Ontario's unemployment levels keep surging higher and Toronto's is among the worst

As much as we all want to hope for economic recovery in Ontario, joblessness in the province and across Canada is only getting worse, especially in major hubs like Toronto.

Even in the wake of recent changes to the nation's immigration program — which many have criticized for causing a too-rapid and unmanageable population surge post-COVID — the proportion of residents who are out of work continues to grow, with fierce competition for even entry-level jobs.

In July, Ontario saw another worrying uptick in its unemployment rate, which rose 0.1 per cent month-over-month and 1.2 per cent year-over-year to a painful 7.9 per cent, according to a new Labour Force Survey from StatCan.

This makes us the fourth-worst province or territory for job seekers after Newfoundland & Labrador (10.5 per cent), Nunavut (9.9 per cent), and P.E.I. (8.8 per cent).

StatCan

Canada's national average sits at 6.9 per cent — stable from June, but 0.5 per cent higher than this time last year — which was led by cities like Kamloops (10.7 per cent, up from 9.2 per cent in June), Windsor (10.2 per cent, down from 11.2 per cent in June), Oshawa (9.7 per cent, up from 9.3 per cent) and, unfortunately, Toronto.

The rate of joblessness in Canada's largest city, as of last month, has shot up to a staggering 9 per cent, the fourth-highest of any census metropolitan area examined, and a 0.3 per cent spike in just one month's time.

Toronto's unemployment rate is getting completely out of handhttps://t.co/SY8HjIAbN3

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 6, 2025

On the other side of the spectrum, locales like Saguenay, Quebec; Kelowna, B.C.; and Saskatoon, Saskatchewan currently have unemployment rates of only 4 per cent, 4.2 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively — all figures that also mark declines from the month prior.

From coast to coast, StatCan notes that the employment downturn has been concentrated among youth aged 15 to 24, and the sectors of led information, culture and recreation, as well as construction.