Canada’s Job Market Rebounds in June 2025 with Modest Gains

Canada’s labour market showed a modest rebound in June 2025, offering a positive signal following months of sluggish employment growth. According to the latest figures, Canadian employment rose by 83,000 jobs, a 0.4% increase from the previous month, bringing the national total to 21.061 million employed.

Key Highlights from Canada’s June Labour Market:

• Employment Rate: Rose by 0.1 percentage points to 60.9%.

• Unemployment Rate: Declined by 0.1 points to 6.9%, still elevated compared to pre-pandemic norms.

• Wage Growth: Average hourly wages increased 3.2% year-over-year to $36.01.

• Total Hours Worked: Up 1.6% compared to June 2024.

British Columbia Sees Job Growth

British Columbia saw a moderate rise in employment, up 0.2%, or 5,000 jobs, for a total of 2.968 million employed in the province.

• Metro Vancouver drove much of this growth, posting a strong 1.1% employment increase to 1.735 million.

• B.C.’s unemployment rate fell sharply by 0.8 points to 5.6%, with Metro Vancouver’s rate also down 0.6 points to 5.8%.

Signs of Seasonal Hiring and a Weak Underlying Market

June marks the first significant job gain since January 2025, breaking a period of near-stagnation. However, much of this uptick came from part-time employment, pointing to seasonal and temporary hiring, likely in tourism, retail, and hospitality sectors as summer ramps up.

Despite the monthly improvement, the overall Canadian labour market remains soft, with the national unemployment rate still near pandemic-era highs. This fragility suggests that underlying economic momentum remains limited.

Implications for the Bank of Canada

Given the tepid recovery and reliance on part-time job creation, this report likely reinforces a wait-and-see approach from the Bank of Canada, making a rate hold the most probable outcome at the upcoming policy meeting. That said, rising global tariff risks and inflationary pressures may complicate monetary policy decisions going forward.