Canada continues to lead major peers on participation. The labour force participation rate stands at 64.9%, above the U.S. rate of 61.9%, with women\u2019s participation in the 25\u2011to\u201154 age group reaching 85% in 2025 \u2014 nearly seven percentage points higher than in the United States.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the update points to ongoing strains. Youth unemployment stands at 13.8% as of March, down only slightly from a peak of 14.6% in September 2025. Demand is \u201cparticularly soft for entry-level jobs, a headwind for both youth and newcomers,\u201d the report states.<\/p>\n
Tariff\u2011exposed industries such as steel, softwood lumber and motor vehicles and parts have seen job losses, while residential construction employment declined by 6.2% in Ontario and 2.6% in British Columbia in 2025. The government says maintaining construction capacity is \u201cessential to scaling up housing supply and securing durable affordability gains nationwide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite these challenges, initial Employment Insurance claims remain within historical norms, and \u201cmany displaced workers are finding new employment,\u201d according to the federal government. The 2026\u20132028 Immigration Levels Plan is expected to keep population growth at more sustainable levels, supporting what the update describes as a more balanced labour market.<\/p>\n
Outlook and fiscal position<\/p>\n
The government says the global economy \u201cis more than a year into a profound rupture,\u201d with economic security concerns and geopolitical competition reshaping investment and trade. The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and pushed energy prices higher.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canada continues to lead major peers on participation. The labour force participation rate stands at 64.9%, above the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,5977,44,237961],"class_list":["post-636645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-labour-market","tag-news","tag-united-states-u-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=636645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}