Key points 

  • Total Canadian job postings on Indeed were up 45% on September 10, compared to early February 2020, up somewhat from a month prior.  
  • Job postings exceeded their pre-pandemic levels across nearly all sectors, in most cases by a wide margin, with aviation a notable exception.
  • Mentions of vaccine requirements in job postings nearly doubled over the two weeks prior to September 10, and are now found in 0.6% of all english-language Canadian job postings on Indeed.

As of September 10, total Canadian job postings on Indeed were up 45% from their February 1, 2020 levels, after adjusting for seasonal trends. Posting growth has paused so far in September, after rising from 32% to 45% above its pre-pandemic level over July and August. Nonetheless, new job postings continue to be added at a strong pace, suggesting job opportunities will remain plentiful entering the fourth quarter of the year.

Line graph titled “Canadian job postings well above pre-pandemic levels.”
Line graph titled “Canadian job postings well above pre-pandemic levels.” With a vertical axis ranging from -60% to 60%, Indeed tracked the percent change in total Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and September 10, 2021. As of September 10, total job postings on Indeed in Canada were up 45% from their February 1, 2020 levels.

Strength across provinces

Job postings are well above pre-pandemic levels across the country. Postings in B.C. are currently closest to their February 2020 levels, up a still solid 33%, while Manitoba has caught up to the rest of Canada after lagging earlier in the year. Meanwhile, demand far exceeds its pre-pandemic level in several provinces, including Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia, while Alberta and Quebec lead large provinces. 

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 September 10, 2021, across all provinces. Job postings are well above their pre-pandemic levels in all provinces.

Job postings strong across a wide range of sectors

While the scope of the overall rebound has been impressive, job postings in some sectors even dwarf economy-wide growth. Postings in areas like software development, human resources, cleaning and sanitation, as well as loading and stocking all stand over 75% above their pre-pandemic levels, while many others are up over 60%. Meanwhile, postings have also grown at a solid rate, similar to the economy-wide trend in a range of sectors including retail, driving, accounting, and administrative assistance.

Table titled “Job postings are well above pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors.”
Table titled “Job postings are well above pre-pandemic levels in almost all sectors.” Indeed compared the percent change in total Canada job postings between February 1, 2020 and September 10, 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, including software development, loading and stocking, human resources, and cleaning and sanitation. 

By contrast, hiring appetite lags the broader economy in a few pandemic exposed sectors, though reopening has still helped send postings in sports, beauty and wellness, and hospitality and tourism above their pre-pandemic levels. One exception to the rebound is in aviation, with demand for travel services still far from back to normal.  

Vaccine requirements soar 

Beneath the headline growth in overall job postings a new trend has quickly emerged: mentions of vaccine requriements in job descriptions are rising quickly.  As of September 10th, 0.61% (slightly over six per 1,000) English-language job postings included some mention of vaccine-related requirements in the job description (we updated our methodology for tracking vaccine requirements since our earlier report). That share was nearly double where it stood two weeks prior, and up almost tenfold from its share at the start of July.

Line graph titled “Vaccine requirement mentions climbing quickly.” With a vertical axis from 0% to 0.7%, Indeed tracked the share of English-language Canadian job postings that mention vaccine requirements on a horizontal axis ranging from March 1, 2021 to September 10, 2021. As of September 10, 0.61% of job postings mentioned vaccine requirements, up from 0.06% on July 1. 

So far, vaccine requirements are mentioned at relatively high rates in job postings in various areas of healthcare, education, and social assistance.  On the flip-side, requirements are still rarely found in postings in certain areas of tech, civil engineering, and insurance. Overall, while these requirements aren’t mentioned particularly often in job postings at the moment, the situation is changing quickly among both employers and policy makers.   

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

Jobs postings mentioning vaccine requirements include English language postings that feature one of an extensive list of terms such as “vaccine required”, “requires vaccination,” “must have COVID vaccine,” in their job description. To compare requirements across different areas of the economy, we focused on sectors with more than 5,000 total English language job posts in September 2021. 

All non-vaccine related 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.