Welcome to Durham Workforce Authority

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 thus provides the best depiction of the labour market in the Region.

The Unemployment Rate Comparison Graph demonstrates the significant changes labour markets across the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA) and Ontario have undergone since the beginning of 2020 largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A full analysis of the data depicted by the graph is available here.

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