Average weekly earnings of payroll employees were $828.14 in August, up 2.0% from August 2008. This was up from the 1.6% growth observed between July 2008 and July 2009, but lower than the most recent year-over-year peak of 3.0% in October 2008.

Among Canada’s six largest industrial sectors, between August 2008 and August 2009, average weekly earnings increased in public administration (+5.5%), educational services (+4.9%), health care & social assistance (+3.2%), and accommodation & food services (+0.2%).

Over the same period, average weekly earnings fell in manufacturing (-2.4%) and retail trade (-1.5%).

Prince Edward Island saw the fastest increase in average weekly earnings between August 2008 and August 2009, up 4.2%, followed by Newfoundland & Labrador (+3.9%) and Quebec (+3.8%). Ontario (+1.6%) and Saskatchewan (+1.3%) had growth below the national average. British Columbia (-0.1%) was the only province to post a decline in average weekly earnings over the period.

Canadian Average Weekly Earnings By Province
August 2009

Canadian Average Weekly Earnings By Industry
August 2009

Data from Statistics Canada

31 Oct 2009

The Canadian residential average price surpassed all previous monthly levels in September 2009, rising 13.6 per cent year-over-year to $331,602. July and August also posted new average price records for their respective months. A number of provinces set new average price records for the month of September, and Ontario posted the highest average price on record.

Canadian resale housing activity climbed to the highest level of any third quarter on record. Actual home sales totalled 135,182 units in the third quarter of 2009, according to statistics released by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA). This is the highest level of activity on record for the period from July to September. The number of transactions was up 18 per cent from the third quarter of last year, representing the biggest year-over-year increase since early 2002.

“Momentum for sales activity remained strong throughout the third quarter,” said CREA President Dale Ripplinger. “Low interest rates, rebounding consumer confidence and an improving overall sense of economic security continue to draw homebuyers to the housing market.”

“Monthly sales activity remained on a strong upward trajectory throughout the third quarter in British Columbia, while showing signs that it may be topping out in other provinces,” said CREA Chief Economist Gregory Klump. “On balance, this suggests that national sales activity may be starting to plateau after having climbed rapidly earlier this year.”

“Headline average price increases over the rest of the year are expected to prompt sellers to return to the market after having retreated to the sidelines late last year and earlier this year,” he added. “An increase in new listings will help keep a lid on price increases. Price increases over the rest of 2009 and early next year are likely to reflect declining average prices late last year and earlier this year.”

Property Prices In Canada
September 2009

City House Prices In Canada
September 2009

26 Oct 2009

Canadian employment increased for the second consecutive month, up 31,000 in September, driven by large full-time gains. The unemployment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points to 8.4%, the first monthly decline since the beginning of the labour market downturn in the fall of 2008.

September’s full-time increase of 92,000, the largest since May 2006, was partially offset by part-time losses of 61,000. The increase in full-time work was mainly among youths and women aged 25 and over and in Ontario. Despite September’s gains, full-time employment has fallen by 395,000 or 2.8% since the employment peak in October 2008.

The increase in average hourly wages slowed to 2.5% compared with September 2008. This was the lowest year-over-year growth in two and a half years.

Manufacturing
Manufacturing employment increased by 26,000 in September, the first notable increase since February 2009. Employment in this industry had the sharpest rate of decline since the start of the labour market downturn in the fall of 2008, down 10.6% (-210,000).

Construction
Following an increase the previous month, employment in construction rose again in September (+25,000). Both housing starts and building permits have increased from April to August 2009. Despite these recent increases, employment in this industry has fallen by 6.7% (-84,000) since October 2008.

Education
There was an employment gain of 18,000 in educational services in September. Since October 2008, employment in this industry has declined by 1.6% (-20,000).

Transportation & Warehousing
Employment in transportation and warehousing decreased by 21,000 in September, continuing the downward trend since the fall of 2008. Employment has fallen by 8.4% or 73,000 since October, mostly in truck transportation in Ontario and Quebec.

Public Sector
In September, public sector employment increased by 36,000, leaving employment in this sector down 0.8% since October 2008.

Private Sector
Employment among private sector employees edged down in September, while there was a small increase among the self employed. Most of the employment declines since October have been among private sector employees (-3.6%), while the number of self employed has increased by 2.9%.

British Columbia
By province, the most notable employment gain in September was in British Columbia, up 14,000. Although down 1.7% since October 2008, employment in this province has been increasing since March 2009 (+1.3% or +30,000). The unemployment rate, at 7.4%, declined by 0.4 percentage points in September.

Ontario
In Ontario, a large full-time increase (+62,000) was dampened by a loss in part time (-49,000), leaving employment up only slightly in September. The unemployment rate declined by 0.2 percentage points to 9.2%. September marks the third consecutive month of small employment increases in Ontario, totalling 39,000. Despite this increase, Ontario has suffered the fastest rate of employment losses since October (-2.9%), mostly in full time and in manufacturing, construction and a number of service industries.

New Brunswick
Employment also increased in New Brunswick in September, up 2,900, bringing the unemployment rate down 1.2 percentage points, to 8.1%.

Quebec
Quebec’s employment level was little changed in September for the second consecutive month. The unemployment rate declined by 0.3 percentage points to 8.8%, as fewer people participated in the labour market. Since October, employment in this province has fallen by 1.6%, less than the national average of 2.1%.

17 Oct 2009

Starting this fall, new immigrants will receive “Language Training Vouchers” as part of a pilot project to encourage newcomers to participate in settlement programs. Under the pilot, 2,000 newcomers, chosen randomly in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alberta, will be mailed the vouchers so that they can take to any settlement service provider of their choice to obtain training based on their needs.

The objective of the pilot is to see if the use of “Language Training Vouchers”, which do not have a cash value, will motivate newcomers to use language training programs funded by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). The pilot project will run for 18 months starting this fall. An evaluation will be undertaken in 2011 to determine the effectiveness of the language training vouchers.

“Speaking English or French is key to finding meaningful employment and successfully integrating into Canadian society,” said Minister Kenney. “Whatever we can do to help newcomers take language training is a step in the right direction.”

Newcomers who are permanent residents and need official language training currently access free training via local settlement service providers.

Language ability is one of the biggest determinants of successful integration. Focussing on improving language training and increasing newcomer participation in this key settlement program is an effort to help newcomers find work and get more involved in their community.

Settlement services are an essential part of the Government of Canada’s immigration program. Working with provinces to increase the participation of immigrants in settlement programs is a federal government priority, identified in the 2008 Speech from the Throne.

CIC funds a number of programs that help newcomers settle, adapt and integrate into Canadian society. These programs are delivered in partnership with the provinces, territories and service-providing organizations. Since 2006, the Government of Canada has tripled immigrant settlement funding, after it had been previously frozen for years.

16 Oct 2009

Average weekly earnings of payroll employees were $824.00 in July, up 1.6% from July 2008. This was similar to the 1.8% per annum increase in average weekly earnings between June 2008 and June 2009. However, it was considerably slower than the most recent year-over-year peak of 3.0% in October 2008.

Within Canada’s largest industrial sectors, the fastest pace of growth in average weekly earnings between July 2008 and July 2009 occurred in educational services (6.9%), public administration (4.1%) and health care and social assistance (3.3%).

At the same time, average weekly earnings fell in manufacturing (-5.5%), accommodation and food services (-2.9%), as well as retail trade (-0.4%).

Newfoundland and Labrador experienced the fastest increase (6.0%) in average weekly earnings between July 2008 and July 2009. Manitoba had the second fastest rate of growth (4.3%), followed by Prince Edward Island (4.2%) and Alberta (4.0%). Two provinces had year-over-year earnings growth below the national average: Ontario (1.1%) and Quebec (0.7%).

Canadian Average Weekly Earnings By Province
July 2009

Canadian Average Weekly Earnings By Industry
July 2009

Data from Statistics Canada

12 Oct 2009

Canada’s population was estimated at 33,739,900 on 1st July 2009 and in the second quarter of 2009, the Canadian population grew by 121,200 (0.36%). The increase was mainly due to international migration, which totalled 84,800, the second-highest figure for a second quarter since 1972.

The number of births in Canada in the second quarter of 2009 was estimated at 96,200 which was the largest number of second-quarter births since 1996. This upward trend in births is also evident in a number of other industrialised countries.

Alberta
Alberta recorded the fastest population growth rate at 0.59% due mainly to immigration and natural increase. Alberta’s population growth was, however, lower than in the second quarter of 2008. The slowdown was mostly due to a decline in the number of non-permanent residents and interprovincial migration. Alberta’s interprovincial migration gain of 4,700 for the second quarter of 2009 was still the largest in Canada.

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia
Immigration was partly responsible for population increases in Manitoba (+0.48%), Saskatchewan (+0.44%) and British Columbia (+0.39%). For Saskatchewan, it was the highest second-quarter growth rate since 1975, and for Manitoba, the strongest growth since the current record-keeping system was introduced in 1971.

Ontario
Ontario’s population grew moderately by 0.34% from April to June 2009, the smallest second-quarter increase since 1993. The slowdown was primarily due to interprovincial migration losses and a decrease in immigration. The migration losses in Ontario reached 4,000, the largest second-quarter migration deficit since 1990. Ontario has been experiencing losses in its quarterly interprovincial migration exchanges since the first quarter of 2003. Ontario received 30,100 immigrants from April to June 2009, a slight decrease compared to the second quarter of 2008. This was the seventh consecutive quarter in which Ontario’s population growth has been below the national average.

Quebec
With population growth of 0.31%, Quebec recorded the largest second-quarter increase since 1991. The gain was partly due to an increase in the number of non-permanent residents and immigration. At 7,200, the number of non-permanent residents for Quebec from April to June 2009 was the highest quarterly level for this province since 1988. There were 22,400 births in Quebec from April to June 2009, the most second-quarter births the province has had since 1996.

Prince Edward Island
From April to June, Prince Edward Island had the fastest population growth rate in the Atlantic provinces at 0.53%. The increase was partly due to higher international migration following an increase in the number of immigrants. It was the province’s highest second-quarter growth rate since 1978.

Newfoundland &Labrador
From April to June 2009, Newfoundland & Labrador’s population climbed 0.28%, the highest second-quarter growth rate since 1983. In contrast to the other Atlantic provinces, the increase was mostly due to a gain in interprovincial migration. It was also the fourth consecutive quarter in which Newfoundland & Labrador has posted gains in its exchanges with the other provinces and territories.

New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
There were also population increases in the rest of the Atlantic provinces, as New Brunswick and Nova Scotia grew by 0.07% and 0.05% respectively. The gains were mostly due to immigration.

data from Statistics Canada

5 Oct 2009