Statistics Canada has released its monthly payroll employment, earnings, hours, and job vacancy report for May 2022. Based on the report, the number of employees in Canada receiving pay or benefits from their employer has decreased for the first time since May 2021.

The survey, compiled with data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours, shows that as of last May, 26,000 jobs are no longer on payroll. The biggest decreases were seen in Ontario and Manitoba, which reported 30,000 and 2,500 job vacancies, respectively. British Columbia was the only province that reported an increase in payroll employees.

Payroll employees decrease across most sectors

Some of the most significant decreases were seen in the services producing sector which reported a loss of over 17,000 jobs on payroll in areas such as educational services, healthcare, and social assistance.

There was also a significant decrease in jobs in construction across all industries in the sector. Over 17,500 jobs were lost in May, marking the first decrease since July 2021. Most construction jobs were lost in Ontario, accounting for nearly two thirds of the employment decrease in that sector. This loss is largely attributed to strikes throughout the province which caused significant delays on several projects.