The Canadian economy has shed 112,000 jobs since January, marking the weakest four-month stretch since the pandemic. The unemployment rate has climbed to 6.9 per cent, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday. However, a deeper dive reveals two alarming trends: job losses are concentrated in full-time positions, and young workers are bearing the brunt.
Full-Time Job Losses Hit Hard
The country lost 111,000 full-time jobs in the first four months of 2026. Full-time employees are often primary breadwinners, and their unemployment strains families and communities. This decline is particularly concerning as it undermines economic stability for households across Canada.
Youth Unemployment Spikes
Workers under 24 saw their unemployment rate jump to 14.3 per cent from 13.8 per cent earlier in the year. In 2020, before the pandemic, that rate hovered around 10 per cent. For those aged 15 to 19, the rate approaches 20 per cent. The Fraser Institute reports that youth unemployment has surged 57 per cent in just three years, and the average job search time has increased from 10 weeks in 2022 to 16 weeks now.
Canada's young people are over 40 per cent less likely to have jobs than their American counterparts. Among G7 nations, only France has slightly higher youth unemployment. This makes it extremely challenging for high school and college graduates to find first jobs or summer employment to fund tuition and books.
Causes: Policy Failures and Immigration Surge
While U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs and trade war have played a role, the primary drivers are poor government policies, including insufficient economic growth and excessive immigration. Since 2020, the number of young temporary students admitted to Canada has nearly quadrupled. From 2022 to 2024, the Liberal government issued nearly 900,000 student visas.
Many of these students were only technically enrolled, often at career or community colleges. Liberal rules allowed them to work up to 40 hours per week (now 24 hours) and stay for up to two years after completing studies, even for short programs. In effect, these students functioned as temporary foreign workers, squeezing young Canadians out of the job market. The spike in youth unemployment coincides directly with the Liberal surge in foreign student visas.
