Canada Jobs Lost April as Youth Unemployment Hits 14.3%

Canada jobs lost april as the economy shed around 18,000 positions in April and the unemployment rate rose 0.2 per cent. For workers looking for a foothold, the April reading shows the labour market cooling while more people searched for work.

15 to 24 face 14.3 per cent

The sharpest move came among Canadians aged 15 to 24, where unemployment rose by half a percentage point to 14.3 per cent in April. Youth unemployment was unchanged in March, leaving April as a clear step higher for the youngest workers in the data.

25 to 54 split by gender

For core-aged men aged 25 to 54, unemployment rose 0.3 per cent to 6.1 per cent in April. For women in the same age group, the rate was unchanged at 5.9 per cent, a split that leaves one side of the prime-age workforce under more pressure than the other.

Among people aged 55 years and older, the unemployment rate was unchanged at 4.9 per cent in April. That steadiness sits beside the broader rise in joblessness, which means the weakness was concentrated in younger and prime-age workers rather than spread evenly across the labour force.

February to September 2025

Youth unemployment was 13.8 per cent in February and hovered close to a recent high of 14.6 per cent in September 2025. If the younger cohort stays near that range, the April rise points to a labour market that is absorbing new entrants more slowly than older workers, and the next monthly reading will show whether April was a pause or a deeper shift.