The Trudeau government’s immigration plans continue to have a detrimental impact on the Canadian economy as Canada’s population continues to grow, according to Statistics Canada’s August Labour Force Survey.
Statistics Canada revealed that while the economy added a modest 22,000 jobs last month, the added jobs were quickly outpaced by the country’s rapid population growth.
As a result, Canada’s unemployment rate increased to 6.6% last month, up two percentage points from July.
Educational services, healthcare, finance, real estate, insurance, social assistance, rental and leasing all saw an uptick in employment.
Meanwhile, natural resources, utilities, scientific, technical and professional services all saw a decline.
According to the survey, the student unemployment rate average of 16.7% between May and August was the highest recorded since summer 2012, excluding the pandemic summer of 2020.
“The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are employed—decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 60.8% in August,” reads the survey.
“The fourth consecutive monthly decline and the 10th decline in the past 11 months. On a year-over-year basis, the employment rate was down 1.2 percentage points.”
Temporary foreign workers have filled many jobs that have traditionally been occupied by students, with low-wage TFW positions skyrocketing in recent years, up 291% this year, compared to 2018.
Government data also indicates that Canada is on track to wildly surpass last year’s record.
“The Temporary Foreign Worker program was designed to address labour market shortages when qualified Canadians were not able to fill those roles,” said Employment Minister Randy Boissonault in a statement last month.
“Right now, we know that there are more Canadians qualified to fill open positions. The changes we are making today will prioritize Canadians workers and ensures Canadians can trust the program is meeting the needs of our economy,” added Boissionault.
Provincially, Alberta saw its unemployment rate “increased by 0.6 percentage points to 7.7%, as more people searched for work” in August.
The employment rate was little changed in Nova Scotia and Manitoba, coming in at 6.7% and 5.8%, respectively.
Prince Edward Island saw its employment rate drop by 0.7%, bringing it to 8.2% last month.
“Newfoundland and Labrador was the lone province to record an employment decline in August (-2,400; -1.0%), pushing the unemployment rate up 0.8 percentage points to 10.4%,” reads the survey.
Employment was little changed in Quebec remaining at 5.7% and Ontario also saw little employment change in August, following an increase of 22,000 jobs in July.