December 2025
Spotlight on data and research
Recent employment trends in industries dependent on U.S. demand
This article looks at payroll employment by industry following the introduction of tariffs on Canadian exports. The paper also examines trends in layoffs over the period from December 2024 to August 2025, as well as hiring, to better understand labour market dynamics. While layoffs have remained essentially unchanged over the summer compared to past years, there is evidence that hiring has slowed given the rising number of people remaining unemployed from one month to the next. Slower hiring may have contributed to lower employment levels in industries dependent on U.S. demand in 2025.
Insights
Educational attainment and employment among immigrants with disabilities
Immigrants with disabilities who have lower educational attainment are less likely to be employed than their counterparts without disabilities; however, no gap exists between higher educated immigrants with and without disabilities. This article found that 77% of immigrant women with disabilities who had a bachelor’s degree or higher were employed in 2021, a rate similar to immigrant women without disabilities. By contrast, 36% of immigrant women with disabilities who had a high school diploma or less were employed, compared with 53% of immigrant women without disabilities at the same level of education—a 17-percentage point gap. The study found a similar pattern among immigrant men with and without disabilities.
Research articles
The role of firm size in the Canada–U.S. labour productivity gap since 2000
This article quantifies the contributions of both small and large firms to Canada’s productivity gap with the United States. It shows that Canada’s relatively high prevalence of less productive small firms is a major contributor to the Canada–United States labour productivity gap. In 2019, small firms (fewer than 500 employees) generated 56% of nominal GDP in Canada, compared with 45% in the U.S. Respectively, the labour productivity of Canadian small firms was 70% while Canadian large firms operated at 87% of the productivity level of their U.S. counterparts. Overall, labour productivity in Canada’s business sector was 73% of the U.S. level, implying a 27 percentage point gap.
Related publications
Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series
- Date modified: