The climate of the Canadian labour market continues with promising momentum, even though no great change in recruitment is foreseen. This is the outlook for the second quarter announced by the latest Manpower survey on hiring prospects conducted among 1,900 employers across the country.
Canadian employers are planning to maintain a relatively constant hiring pace for the second quarter of 2013. 20% of them are planning to hire, 5% foresee reductions in their workforce and 75% are not planning to make any changes. For the country as a whole, the Net Employment Outlook stands at 12% (excluding seasonality). This therefore is a decline of one point compared to results for the first quarter of the year and for the second quarter of last year. Hiring forecasts are therefore stable and remain favourable.
Some sectors more promising than others
With regards to sectors of activity, transportation and utilities are reporting the best hiring forecasts with a net rate of 22%. These are then followed by construction (17%), retail and wholesale trade (16%), services (13%) and financial, insurance and real estate (10%). The least optimistic recruitment prospects are found in the fields of education (4%), public administration (6%), mining (6%) and durable goods manufacturing (8%).
Western and Atlantic Provinces at the top
The most promising provinces? Western Canada continues to hire at a rate of 15% of employment. The most dynamic results were reported by employers in transportation and utilities, as well as in construction. The Atlantic Provinces posted a net forecast of 12%. The financial, insurance and real estate sector plans more hiring. Ontario sent in a 9% employment rate with the transportation and utilities sectors heading the list. Quebec is also positioned at 9% hiring in the fields of retail and wholesale trade and services in particular.