Skip to content

Greater Victoria unemployment rate falls to second lowest in Canada

Victoria unemployment rate reaches 2.8 per cent in March
16356701_web1_190406-RDA-Business-Jobs-PIC
March 2019 from Stats Canada show Victoria recorded the second-lowest unemployment rate in the country at 2.8 per cent. (Black Press File).

Employment figures for March show Greater Victoria’s unemployment rate at 2.8 per cent, down from 3.2 per cent the previous month.

This unemployment rate means Victoria’s Census Metropolitan Area has the second-lowest in the country behind Guelph, Ont. with 2.6 per cent and ahead of Hamilton’s rate of 3.5 per cent.

RELATED: Canada sees second straight monthly employment surge with 55,900 net new jobs

Among Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) in British Columbia, Kelowna ranks second behind Victoria with an unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent, followed by Vancouver with a rate of 4.9 per cent. Abbotsford-Mission ranks fourth with 6.3 per cent.

The provincial unemployment rate of 4.7 per cent was the lowest in Canada, ahead of Saskatchewan (4.9 per cent) and Manitoba (five per cent). Alberta’s unemployment rate was the fourth-highest in the country with 6.9 per cent.

Regional variations, however, exist in British Columbia. While Vancouver Island and the Coast recorded an unemployment rate of 3.6 per cent, the Northeast recorded a rate of 7.8 per cent.

In between were the North Coast-Nechako (3.8 per cent), Kootenay (4.7 per cent), Mainland-Southwest (4.9 per cent), Thompson-Okanagan (5.3 per cent) and Cariboo (6.4 per cent).


Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter

wolfgang.depner@saanichnews.com



Wolf Depner

About the Author: Wolf Depner

I joined the national team with Black Press Media in 2023 from the Peninsula News Review, where I had reported on Vancouver Island's Saanich Peninsula since 2019.
Read more