Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, March 2026
Released: 2026-05-28
$1,333.23
March 2026
3.5% 
(12-month change)
$1,290.53
March 2026
1.2%
(12-month change)
$1,177.97
March 2026
7.7%
(12-month change)
$1,210.83
March 2026
5.8%
(12-month change)
$1,231.77
March 2026
6.7%
(12-month change)
$1,283.60
March 2026
3.1%
(12-month change)
$1,368.71
March 2026
3.5%
(12-month change)
$1,214.49
March 2026
5.3%
(12-month change)
$1,288.82
March 2026
3.1%
(12-month change)
$1,371.07
March 2026
1.9%
(12-month change)
$1,348.36
March 2026
3.5%
(12-month change)
$1,520.39
March 2026
2.3%
(12-month change)
$1,741.07
March 2026
3.3%
(12-month change)
$1,874.95
March 2026
7.8%
(12-month change)
The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—edged down by 31,800 (-0.2%) in March, bringing the cumulative decline since February to 69,900 (-0.4%). On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up slightly (+23,700; +0.1%) in March.
Chart 1
Payroll employment edges down in March, following a decline in February
In March, declines in monthly payroll employment were led by accommodation and food services (-7,000; -0.5%), construction (-4,100; -0.3%), retail trade (-3,600; -0.2%), other services (except public administration) (-2,500; -0.4%) and real estate and rental and leasing (-1,900; -0.7%). Public administration (+4,300; +0.3%) and management of companies and enterprises (+900; +0.8%) recorded increases in March.
Meanwhile, job vacancies in Canada held steady at 503,300 in March. Year over year, job vacancies were down by 16,500 (-3.2%).
Chart 2
Payroll employment change by sector, March 2026
Payroll employment in accommodation and food services decreases for the second consecutive month
Payroll employment in accommodation and food services (-7,000; -0.5%) decreased for a second consecutive month in March, bringing the cumulative decline since February to 9,700 (-0.7%). Payroll employment in the sector had previously increased by 3,100 (+0.2%) in January.
The consecutive declines in the sector in February and March were broad-based, led by full-service restaurants and limited-service eating places (-6,300; -0.6%), special food services (-1,900; -2.4%) and traveller accommodation (-1,200; -0.7%).
Construction records a payroll employment decline
In March, payroll employment in construction fell by 4,100 (-0.3%), following a similar-sized decline in February (-4,200; -0.4%). Prior to these declines, payroll employment in the sector had posted a cumulative increase of 19,600 (+1.7%) from June 2025 to January 2026. The decline in March was led by foundation, structure, and building exterior contractors (-1,700; -1.2%) and residential building construction (-1,100; -0.6%).
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in construction was up by 12,700 (+1.1%) in March, led by increases in building equipment contractors (+5,700; +1.8%), non-residential building construction (+3,000; +2.4%) and other specialty trade contractors (+2,400; +1.7%).
Retail trade records a decline in payroll employment
In March, payroll employment in retail trade decreased by 3,600 (-0.2%). This decline extends a downward trend for the sector following a peak in June 2023, with an overall decline of 69,700 (-3.4%) during this period.
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in retail trade was down by 20,300 (-1.0%) in March 2026. This decline was mainly attributable to clothing and clothing accessories retailers (-6,800; -4.0%), department stores (-6,500; -6.7%), furniture, floor covering, window treatment and other home furnishings retailers (-3,700; -5.6%) and building material and supplies dealers (-3,100; -2.3%). It was partially offset by a gain in warehouse clubs, supercentres, and other general merchandise stores (+5,200; +3.2%).
Payroll employment falls in real estate and rental and leasing
In March, payroll employment in real estate and rental and leasing fell by 1,900 (-0.7%), following an increase in February (+600; +0.2%).
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in the sector was down by 3,500 (-1.2%) in March, led by activities related to real estate (-1,100; -1.6%), lessors of non-financial intangible assets (except copyrighted works) (-800; -9.0%) and offices of real estate agents and brokers (-700; -2.2%).
Payroll employment in public administration increases
Payroll employment in public administration increased in March (+4,300; +0.3%), up for the third consecutive month, bringing the cumulative increase since January 2026 to 7,500 (+0.6%). Gains over this period were concentrated in local, municipal and regional public administration (+7,100; +1.4%) and provincial and territorial public administration (+2,600; +0.7%). Meanwhile, payroll employment in federal government public administration declined by 2,500 (-0.7%) during the period from January to March.
On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment in the sector was up by 17,900 (+1.4%) in March. Net gains in local, municipal and regional public administration (+21,900; +4.3%) and provincial and territorial public administration (+3,200; +0.9%) were partially offset by a decline in federal government public administration (-9,000; -2.4%).
Average weekly earnings increase on a year-over-year basis
Month over month, average weekly earnings ($1,333) were little changed in March.
Year over year, average weekly earnings were up by 3.5% in March, following an increase of 2.8% in February. In general, growth in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects.
In March, average weekly hours worked (33.4 hours) were little changed month over month and down 0.3% on a year-over-year basis.
Job vacancies hold steady in March
In Canada, job vacancies held steady at 500,300 in March. Year over year, job vacancies were down by 16,500 (-3.2%). This decrease was significantly lower than the decline from March 2024 to March 2025, when job vacancies fell by 81,900 (-13.7%). It was also the smallest year-over-year decline since September 2019.
The job vacancy rate—which corresponds to the number of vacant positions as a proportion of total labour demand—was 2.8% in March 2026, unchanged from February. The rate was down 0.1 percentage points from March 2025 (2.9%).
There were 3.0 unemployed persons for every job vacancy in March 2026, down 0.1 from the previous month and unchanged on a year-over-year basis.
Infographic 1
Year over year, unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio unchanged in March
Job vacancies increase in three sectors and decrease in two
In March, job vacancies were up in administrative and support, waste management and remediation services (+4,300; +17.7%), information and cultural industries (+2,100; +38.2%) and utilities (+600; +28.4%). The monthly increase in administrative and support, waste management and remediation services was the first since April 2023 and brought the number of vacancies in the sector to 28,300, a level similar to that of June 2025.
Meanwhile, vacancies were down in other services (except public administration) (-3,800; -14.6%) and arts, entertainment and recreation (-1,700; -18.2%) in March 2026.
On a year-over-year basis, job vacancies were up in manufacturing (+4,500; +13.1%) and wholesale trade (+2,200; +11.2%) in March. Despite these increases in vacancies, both sectors recorded a decrease in total labour demand, driven by declines in payroll employment. In manufacturing, total labour demand was down by 1.2% (-18,500) in March, while in wholesale trade, it was down by 1.3% (-10,700).
At the same time, year-over-year decreases in job vacancies were recorded in health care and social assistance (-11,900; -11.3%), construction (-7,000; -16.1%) and professional, scientific and technical services (-3,800; -9.7%) in March.
Chart 3
Month over month, job vacancies increase in three sectors and decrease in two
Job vacancy rates stabilize or fall at a slower rate across provinces and territories
In March 2026, Saskatchewan (+1,700; +11.4%) was the only province or territory to record a month-to-month increase in job vacancies. This was the first vacancy increase in this province since May 2024.
Across provinces and territories, the job vacancy rate has stabilized or has declined at a slower rate in the 12-month period ending in March 2026 compared with the previous 12-month period. From March 2024 to March 2025, the job vacancy rate had decreased significantly in 9 of the 13 provinces and territories, with the largest declines recorded in Yukon (-2.6 percentage points to 3.3%), Saskatchewan (-0.9 percentage points to 3.0%) and Prince Edward Island (-0.9 percentage points to 2.9%). In comparison, over the most recent 12-month period ending in March 2026, no province or territory recorded a significant decrease in its job vacancy rate, with Yukon (+1.5 percentage points to 4.8%) and Prince Edward Island (+0.6 percentage points to 3.5%) both recording increases.
In March 2026, the highest job vacancy rates were in Yukon (4.8%) and Prince Edward Island (3.5%), while the lowest were in Newfoundland and Labrador (2.3%) and Ontario (2.5%).
Map 1
Job vacancy rate increases in Yukon and Prince Edward Island
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 Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is an example of how Statistics Canada supports the reporting on the Global Goals for Sustainable Development. This release will be used in helping to measure the following goals:
Note to readers
Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours
The key objective of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) is to provide a monthly portrait of the level of earnings, employment and hours worked, by detailed industry, at the national, provincial and territorial levels.
Payroll employment, as measured by the SEPH, refers to the number of employees receiving pay and benefits (employment income) during a given month. The survey excludes the self-employed, owners and partners of unincorporated businesses and professional practices, and employees in the agricultural sector.
SEPH estimates are produced by integrating information from three sources: a census of approximately 1 million payroll deduction records provided by the Canada Revenue Agency; the Business Payrolls Survey, which collects data from a sample of 15,000 establishments; and administrative records of federal, provincial and territorial public administration employment, provided by these levels of government.
Estimates of average weekly earnings and hours worked are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level. Payroll employment estimates are based on a census of administrative data and are not subject to sampling variability.
With each release of SEPH data, data for the preceding month are revised. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.
Statistics Canada also produces employment estimates from its Labour Force Survey (LFS). The LFS is a monthly household survey, the main objective of which is to divide the working-age population into three mutually exclusive groups: the employed (including the self-employed), the unemployed and those not in the labour force. This survey is the official source for the unemployment rate, and it collects data on the sociodemographic characteristics of all people in the labour market.
Employment trends from the SEPH and from the LFS generally track each other closely, especially over longer periods of time. That said, because of differences in concepts, definitions and methodologies, variations in employment levels in SEPH and in the LFS may differ, especially over shorter periods. For a more in-depth discussion of the conceptual differences between employment measures from the LFS and the SEPH, refer to Section 8 of the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (72-203-G).
The SEPH and LFS both also provide monthly indicators of pay received by employees. Used together, average weekly earnings (from SEPH) and average hourly wages (from the LFS) can provide a comprehensive portrait of pay dynamics in Canada. For information on definitions for each indicator, key conceptual and measurement differences, and guidance to data users on when to use each indicator, refer to the report "Earnings and Wages – A guide to using indicators from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours and the Labour Force Survey."
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate comparisons because the effects of seasonal variations are removed. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Non-farm payroll employment data are for all hourly and salaried employees and for the "other employees" category, which includes piece-rate and commission-only employees.
Unless otherwise specified, average weekly hours data are for hourly and salaried employees only and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) 2022 version 1.0 code.
All earnings data include overtime and exclude businesses that could not be classified to a NAICS code. Earnings data are based on gross taxable payroll before source deductions. Average weekly earnings are derived by dividing total weekly earnings by the number of employees. Changes in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects.
The base-year effect refers to the impact that trends from 12 months earlier (the base month) have on the current month's estimate of year-over-year change. In the case of SEPH, when the average weekly earnings in the base month are at the peak of a short-term trend, this tends to have a downward effect on year-over-year average weekly earnings growth in the current month. In contrast, if the value of the base month is at a low point of a trend, this tends to have an upward effect on the current month's year-over-year growth in average weekly earnings.
Job Vacancy and Wage Survey
The Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS) collection is done on a quarterly basis. The quarterly sample of business locations is allocated to the three collection months of the quarter, approximately balanced by province and by industrial sector across each of the three months. This allows both quarterly and monthly estimates to be produced.
Preliminary monthly estimates are produced for job vacancies, job vacancy rates and payroll employment using available responses from business locations sampled in the corresponding reference month. The reference period for the JVWS is the first day of the respective month. This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 68% confidence level.
These preliminary monthly estimates are revised and finalized when the corresponding quarterly estimates are released or shortly thereafter. Users are encouraged to use the most up-to-date data available for each month.
Unless otherwise stated, this release presents seasonally adjusted data, which facilitate comparisons because the effects of seasonal variations are removed. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
While JVWS employment is calibrated to the SEPH, SEPH payroll employment and JVWS preliminary monthly employment figures may differ because of calibration grouping and differences in scope and reference period.
The unemployment-to-job vacancy ratio excludes the territories for consistency with the geographic coverage of the comparable LFS data (table 14-10-0287-01).
The JVWS also provides comprehensive quarterly data on job vacancies by industrial sector and detailed occupation for Canada and the provinces, territories and economic regions; offered hourly wages; and job vacancy characteristics. More information about the concepts and use of data from the JVWS is available in the Guide to the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (75-514-G).
Real-time data tables
Tables 14-10-0357-01 and 14-10-0358-01 have now been archived.
Real-time data tables 14-10-0331-01 and 14-10-0332-01 will be updated on June 15, 2026.
New data table on monthly payroll employment for agriculture and support activities
A new data table (14-10-0481) presenting the number of payroll employees in the agriculture and support activities industries is now available on the Statistics Canada website. This new monthly table includes all industries primarily engaged in crop production, animal production and aquaculture, and their respective support activities since January 2025.
To classify employment data by industry, the SEPH program uses industry codes assigned to businesses based on their main revenue-generating activity, using the NAICS. The population covered in this new SEPH data table includes crop production (NAICS 111), support activities for crop production (NAICS 1151), animal production and aquaculture (NAICS 112), and support activities for animal production (NAICS 1152). It is important to note that these agriculture-related industries are excluded from the total SEPH employment counts presented in table 14-10-0201-01.
Next release
Data on job vacancies from the JVWS for the first quarter of 2026 will be released on June 16. At that time, the quarterly seasonally adjusted data will be revised, resulting in minor changes to the estimates. Estimates from the first quarter of 2015 to the fourth quarter of 2025 will be republished, incorporating a fine-tuning of the parameters used in the seasonal adjustment process.
April 2026 data for SEPH and JVWS will be released on June 25, 2026. At that time, all JVWS monthly seasonally adjusted data will also be replaced with revised estimates.
Products
More information about the concepts and use of the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours is available in the Guide to the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (72-203-G).
The product "Earnings and payroll employment in brief: Interactive app" (14200001) is now available. This interactive data visualization application provides a comprehensive picture of the Canadian labour market using the most recent data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours. The estimates are seasonally adjusted and available by province and largest industrial sector. Historical estimates that go back 10 years are also included. The interactive application allows users to explore and personalize the information presented quickly and easily. Combine multiple provinces and industrial sectors to create your own labour market domains of interest.
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; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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