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Census Metropolitan Unemployment Rates Across Ontario

The Unemployment Rate Comparison graph provides a visual display of the monthly unemployment rates for various Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA) across Ontario.  The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons expressed as a percentage of the labour force. Estimates are percentages, rounded to the nearest tenth.

The Oshawa CMA is comprised of Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington. The Oshawa CMA is used as a data proxy in Durham Region as Pickering, Ajax and Uxbridge are part of the Toronto CMA and Brock and Scugog are not surveyed in the monthly report due to population size. The Oshawa CMA includes the most Durham Region residents and provides the best depiction of the labour market in the Region as a whole.

The Unemployment Rate Comparison graph reflects many of the job losses and recoveries experienced across various areas in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, largely due to the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.  While all areas saw a spike in unemployment around March, we saw a gradual decline throughout the summer and into the autumn months as various businesses began to re-open after the first wave of the virus.  In some locations, we are beginning to see the effect of the second wave, with some CMAs again showing increases in unemployment. While Windsor’s CMA had a major spike through the spring, the rate has gradually fallen in line with the other CMAs, now sitting at 10.1%.  Peterborough and Barrie fall fairly close together as of December, at 11.7% and 12%, respectively.

In Ontario, the highest unemployment rate in December 2020 was 12% in the Barrie CMA.  The lowest unemployment rate on the chart is 7.2% in the London CMA, with a close second being 7.3% in the Oshawa CMA.   Looking forward to the next few months, the data should begin to reflect more effects of the pandemic’s second wave and relevant public health restrictions on unemployment across Ontario.

Source: Statistics Canada. Table  14-10-0095-01, Labour force characteristics by census metropolitan area, three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality (November 2020).