Key points 

  • Total job postings on Indeed Canada were up 35% on July 16, compared to early February 2020. 
  • Job postings continue to rise, led by exceptional momentum in new postings, up 44% from their pre-pandemic level.
  • Job postings in food services have soared above the economy-wide trend in recent weeks, while opportunities in hospitality and tourism, as well as beauty and wellness, are starting to catch up.
  • Strong hiring appetite across the economy has had the spillover effect of boosting demand for human resource workers. 

As of July 16, total job postings on Indeed Canada were up 35% from their February 1, 2020 levels, after adjusting for seasonal trends. Postings cleared their pre-pandemic level midway through February, following a 47% plunge at the start of the pandemic. Postings are up 17 percentage points since mid-May, when they had plateaued amid the pandemic’s third wave. 

Line graph titled “Job postings continue to rise above pre-pandemic levels.”
Line graph titled “Job postings continue to rise above pre-pandemic levels.” With a vertical axis ranging from -60% to 40%, Indeed tracked the percent change in total Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and July 16, 2021. As of July 16, total job postings on Indeed Canada were up 35% from their February 1, 2020 levels.

The strength in total job postings partly reflects particularly strong momentum in the number of new job postings being added to Indeed Canada (see methodology section for definition of new job postings). As of July 16, new job postings were up an impressive 44% from February 2020. Sustained strong growth in new opportunities suggest employer hiring appetite has more gas in the tank, which should be an important boost in helping the elevated number of jobless Canadians find new work.

Line graph titled “New job postings being added at a rapid pace.”
Line graph titled “New job postings being added at a rapid pace.” With a vertical axis ranging from -80% to 60%, Indeed tracked the percent change in total Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and July 16, 2021. As of July 16, new job postings were up 44% from the start of February 2020. 

Alberta and Ontario jump in recent weeks

Job postings have shown solid growth in recent weeks across provinces, with the exception of PEI. Alberta and Ontario stand out among larger provinces showing the most momentum since mid-May, likely aided by a surge in food services postings. Meanwhile, overall job postings remain far above their pre-pandemic levels in Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. 

Table titled “Job postings are strong across provinces.”
Table titled “Job postings are strong across provinces.” Indeed compared the change in Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and July 16, 2021, across all provinces. Job postings are well above their pre-pandemic levels in all provinces.

Pandemic-exposed sectors making strides

Job postings now exceed their pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors of the economy. In some cases, the gap is wide, and has been for a while, like in software development as well as in loading and stocking. Human resources professionals are also in high demand, likely driven by strong hiring appetite across the economy. Food services job postings are now also well above their pre-pandemic level, reflecting the reopening of restaurants across the country. Meanwhile, postings are above their February 2020 levels similar to the economy-wide trend across a range of areas including retail, driving, personal care and home health, and accounting.  

Table titled “Job postings are above pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors.”
Table titled “Job postings are above pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors.” Indeed compared the percent change in total Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and July 16, 2021, across various sectors divided into sections “Stronger than average,” “Similar to average.” and “Weaker than average.” Postings in some sectors are now well above where they were in early 2020, while other areas like hospitality and tourism have picked up in recent weeks. 

On the flip side, hiring appetite lags the broader economy in several pandemic exposed sectors. However, things are changing as provinces reopen. Job postings in hospitality and tourism, sports, and beauty and wellness have all made substantial strides since May 14. We could see demand in these areas ramp up further in the coming weeks, providing a further boost to the economy-wide trend. 

The public health situation and its economic spillovers continue to change on a daily basis. We’ll be regularly updating this data as conditions evolve.

Methodology

All figures in this blog post are the percentage change in seasonally-adjusted job postings since February 1, 2020, using a seven-day trailing average. February 1, 2020, is our pre-pandemic baseline. We seasonally adjust each series based on historical patterns in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Each series, including the national trend, occupational sectors, and sub-national geographies, is seasonally adjusted separately. This week we applied our quarterly revision, which updates seasonal factors and fixes data anomalies. Historical numbers have been revised and may differ from originally reported values.

The number of job postings on Indeed.com, whether related to paid or unpaid job solicitations, is not indicative of potential revenue or earnings of Indeed, which comprises a significant percentage of the HR Technology segment of its parent company, Recruit Holdings Co., Ltd. Job posting numbers are provided for information purposes only and should not be viewed as an indicator of performance of Indeed or Recruit. Please refer to the Recruit Holdings investor relations website and regulatory filings in Japan for more detailed information on revenue generation by Recruit’s HR Technology segment.ons.