Ottawa, ON – Garnett Genuis, Conservative Shadow Minister for Employment, released the following statement on the latest employment numbers, released this morning by Statistics Canada:
“Yesterday’s budget was the government sharing their aspirations, but today’s jobs numbers are their report card – and the grade is not good.
“The day after the Liberals released their fanfare-filled ‘Masters of Our Destiny’ budget, Statistics Canada reported a loss of more than 50,000 private sector jobs in October. The employment rate fell for a third consecutive month to 60.5 per cent, unemployment rose for a second consecutive month to 6.7 per cent, and youth unemployment jumped nearly a full percentage point to 13.7 per cent. Over the past year, employment grew by just 17,000 jobs, while the population aged 15 and older grew by nearly 188,000.
“It is also getting harder to find work. Just 18.9 per cent of unemployed Canadians found a job in October, well below the 2017–2019 average of 24.6 per cent. Nearly one in four unemployed Canadians (23.7 per cent) has been searching for 27 weeks or more, compared with 17.2 per cent before the pandemic.
“People are struggling. Nearly 30 per cent of Canadians are living in a household that has difficulty meeting their financial needs. Against this backdrop, the budget offered almost nothing about jobs. By the government’s own estimate, all of its measures together would only add about 50,000 jobs by 2030. That is fewer than the number of private sector jobs lost in October alone.
“Conservatives have spent months calling on the government to incorporate our constructive proposals into Budget 2026. Our Conservative Youth Jobs Plan, announced last year, contained clear policy ideas to help unleash the economy, fix immigration, fix training and build homes where the jobs are.
“Back in the spring, we put forward additional proposals to give parents more flexibility in how they integrate work and family life. These included letting parents pause and resume parental leave, learning on leave, and a caregiving exception to EI clawbacks. More recently, we proposed letting both parents use the CPP Child-Rearing Drop-Out at the same time.
“Sadly, none of these constructive proposals made it into the budget, but Conservatives will continue fighting for jobs, opportunity and security for all Canadians.”