Canada’s economy gained 157,000 jobs last month, bringing the employment rate to within a percentage point of pre-pandemic levels.
Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey captured the Canadian labour market for the week of September 12 to 18. That week, several provinces had introduced proof-of-vaccination requirements to enter certain non-essential venues like gyms and restaurants.
The employment rate is the number of employed people as a percentage of the population age 15 and over. In September, Canada’s employment rate was 60.9 per cent, still 0.9 per cent under the February 2020 rate as a result of population growth.
The unemployment rate declined for the fourth consecutive month in September, falling to 6.9 per cent, the lowest rate since the onset of the pandemic.
Employment continues to increase for very recent immigrants
The employment rate among very recent immigrants continued on an upward trend, reaching 71 per cent last month.
Although the overall population of newcomers has not grown over the course of the pandemic, the number of very recent immigrants working in some industries has grown. Namely, in professional, scientific, and technical services, as well as finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing. These two industries have had sustained employment growth throughout the pandemic.
Immigrants who have been in Canada for more than five years saw an employment rate of nearly 59 per cent, which is down about one percentage point from September 2019. People born in Canada had an employment rate of about 61 per cent, down two percentage points in the same time frame.
White collar sectors ahead while blue collar lags behind
The services-producing sector surpassed its pre-COVID employment level for the first time. The increases were led by public administration, information, culture and recreation, and professional, scientific and technical services.
By contrast, some industries such as accommodation and food services has yet to return to the employment levels seen in February 2020. This is partially due to the industry being heavily affected by public health measures. This September employment in food services fell for the first time in five months. Employment in retail also declined.
The goods-producing sector saw little change overall, which has been the case since it lost 94,000 jobs between April and June. Manufacturing and natural resources were the exceptions, both industries saw some employment growth in September.
CARIBOU, N.S. – The ferry company that provides service between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island says it expects to get one of its boats back in the water before the end of the sailing season.
Northumberland Ferries says repairs to the MV Confederation — which was removed from service on Sept. 15 after it collided with a wharf — should be finished by Dec. 3.
The company says the vessel could then resume serving its route between Caribou, N.S., and Wood Islands, P.E.I., on Dec. 6.
Northumberland Ferries says it has concluded mechanical failure was not a factor in the collision and its investigation is continuing.
Once the ferry is back in the water, the company plans to offer four daily four round trips until the season ends on Dec. 20.
Northumberland Ferries has said the MV Saaremaa 1, which was also pulled from service in September, will not return this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia NDP has released its election platform, which emphasizes affordability and housing and commits to spending an additional $2 billion over two years.
Its pledges include building 30,000 new affordable rental homes and temporarily removing the provincial tax on gasoline while inflation is high.
Party leader Claudia Chender says the measure would save drivers 15.5 cents per litre at the pump, but she did not say at what point the tax would be reintroduced.
Chender says, if elected, the NDP would address affordability by increasing income assistance rates and removing the provincial tax on phone bills, internet and groceries that are not already tax-free.
To tackle health-care access, the NDP says it would open 15 new collaborative family doctor clinics in its first year in power, with 15 additional clinics added in each of the next two years.
When asked if Nova Scotia can afford to spend $2 billion on the NDP platform’s planned spending from 2025-2027, Chender says inaction would carry too great a cost.
“Nova Scotia can’t afford not to fix the housing crisis, can’t afford not to fix our access to primary care, can’t afford not to make sure that everyone can pay the bills each month,” she said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
SURREY, B.C. – Mounties in B.C. say they’ve arrested three men in Surrey believed to be tied to a transnational organized crime group connected to Mexican drug cartels, while four others suspected of trafficking large quantities of drugs, including diverted prescription pills, were arrested in Burnaby.
RCMP federal investigators say that on Sept. 23, police searched a Surrey home, which was surrounded by compound fencing, steel gates, and razor wire, and arrested men allegedly involved in importing cocaine to Canada.
They say officers also seized 23 firearms, several thousand rounds of ammunition and “multi-kilos of illicit drugs” from the house.
Police say the arrests in Burnaby, B.C., stem from a four-month investigation into interprovincial drug trafficking that included executing search warrants in nearby Coquitlam and Surrey.
They say officers seized more than 9,500 Hydromorphone pills believed to be diverted prescription pills, as well as other substances including more than a kilogram of suspected cocaine.
They say the group was allegedly shipping the drugs as far as Manitoba and the Yukon, as well as locally.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 13, 2024.
