Canada added 150,000 jobs in January alone: Here are 10 sectors that are hiring

If you are planning to move to Canada, then there is significantly big news for you. The country has added a record number of jobs in the past few months. And as per a Statistics Canada report, a total of 150,000 jobs have been added in the month of January alone, which is far higher than what was forecasted. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate held steady at 5%, near a record low.

The report said that there are broad-based gains during what was a fifth consecutive month of job increases, bringing total employment gains since September to 326,000. The pace of job growth is accelerating -- January's figure was more than double that of December, which saw nearly 70,000 jobs.

Here is the list of industries that have added the most jobs in 2023: 

• Employment number in hospitals: 651,335
• Employment number in full-service restaurants: 531,399
• Employment number in supermarkets & grocery stores: 431,287
• Employment number in fast food restaurants: 402,477
• Employment number in Colleges & Universities: 321,838
• Employment number in IT Consulting in Canada: 320,499
• Employment number in Commercial Banking: 278,186
• Employment number in Engineering Services: 195,828
• Employment number in Janitorial Services in Canada: 191,252
• Employment number in Pharmacies & Drug Stores in Canada: 187,025

(*The list is released by IBISWorld based on Expert Analysis and other reports)

Canada is enjoying rapid population growth because of an open policy on immigration, and the survey data show that non-permanent residents -- including students and temporary workers -- are seeing outsized job gains. The labor force participation rate increased 0.3 percentage points to 65.7%, as the labor force grew by 153,000, or 0.7%.

Moreover, Canada is gearing up to welcome a record number of immigrants in the coming months. As per reports, Canada is likely to welcome nearly 190,000 immigrants via the two pathways - Express Entry and PNP - combined this year. This figure is set to rise to over 230,000 immigrants in 2025. The most recent data from IRCC shows 47,868 applicants for Express Entry programs waiting in the queue as of January 31 and 66,214 for PNPs.

(With inputs from Bloomberg)