Ontario's unemployment reaches highest point in more than a decade, apart from COVID

CBC News

· Posted: May 09, 2025 11:52 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

Ontario's unemployment complaint ticked up again past month, according to Statistics Canada, reaching its highest level successful much than a decade, with the objection of the archetypal economical shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The latest Labour Force Survey information shows unemployment successful Ontario deed 7.8 per cent successful April, up 0.3 percent points from March and marking 3 consecutive months of wide occupation losses successful the province.

Outside of the archetypal months of the pandemic, erstwhile unemployment peaked astatine 14.2 per cent successful May 2020, past month's unemployment fig is the highest successful Ontario since October 2013. Only Newfoundland and Labrador had a higher unemployment rate, astatine 9.6 per cent.

The latest information besides shows that successful 3 retired of the archetypal 4 months of 2025, the province's unemployment complaint was supra the semipermanent moving mean of 7.37 per cent.

Moreover, the unemployment complaint successful Ontario has present exceeded 7 per cent for 8 consecutive months. Apart from the worst of the pandemic, the past clip that happened successful this state was 2014 nether erstwhile premier Kathleen Wynne.

The overwhelming bulk of the 35,000 full jobs mislaid were successful the manufacturing sector, Statistics Canada says. Ontario mislaid much manufacturing jobs past period than immoderate different state successful Canada.

In the Windsor area — the province's car manufacturing heartland and a portion that has already been shaken by U.S. President Donald Trump's ongoing planetary commercialized war — the unemployment complaint accrued 1.4 percent points, up to 10.7 per cent. 

Wholesale and retail commercialized successful Ontario besides saw a notable diminution successful jobs, Statistics Canada says.

The latest Labour Force Survey results suggest, arsenic CBC Toronto reported earlier this week, a struggling provincial system that was showing signs of fragility adjacent earlier Trump's tariffs began to bite.

Other indicators include:

• Ontario's existent GDP grew by conscionable 1.2 per cent successful 2024, Statistics Canada reported. The lone provincial system that grew much dilatory past twelvemonth was Manitoba's.
• Only 15 per cent of businesses felt confident in the province's system successful February, down from 26 per cent successful December, according to a survey for the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.
• Back successful the fall, the 2025 economical maturation forecasts for Ontario averaged 1.8 per cent. The large banks person present slashed those forecasts, with TD predicting real GDP maturation of one per cent, RBC forecasting 1.2 per cent and Scotiabank expecting 1.3 per cent growth.

Meanwhile, the province's autarkic Financial Accountability Office predicted past week that further U.S. tariffs and Canada's retaliation could effect in some 119,000 less jobs successful Ontario by adjacent year, pushing unemployment upward by different 1.1 percent points. 

The numbers travel arsenic Premier Doug Ford is acceptable to array his yearly fund adjacent Thursday. 

The big-ticket tariff effect measures announced truthful far include a six-month deferral of astir $9 cardinal successful provincially administered concern taxes and rebating $2 cardinal of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board premiums to employers. 

The Ford authorities has besides tabled authorities to chopped down interprovincial commercialized barriers and velocity up approvals of mines and different resource projects.