With 2016 upon us, you could be looking for a change of scenery…and job.
Well, according to the latest edition of BMO’s regional labour market report card, those looking for work should look into some of Canada’s smaller cities, like Guelph, Ont., (which actually has the country’s top performing labour market) as much as its larger markets.
The report ranked 33 Canadian cities’ labour market performance based on five indicators: job growth, population changes, unemployment rate, and employment rate.
“Guelph tops the list with robust job growth, population inflows, a puny 4.2% jobless rate and the highest share of the population that is working,” BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic wrote.
Two of Canada’s biggest cities, Vancouver and Toronto ranked well, placing 5th and 7th, respectively, rising in the leaderboard in the past year, which demonstrates that these cities have been, “relatively immune (if not benefiting) from the plunge in oil prices,” Kavic wrote.
Based on the report, as a whole, however, Canada isn’t doing that great; 7 out of 10 provinces experienced employment declines. Thankfully, Ontario, Quebec, and New Brunswick were able to “offset losses elsewhere,” creating an overall national employment increase.
Here are the top 10 cities for work in Canada, according to BMO.
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1. Guelph, Ont.
Annual population growth: 1.2%
Annual employment growth: 9.1%
Unemployment rate: 4.2% (down 0.9 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 72%
Image: Montana Steele
2. Regina, Sask
Annual population growth: 2%
Annual employment growth: 1.1%
Unemployment rate: 4.5% (up 0.5 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 69.8%
3. Quebec City, Que.
Annual population growth: 0.7%
Annual employment growth: 4.7%
Unemployment rate: 4.9% (down 0.5 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 66.3%
4. Moncton, N.B.
Annual population growth: 1.3%
Annual employment growth: 6.3%
Unemployment rate: 6.2% (down down 0.6 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 63.9%
5. Vancouver, B.C.
Annual population growth: 1.9%
Annual employment growth: 4.2%
Unemployment rate: 5.7% (down 0.3 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 62.3%
6. Edmonton, Alta.
Annual population growth: 2.3%
Annual employment growth: 3.7%
Unemployment rate: 6.2% (up 1.4 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 69.8%
7. Toronto, Ont.
Annual population growth: 1.7%
Annual employment growth: 4.7%
Unemployment rate: 7% (down one percentage point in a year)
Employment rate: 62.6%
8. Kingston, Ont.
Annual population growth: 0.8%
Annual employment growth: 6.5%
Unemployment rate: 6.5% (down 0.2 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 61%
9. London, Ont.
Annual population growth: 0.9%
Annual employment growth: 3.8%
Unemployment rate: 6.2% (down 1.1 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate: 60.3%
Photo: Mathew Campbell
10. Winnipeg, Man.
Annual population growth: 1.5%
Annual employment growth: 2.4%
Unemployment rate: 6.1% (up 0.4 percentage points in a year)
Employment rate 60.3%
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