Second-quarter output surged. A month later, small-business confidence suffered one of its sharpest drops of the year, and more owners now plan to cut staff than to hire.
On paper, the spring was the best stretch the Canadian economy has had in a while.
Real GDP grew at
Canadian manufacturers spent five months expanding. A breakdown in trade negotiations with Washington has put the light-industrial staffing market on uncertain footing heading into winter.
Two days before the deadline, officials in Ottawa and Washington were signalling that a compromise was close. Negotiators had discussed cutting American tariffs on
The Bank of Canada has held at 2.25 percent for nearly a year. Its language in September suggested the debate inside the bank has shifted, and employers who rely on cheap credit should take note.
When the Bank of Canada left its policy rate unchanged on Sept. 2, almost
For staffing firms hoping the first quarter's rebound in job vacancies marked the start of a new hiring cycle, Statistics Canada's latest reading offers a more measured answer: not yet, but the ground is shifting.
According to the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey released on September
Canadian employers are planning a third straight year of flat salary budgets for 2027, and most of them made those plans before the latest tariff escalation.
The first major read on 2027 compensation is in, and it looks a great deal like the last two years. Mercer Canada's
In June, this journal reported that Canada's services sector had returned to growth, with the S&P Global Canada Services PMI reaching 50.6 in May after seven months of contraction. The recovery did not last. The index has now spent three consecutive months below the 50.
August's Labour Force Survey ended a four-month hiring streak. The details matter more than the headline, including one line item that covers the staffing industry itself.
Canada's labour market stalled at the end of summer. Employment fell by 42,000 in August, a decline of
Ottawa has matched Washington's new duties and rolled out a $7.5 billion support package. The labour market effects will be narrow and uneven, and for staffing firms, very specific.
The latest escalation in the Canada-U.S. trade war arrived in two steps. On August 22, after
