Home / Hiring statistics
Hiring statistics for Canadian small businesses (2026)
Canada has about 1.1 million employer businesses, and 98% of them have fewer than 100 employees. Most hiring here is done by an owner or a manager working through it alone, not by an HR department. This page collects 32 recent public figures on what that hiring looks like in 2026. Every number links to its source and shows the period it covers.
Who does the hiring
| Statistic | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Canada has 1,099,521 employer businesses; 1,079,188 of them (98.2%) have 1 to 99 employees. | Dec 2024 | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
| 59.1% of employer businesses have 1 to 4 employees, 18.2% have 5 to 9 and 11.1% have 10 to 19. | Dec 2024 | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
| Small businesses employ 5.8 million people, 46.6% of the private-sector workforce. | 2024 | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
| Small and medium businesses employ 63.6% of private-sector workers, about 8.0 million people. | 2024 | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
| Nova Scotia has 24,903 small employer businesses, 98.1% of its employers. | Dec 2024 | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
| Construction has the highest small and medium business share of employment (87.4%), then accommodation and food (83.4%). | 2024 | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
| 68.0% of businesses with 1 to 99 employees survive 5 years; 48.2% survive 10. | 2001 to 2022 cohorts | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
| Small businesses produce 33.2% of private-sector GDP. | 2022 | ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025 |
Open jobs and how hard they are to fill
| Statistic | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| There were 510,200 job vacancies, a vacancy rate of 2.8%. | Q2 2026 | Statistics Canada, Job vacancies, Q2 2026 (Sept 15, 2026) |
| There were 3.0 unemployed people for every vacancy. | Q2 2026 | Statistics Canada, Job vacancies, Q2 2026 (Sept 15, 2026) |
| 25.9% of vacancies had been open 90 days or more, down from 28.0%. | Q2 2026 | Statistics Canada, Job vacancies, Q2 2026 (Sept 15, 2026) |
| The average offered wage was $28.55 an hour, up 2.0% from a year earlier. | Q2 2026 | Statistics Canada, Job vacancies, Q2 2026 (Sept 15, 2026) |
| There were 13,800 vacancies for transport truck drivers, up 1,200. | Q2 2026 | Statistics Canada, Job vacancies, Q2 2026 (Sept 15, 2026) |
| Firms with 1 to 4 employees had the highest vacancy rate, 5.4%, against 1.9% at firms with 100 or more. | Q2 2026 | CFIB Main Street Quarterly, Q2 2026 |
| 25.2% of businesses expected recruiting skilled staff to be an obstacle; 38.2% in manufacturing, 33.6% in food and accommodation and 31.7% in health care. | Q3 2026 | Statistics Canada, Canadian Survey on Business Conditions, Q3 2026 (Aug 31, 2026) |
| Indeed's Canadian job postings index stood at 104.2 on Oct 16, 2026 (Feb 2020 = 100), against 99.3 a year earlier. | Oct 2026 | Indeed Job Postings Index, Canada (FRED IHLIDXCA) |
Hiring plans and the job market
| Statistic | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 15% of small business owners planned to hire in the next three months and 11% planned layoffs (520 responses). | July 2026 | CFIB Business Barometer, July 2026, via HRD Canada |
| Small business owners expected an average wage increase of 2.3%. | July 2026 | CFIB Business Barometer, July 2026, via HRD Canada |
| Unemployment was 6.5% after 68,000 jobs were lost; Nova Scotia's rate was 6.3%. | Sept 2026 | Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, September 2026 |
| Youth unemployment (ages 15 to 24) was 13.0%. | Sept 2026 | Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, September 2026 |
| 46% of employers surveyed had paused or reduced hiring in the past year (200 respondents). | 2026 | Littler 2026 Canadian Employer Survey |
Paperwork and red tape
| Statistic | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| A small business spends 735 hours a year on compliance, 256 of them (about 32 business days) on red tape. | 2024 | CFIB, red tape summary |
| Businesses with fewer than 5 employees spend $10,208 per employee on compliance, against $1,374 at businesses with 100 or more. | 2024 | CFIB, Canada's Red Tape Report 2025 (PDF) |
| Regulation cost businesses $51.5 billion, $17.9 billion of it red tape. | 2024 | CFIB, Canada's Red Tape Report 2025 (PDF) |
| 59% name payroll taxes (CPP/QPP and EI) among the most burdensome federal rules; 31% name the Record of Employment. | 2024 | CFIB, Canada's Red Tape Report 2025 (PDF) |
| 52% name workers' compensation and occupational health and safety, and 44% name employment standards, among the most burdensome provincial rules. | 2024 | CFIB, Canada's Red Tape Report 2025 (PDF) |
| 37% would hire more if regulatory costs were reduced. | 2024 | CFIB, Canada's Red Tape Report 2025 (PDF) |
| At least 60% of smaller businesses handle compliance themselves. | 2024 | CFIB, Canada's Red Tape Report 2025 (PDF) |
Pay transparency in job postings
| Statistic | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 57% of Canadian Indeed postings included pay, up from about 1 in 5 six years earlier. | June 2026 | Indeed pay transparency tracker, via Canadian HR Reporter |
| Ontario rose from 49% to 71% after pay ranges became mandatory on Jan 1, 2026; outside BC and Ontario the share was 41%, flat for three years. | June 2026 | Indeed pay transparency tracker, via Canadian HR Reporter |
| Only 16% of postings that include pay give an exact figure rather than a range. | June 2026 | Indeed pay transparency tracker, via Canadian HR Reporter |
| 55% of employers updated their postings for pay transparency rules. | 2026 | Littler 2026 Canadian Employer Survey |
How we chose these numbers
We included only figures from government statistical agencies (Statistics Canada, ISED), established business associations (CFIB), or named surveys that publish their sample size and dates (Littler, Indeed Hiring Lab). Survey figures reflect what respondents said, not counts. "Small business" means 1 to 99 employees (ISED's definition) unless a source uses its own groups. Last checked October 27, 2026; next update after Statistics Canada's Q3 2026 job vacancy release.
How to cite this page
Staffkin. "Hiring statistics for Canadian small businesses (2026)." https://staffkin.com/hiring-statistics-canada/. Please also cite the original source for any figure you use.
Statistics only. Not legal advice.
Hiring this year?
Staffkin keeps the job description, prescreen, scored interviews, reference checks and onboarding for each hire in one place. Free for your first job.
Start free