Labour Force Survey, March 2021

Released: 2021-04-09

March Labour Force Survey (LFS) data reflect labour market conditions during the week of March 14 to 20.

Compared with the February 2021 reference week, public health measures were less restrictive in several provinces during the March LFS reference week. Stay-at-home orders had been lifted for all regions of Ontario by March 8, although personal care services, recreation and fitness facilities, and in-person dining remained closed in some areas, including Toronto. In Quebec, measures affecting restaurants, and recreation and entertainment facilities were eased in some regions in late February and early March, while Montréal and surrounding regions remained under the highest level of restriction.

Lockdown measures in Newfoundland and Labrador were partially eased on February 27 and again on March 11, although in-person dining remained closed in St. John's and the Avalon Peninsula. Various measures were also eased in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.

Employment growth continues and unemployment rate falls

Employment rose by 303,000 (+1.6%) in March. Combined with an increase of 259,000 (+1.4%) in February, this brought employment to within 1.5% (-296,000) of its February 2020 level. The unemployment rate fell 0.7 percentage points to 7.5%, the lowest level since February 2020.

The employment rate–the percentage of the population aged 15 and older that is employed—increased 0.9 percentage points to 60.3%, which was 1.5 percentage points below the rate seen in February 2020.

Employment gains in March were spread across most provinces, with the largest increases in Ontario, Alberta, British Columbia and Quebec. Much of the employment increase reflected continued recovery in industries—including retail trade and accommodation and food services—where employment had fallen in January in response to public health restrictions. Growth in health care and social assistance, educational services, and construction also contributed to the national increase in March.

Employment increased for both men and women in all major age groups in March. Compared with February 2020, employment among youth aged 15 to 24, particularly young women (-122,000; -9.5%), remains furthest behind.

Chart 1 
Employment within 296,000 of February 2020 level

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the labour market. Compared with February 2020, there were 296,000 (-1.5%) fewer people employed in March 2021, and 247,000 (+30.4%) more people working less than half of their usual hours. The number of workers affected by the COVID-19 economic shutdown peaked at 5.5 million in April 2020, including a drop in employment of 3.0 million and an increase in COVID-related absences from work of 2.5 million.

Both part- and full-time work up in March

Both full- (+175,000; +1.2%) and part-time (+128,000; +3.9%) work increased in March. Full-time work continued to grow across a broad range of industries, while the increase in part-time work mostly reflected continued growth in services-producing sectors such as restaurants, recreation, and retail trade, as many businesses were permitted to reopen to customers in March following restrictions in previous months. Part-time employment was 3.8% (-136,000) lower than in February 2020 while full-time work was down 1.0% (-160,000).

Private sector employees drive employment growth in March

The number of private sector employees rose 201,000 (+1.7%), as public health restrictions continued to ease through late February and early March. This added to gains of 226,000 (+1.9%) in February 2021 and brought the number of private sector employees to within 2.4% (-300,000) of its February 2020 level.

Public sector employment continued on an upward trend, increasing by 46,000 (+1.1%) in March. Compared with February 2020, the number of public sector employees was up 160,000 (+4.1%).

Self-employment rose for the first time in three months, up 56,000 (+2.1%) in March. Proportionally, it remained furthest from pre-pandemic levels, down 5.4% (-156,000) compared with February 2020. The number of self-employed workers had been on a relatively continuous downward trend since the onset of the pandemic.

Chart 2 
Employment up for both employees and the self-employed

Number of Canadians working at locations other than home increases for the second consecutive month

Among workers who worked at least half their usual hours in March, the number working at locations other than home increased by about 600,000 for the second consecutive month as public health restrictions eased across the country.

While the number of Canadians working from home declined by 200,000 in March, working from home remains an important adaptation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 5.0 million Canadians working from home in March, more than half (2.9 million) were doing so temporarily in response to COVID-19.

Total hours worked approaches pre-COVID level

Along with employment, total hours worked across all industries is a core indicator of the state of the labour market. Total hours worked can be influenced by a number of factors such as employment growth, compositional change in employment by industry and occupation, and changes in absences from work.

Total hours worked rose 2.0% in March, driven by gains in several industries, including educational services, retail trade, and construction. Building on a steady upward trend since April 2020, this brought total hours to within 1.2% of February 2020 levels. Hours worked among the self-employed continued to be much further behind (-7.7%) February 2020 levels, while hours among employees returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Unemployment rate falls to lowest level since start of pandemic

The unemployment rate declined for the second consecutive month, falling 0.7 percentage points to 7.5% in March, the lowest since February 2020. This reflected strong employment growth that exceeded the number of people entering the labour market.

The number of people unemployed fell 148,000 (-8.9%) in March, with the majority (59.0%) of people leaving unemployment becoming employed. Despite sharp reductions in both February and March, the number of people unemployed stood at 1.5 million, up 371,000 (+32.4%) compared with February 2020.

Consistent with a second month of employment rebound, the number of people on temporary layoff fell by 106,000 (-41.2%) in March. The number of long-term unemployed—people who had been looking for work or on temporary layoff for 27 weeks or more—held steady in March. There were 286,000 (+159.5%) more people in long-term unemployment compared with February 2020.

Chart 3 
Unemployment rate lowest since February 2020

Unemployment rate edges up among South Asian Canadians, little changed for other visible minority groups

In March, the unemployment rate edged up 1.2 percentage points to 9.9% among South Asian Canadians aged 15 to 69, but was unchanged in the other six largest population groups designated as visible minorities (not seasonally adjusted). The unemployment rate for visible minority groups overall (9.4%) was little changed and remained higher than that of Canadians who are not Indigenous nor a visible minority, whose unemployment rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 7.5%.

Labour market underutilization rate at lowest level since the beginning of pandemic

The labour underutilization rate reflects the proportion of people in the potential labour force who are: unemployed; want a job but have not looked for one; or are employed but working less than half of their usual hours for reasons likely related to COVID-19. When used in combination with the unemployment rate, the labour underutilization rate sheds light on the extent to which COVID-19 has resulted in the economy not generating employment for those who want to work and are available to do so.

In March, the labour underutilization rate fell 1.9 percentage points to 14.7%, the lowest level since February 2020. All components of labour underutilization decreased, including those who were employed but worked less than half their usual hours (-159,000; -13.1%); those on temporary layoff or with arrangements to start a job in the near future (-106,000; -41.2%); those who wanted a job but did not look for one (-57,000; -10.3%); and job searchers (-42,000; -3.0%).

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a wide range of indicators have been used to fully capture the extent of labour market impacts. If those who wanted a job but were not actively looking for one, and therefore did not meet the definition of unemployed, were included in the count of the unemployed, the adjusted unemployment rate in March would be 9.7% (down 1.0 percentage points from February 2021).

Infographic 1 
Notable drop in people working less than half their usual hours

Employment rate and labour force participation rate close in on pre-pandemic levels

As the labour market adjusts to the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the share of the population that is employed, and the share that is participating in the labour market, will be important indicators of labour market conditions.

In March, the employment rate—that is, the share of the population aged 15 and older that is employed—increased 0.9 percentage points to 60.3%, 1.5 percentage points below the rate seen in February 2020. Prior to the pandemic, the employment rate had been hovering between 61% and 62% for several years.

The labour force participation rate—that is, the share of the population aged 15 and older that was either employed or unemployed—rose 0.5 percentage points to 65.2% in March, 0.3 percentage points lower than February 2020. Before the onset of COVID-19, the participation rate had hovered around 65% through most of 2018 and edged up closer to 66% for much of 2019.

Employment up in industries most affected by easing of public health restrictions

As public health restrictions were further eased in several provinces in March, the number of people working in several industries most affected by these restrictions increased. At the same time, notable gains were also seen in health care and social assistance, educational services, and construction.

Employment in retail trade rose by 95,000 (+4.5%) in March, fully recouping the remainder of the losses sustained in January and bringing employment back to the levels observed before the pandemic in February 2020. Ontario contributed the most to the monthly employment gain.

Employment in information, culture and recreation increased for the first time since September as 62,000 (+9.4%) more people worked in this industry in March. This gain fully offset the declines observed over the previous five months, and returned employment to within 7.1% of its pre-COVID levels.

There were 21,000 (+2.4%) more people working in accommodation and food services in March. Although losses associated with the December and January lockdowns have been erased, employment remains furthest from full recovery at 24.4% (-298,000) below February 2020 levels.

Chart 4 
Recovery to pre-COVID employment varies across industries

Notable employment gain in health care and social assistance

In March, the number of people working in health care and social assistance rose by 47,000 (+1.9%). Gains were spread across the country, including in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia. Employment in the industry has hovered around its pre-COVID level since January. According to data from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey, the health care and social assistance industry recorded more job vacancies (88,600) than any other sector for the third consecutive month in January.

Employment gains continue in educational services

After increasing by nearly 30,000 in February, employment in educational services increased a further 35,000 (+2.4%) in March, almost entirely as a result of gains in Ontario and Alberta. Part of this increase was due to spring break being moved to mid-April in Ontario to limit the spread of COVID-19, affecting typical seasonal patterns for some workers in this industry. Compared with February 2020, employment in this industry was up 86,000 (+6.2%).

Employment in professional, scientific and technical services little changed for a second month

Employment in professional, scientific and technical services was little changed for the second consecutive month in March. Despite this pause, employment in the industry was up 6.0% (+92,000) compared with February 2020.

Payroll employment results from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) for January 2021 showed that, within the industry, scientific research and development services (+6.0%), and computer systems design and related services (+5.0%), were up the most compared with pre-pandemic levels, while advertising, public relations, and related services (-11.4%) was the furthest behind.

Growth in goods-producing sector resumes on the strength of construction

Following little change in February, employment in the goods-producing sector rose 43,000 (+1.1%) in March, with construction contributing the most to the gain (+26,000; +1.8%).

Employment in the natural resources industry also increased (+7,000; +2.2%), with Alberta (+4,400; +3.2%) and British Columbia (+2,900; +5.9%) accounting for nearly all of the rise.

The number of people working in manufacturing was little changed in March. Employment in this industry has been hovering around pre-pandemic levels since September.

Employment increases in most provinces

Employment increased in seven provinces in March, including Ontario and Quebec. Employment was unchanged in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan.

For further information on key province and industry level labour market indicators, see "Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app."

Employment in Ontario rose by 182,000 (+2.5%) in March, accounting for 60.1% of the national increase. Gains were in full- and part-time work and were spread across a number of industries, including a notable increase in retail trade. The unemployment rate fell 1.7 percentage points to 7.5%. In the Toronto census metropolitan area (CMA), employment rose 64,000 (+2.0%), the first increase since October 2020.

In Quebec, employment rose by 26,000 (+0.6%) in March, following a notable increase in February. The unemployment rate held steady at 6.4%. In the Montréal CMA, where tighter public health restrictions remained in place as of the LFS reference week, employment was little changed.

Employment increased in Alberta (+37,000; +1.7%), British Columbia (+35,000; +1.3%) and Manitoba (+6,300; +1.0%) in March. The unemployment rate fell 0.8 percentage points in Alberta to 9.1% and was unchanged in both British Columbia (6.9%) and Manitoba (6.8%).

In Newfoundland and Labrador, employment rose by 13,000 (+6.5%) as lockdowns imposed in February were lifted. The unemployment rate declined 2.9 percentage points to 12.4%.

Employment also rose in Prince Edward Island (+1,300; +1.7%) and the unemployment rate fell 1.1 percentage points to 8.1%.

Employment up in the Northwest Territories

The Labour Force Survey collects labour market data in the territories produced in the form of three-month moving averages.

In the Northwest Territories, employment increased by an estimated 700 people in the first quarter of 2021 and the employment rate (employment as a percentage of the population aged 15 and older) rose 1.8 percentage points to 68.5%. The unemployment rate was little changed at 6.4%.

Following an increase in the fourth quarter of 2020, employment in Yukon was little changed in the first quarter. Over the same period, more people were searching for work and the unemployment rate rose 1.5 percentage points to 6.7%.

Employment in Nunavut held steady for the second consecutive quarter. The unemployment rate was 7.5% in the first quarter.

Young women continue to face challenges despite growth in youth employment

Employment among youth aged 15 to 24 rose 115,000 (+5.0%) in March, with gains entirely in part-time work. This followed an increase of 100,000 (+4.5%) in February. Increases in March were evenly split between young men (+56,000; +4.6%) and young women (+59,000; +5.3%).

Youth employment fell sharply in December and January as renewed public health restrictions affected industries with high youth employment such as retail trade. After gains in February and March, these losses have been regained and youth employment was closer to February 2020 levels (-6.2%; -161,000) than at any time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Young women continue to be more affected than young men by pandemic-related changes in the labour market. Compared with February 2020, employment was down more among young women (-122,000; -9.5%) than among young men (-39,000; -3.0%) in March. Much of this difference was attributable to the retail trade industry, where employment was down 27,000 among young women but up 43,000 for young men (not seasonally adjusted). Within retail trade, young men and women tend to work in different types of businesses. For example, in 2019, one in five (21.8%) young women employed in retail worked in clothing and clothing accessories stores, compared with 7.5% of young men. Payroll employment results from the SEPH show that the clothing and clothing accessories subsector of retail trade has been hardest hit since the start of the pandemic.

The unemployment rate for youth fell 3.1 percentage points in March to 14.0%, but remained 3.6 percentage points higher than in February 2020. In contrast with recent months, the unemployment rate was not significantly higher among young women (13.8%) than among young men (14.1%) in March.

Among young men, the labour force participation rate—the share of the population that is either employed or unemployed—was up 1.5 percentage points in March to 64.4%, as the increase in employment more than offset the decline in the unemployed. This brought their labour force participation to a rate on par with that seen in February 2020.

For young women, labour force participation was little changed in March at 62.6%, as the increase in employment was similar to the decrease in the unemployed. The labour force participation rate of young women was 2.7 percentage points lower than in February 2020.

Employment continues to recover among core-aged Canadians

Building on an increase of 134,000 (+1.1%) in February, employment among people aged 25 to 54 rose a further 87,000 (+0.7%) in March, with gains focussed in full-time work. The employment increase was similar among core-aged women (+30,000; +0.5%) and men (+56,000; +0.9%). This brought employment to within 61,000 (-0.9%) of its pre-pandemic level for core-aged men, and within 77,000 (-1.3%) for women.

The labour force participation rate for core-aged adults—or the proportion of this age group who are either employed or unemployed—rose 0.4 percentage points to 87.7% in March and has been similar to pre-pandemic levels for both men and women since September 2020.

The unemployment rate fell half a percentage point for core-aged men to 6.4% in March, the lowest rate since February 2020. Following declines in February, the unemployment rate for core-aged women held steady at 6.4% in March.

Employment among older Canadians returns to pre-pandemic levels

Employment among people aged 55 and older rose by 101,000 (+2.5%) in March. While this brought total employment for this age group back to pre-pandemic levels, the employment rate was 0.8 percentage points lower than in February 2020, as the population in this age group increased 2.4% over the period.

March employment gains among older workers were primarily in full-time work. Increases were seen among both women (+3.3%; +60,000) and men (+1.8%; +41,000) and were spread across a number of industries, particularly retail trade, and professional, scientific, and technical services.

The unemployment rate for people aged 55 and older fell 0.9 percentage points to 6.3% in March, 1.1 percentage points higher than in February 2020.

Employment rate for very recent immigrants remains stable

COVID-19 travel restrictions have brought the number of newcomers to Canada to a record low. With the population of very recent immigrants (people who have been in Canada for less than five years) falling faster than their employment, the employment rate for this group recovered quickly from losses early in the pandemic. In the three months ending in March, the employment rate for this group was 65.4%, little changed from the three months ending in February 2020.

Compared with the three-month period immediately before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (December 2019 to February 2020), the employment rate for immigrants who have been in Canada for five years or more, was down 2.3 percentage points to 57.4% in March, while for people born in Canada, the rate fell 3.1 percentage points to 58.3% (not seasonally adjusted).

Employment rate still below pre-pandemic levels for both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians

Among Indigenous people, the employment rate for the three-month period ending in March was 52.7% (not seasonally adjusted). This was 3.5 percentage points lower than what it was during the three-month period immediately before the pandemic (December 2019 to February 2020). Over the same period, the employment rate among non-Indigenous Canadians fell 2.7 percentage points to 58.5% (not seasonally adjusted).

Looking ahead: Public health restrictions tighten in response to the third wave

LFS results over the past year have demonstrated the extent to which employment—particularly part-time employment among youth and women—responds to public health measures intended to contain the spread of COVID-19.

Since the March LFS reference week, restrictions have been tightened in a number of jurisdictions across Canada, including in British Columbia, Quebec and Ontario, where "circuit breaker" lockdowns of various degrees have been implemented in recent weeks. The labour market impact of these new restrictions may be reflected in April LFS results, to be released on May 7.

Sustainable Development Goals

On January 1, 2016, the world officially began implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development—the United Nations' transformative plan of action that addresses urgent global challenges over the next 15 years. The plan is based on 17 specific sustainable development goals.

The Labour Force Survey is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the global sustainable development goals. This release will be used to help measure the following goals:

Products

More information about the concepts and use of the Labour Force Survey is available online in the Guide to the Labour Force Survey (Catalogue number71-543-G).

The product "Labour Force Survey in brief: Interactive app" (Catalogue number14200001) is also available. This interactive visualization application provides seasonally adjusted estimates by province, sex, age group and industry. The interactive application allows users to explore and personalize the information presented.

The product "Labour Market Indicators, by province and census metropolitan area, seasonally adjusted" (Catalogue number71-607-X) is also available. This interactive dashboard provides customizable access to key labour market indicators. Users can configure an interactive map and chart showing labour force characteristics at the national, provincial or census metropolitan area level.

The product "Labour Market Indicators, by province, territory and economic region, unadjusted for seasonality" (Catalogue number71-607-X) is also available. This dynamic web application provides access to labour market indicators for Canada, province, territory and economic region and allows users to view key labour market indicators, observe geographical rankings for indicators using an interactive map and table, and copy data into other programs.

The product Labour Force Survey: Public Use Microdata File (Catalogue number71M0001X) is also available. This public use microdata file contains non-aggregated data for a wide variety of variables collected from the Labour Force Survey. The data have been modified to ensure that no individual or business is directly or indirectly identified. This product is for users who prefer to do their own analysis by focusing on specific subgroups in the population or by cross-classifying variables that are not in our catalogued products.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).