,000, or 0.5 per cent.

Losses were concentrated among young workers and core-aged women. Educational services, health care and social assistance, and manufacturing all shed jobs. Public-sector employment fell by 70,000 and was down 119,000 from a year earlier, while private-sector employment was little changed in the month.

In British Columbia, employment fell by 20,000, or 0.7 per cent, to 2.929 million, the province’s first monthly decline since March. The employment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points to 60.5 per cent. The unemployment rate was little changed at 6.4 per cent.

In Greater Vancouver, the monthly figures showed a sharper move. Employment in the Vancouver census metropolitan area fell by 19,900, or 1.2 per cent, to 1.699 million, and the unemployment rate rose 0.6 percentage points to 7.1 per cent.

On the three-month moving average that Statistics Canada also publishes for metropolitan areas, employment was little changed at 1.708 million and the unemployment rate rose only 0.1 percentage points to 6.5 per cent.

The survey covers the week of September 13 to 19.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, September 2026, released October 9, 2026.

Canada loses 68,000 jobs in September