OTTAWA – The number of job vacancies in Canada continues to rise sharply, reaching an all-time high of 912,600 in the third quarter of 2021, up 62.1% from the corresponding period in 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis began.

Statistics Canada found that the record number of job openings coincided with overall job growth and lower unemployment in the country.

Compared to the third quarter of 2019, the number of job openings in all provinces jumped in the most recent similar period: 82.7% in Saskatchewan, 73.1% in Quebec, and 64.5% in Ontario.

Five sectors were responsible for two-thirds of the increase in Canada: accommodation and food services, health care, social assistance, construction, retail and manufacturing.

In Quebec, the number of health care and social assistance job openings increased the most in two years in the third quarter: 117.4%.

Statistics Canada reported that in the third quarter of 2019, the 20% of occupations with the lowest average wages accounted for 35% of employees and 48.9% of job vacancies. Two years later, these same occupations accounted for 32.3% of employees and 50.9% of vacancies.