Canadian employment outlook improving

The survey comes ahead of Friday’s employment report for February, which is expected to report a median 20,000 jobs were added in the month.

While most Canadian employers plan to hold staffing levels steady in the second quarter hiring intentions in the country are improved from a year ago.

The vast majority, 75 per cent, of employers expect to maintain their current staffing levels, which suggest stability during the economic recovery, and 17 per cent of employers plan to increase their staffing in the second quarter.  This may be due, in part, to the economic
Infrastructure stimulus plan introduced by the Canadian Government that is expected to start shortly, and could see an increase in Canadian immigration to fill skilled worker shortages in the construction and mining industries.

Some 6 per cent of employers expect cutbacks. Two percent are unsure of their hiring intentions.

Hiring intentions were steady across the regions.

Employers in the education and mining industries reported the most favourable results among the 10 surveyed sectors for the second quarter.

Manpower's index is based on interviews with more than 1,900 Canadian employers.

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