“Luckily, the Canadian labour market came into the current tariff crisis on solid footing, which is important given the significant headwinds the economy is facing,” he said.
Canada’s mixed employment outlook
StatCan’s figures show a loss of 19,700 full-time roles in February, offset by a gain of 20,800 part-time jobs.
Job growth last month was led by the wholesale and retail trade sectors and the finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing industries.
Those gains were offset by losses in professional, scientific and technical services and transportation and warehousing.
Canada’s manufacturing industry, which led job gains in January, contracted by 4,800 positions in February. Ontario was an outlier from the losses, adding another 10,800 manufacturing jobs in the month and nearly matching January’s gains.
Bernard said the manufacturing industry is one of the key barometers for anticipated impacts from tariffs on Canada’s economy.
While the data to date does not show the sector bleeding jobs, Bernard said listings for manufacturing and production jobs on Indeed fell 7% in February, suggesting a slowdown in hiring ahead.
“The clouds are still, I think, on the horizon, rather than the storm raging today,” he said.