More Openings Than Job Seekers

The overall number of vacant jobs has been persistently high in BC and Canada of late, as the unemployment rate declines.Our understanding of the landscape of job vacancies in Canada is relatively nascent, with Statistics Canada only first collecting

and publishing quarterly data back in 2015, and monthly data in 2020. In this section, we consider the latest monthly data, while in the following section, we examine the most recent quarterly numbers.As of June 2022, both Canada and BC are experiencing both a record-high number of vacant positions and an all-time high

job vacancy rate.

Nationally, the job vacancy rate is up to 5.9%, compared with 4.9% a year earlier, while in British Columbia, it’s reached 7.1%,

up from 6.0%. With job vacancy up, and the unemployment rate down, there are now more vacant jobs in Canada than unemployed persons in the labour force: here in British Columbia, there are about four vacant jobs for every three unemployed persons in the labour force. This lack of correspondence between the number of available jobs and the number of job seekers (not to mention existing skills mismatches) means employers will likely have to either wait longer to expand their workforces at their desired pace or offer further incentives to fill roles—or both.

Twice a year, rennie intelligence produces the rennie landscape, which tracks a variety of demographic and economic indicators that directly and indirectly influence our housing market here in Metro Vancouver. Our goal is to provide our community with a basis for evaluating the trajectory of the factors that collectively define the context of the real estate market.

Our rennie intelligence team comprises our in-house demographer, senior economist, and market analysts. Together, they empower individuals, organizations, and institutions with data-driven market insight and analysis. Experts in urban land economics, community planning, shifting demographics, and real estate trends, their strategic research supports a comprehensive advisory service offering and forms the basis of frequent reports and public presentations. Their thoughtful and objective approach truly embodies the core values of rennie.