Canada’s employment rose +67k (vs -2.5k expected), or +0.3% MoM, in October 2025, marking a second straight monthly gain. The unemployment rate fell -0.2 ppts to 6.9% (vs 7.1% expected) and the employment rate edged up to 60.8%.

• Employment gains totaled +127k (+0.6%) across September and October, offsetting earlier summer declines (-106k; -0.5%), with growth driven primarily by part-time work (+85k; +2.3%).

• Private sector jobs increased +73k (+0.5%), the first rise since June, while public sector and self-employment were little changed.

• Employment rose among core-aged men (+33k; +0.5%) and youth (+21k; +0.8%), while employment among core-aged women was steady after September’s strong gain.

• The youth unemployment rate fell -0.6 ppts to 14.1%, the first decline since February, while the overall jobless rate dropped to 6.9%, reversing part of recent highs.

• Job gains were concentrated in wholesale and retail trade (+41k; +1.4%), transportation and warehousing (+30k; +2.8%), information, culture, and recreation (+25k; +3.0%), and utilities (+7.6k; +4.6%).

• Construction employment fell -15k (-0.9%), leaving the sector flat YoY but -38k (-2.3%) below its January peak.

• Employment increased in Ontario (+55k; +0.7%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+4.4k; +1.8%), while it fell in Nova Scotia (-4.4k; -0.8%) and Manitoba (-4.0k; -0.5%).

• Average hourly wages rose +3.5% YoY (+$1.27 to $37.06), following +3.3% in September, continuing moderate wage growth momentum.

• Total hours worked slipped -0.2% MoM due to widespread labor disputes affecting roughly 87k workers, particularly in Alberta’s education sector.