Job creation in Ontario continued at a “reasonable” tempo final yr, in keeping with the province’s monetary watchdog, however did not preserve tempo with the variety of individuals in search of work.
A brand new report from the Monetary Accountability Officer of Ontario discovered new jobs continued to be created in 2024 throughout the province, though the speed of progress slowed from earlier record-breaking years.
In consequence, the unemployment price within the province elevated considerably to seven per cent. That rose from 5.6 per cent the earlier yr and marks the very best price of unemployment in Ontario since 2014, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The variety of individuals and not using a job was up throughout Ontario, the report mentioned, however Kitchener, Cambridge and Waterloo — that are on the coronary heart of the province’s tech sector — skilled the quickest price of job creation.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Financial Growth, Job Creation and Commerce mentioned the federal government remained “laser-focused” on job creation, mentioning 55,000 jobs have been created this yr amid “difficult” world financial uncertainty.
“We’re guaranteeing that Ontario stays the perfect vacation spot for companies to take a position, broaden and create extra good-paying jobs,” they mentioned.
On common, throughout the province, hourly wages grew by 5.2 per cent to $36.44 per hour. The expansion price was greater than double the speed of inflation, the report mentioned.
Whereas some age teams noticed beneficial properties, employment for younger individuals (aged 15 to 24) dropped by 0.6 per cent.
Ontario Inexperienced Celebration Chief Mike Schreiner mentioned the numbers have been “deeply regarding” and pointed to a “staggering” youth unemployment price of just about 16 per cent.
“There’s a big alternative to tariff-proof Ontario by investing in good, inexperienced jobs and supporting a made-in-Ontario clear vitality and mining-to-manufacturing technique,” Schreiner mentioned, urging the province to place extra money into creating renewable vitality jobs.
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