Canada lost 42,000 jobs in August while Thunder Bay’s unemployment rate reached 4.7%. See regional figures for Northwestern Ontario
THUNDER BAY — BUSINESS — Canada lost 42,000 jobs in August while the national unemployment rate held at 6.4 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.
Thunder Bay’s unemployment rate was lower at 4.7 per cent, based on Statistics Canada’s seasonally adjusted three-month moving average. That was down from 5.2 per cent in July.
However, the lower local unemployment rate did not come from job growth. Estimated employment in the Thunder Bay census metropolitan area fell by about 400 positions in August, while the labour force declined by approximately 700 people. A person is counted in the labour force only when working or actively looking for work.
For Thunder Bay workers and employers, the numbers point to a labour market that is holding relatively steady, rather than one undergoing strong expansion.
Canada’s Labour Market Loses Ground
National employment fell by 42,000 positions, or 0.2 per cent, in August. The employment rate — the share of people aged 15 and older who have jobs — slipped 0.1 percentage points to 60.8 per cent.
The August decrease followed a combined gain of 181,000 jobs from April through July. Compared with August 2025, employment across Canada was still up by 217,000 positions, or one per cent.
About 1.5 million people were unemployed in August. Statistics Canada reported that 24 per cent had been searching for work for at least 27 weeks. That was above the pre-pandemic average of 17.1 per cent recorded from 2017 through 2019.
The national participation rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 65 per cent. That means a slightly smaller share of working-age Canadians was either employed or actively seeking work.
Ontario Employment Falls by 18,000
Ontario lost an estimated 18,000 jobs in August, a decrease of 0.2 per cent. The provincial unemployment rate was 6.9 per cent, little changed from July.
Ontario’s employment picture remained stronger over the longer term. The province had 116,000 more employed people than it did in August 2025, an increase of 1.4 per cent.
Manufacturing provided one positive sign. The sector added 22,000 jobs across Canada in August, including 14,000 in Ontario.
Natural-Resources Employment Declines
The industry figures carry particular importance for Northwestern Ontario.
Natural-resources employment fell by 7,700 positions nationally in August, a decrease of 2.3 per cent. Statistics Canada did not provide a Northwestern Ontario breakdown for that monthly industry change, so the national decline should not be interpreted as a direct measure of job losses in the region’s mining or forestry sectors.
Employment also declined in business, building and other support services by 20,000 positions. Public administration lost 8,800 jobs and utilities lost 5,600.
Over the previous 12 months, the strongest national employment growth occurred in health care and social assistance, which added 129,000 positions. Information, culture and recreation gained 49,000, while transportation and warehousing added 47,000.
Thunder Bay Labour Market by the Numbers
Statistics Canada estimated that 66,600 people were employed in the Thunder Bay census metropolitan area in August. The local labour force included 69,900 people, with approximately 3,300 counted as unemployed.
| Thunder Bay labour indicator | July 2026 | August 2026 | Monthly change |
| Employment | 67,000 | 66,600 | Down approximately 400 |
| Labour force | 70,600 | 69,900 | Down approximately 700 |
| Unemployment | 3,700 | 3,300 | Down approximately 400 |
| Unemployment rate | 5.2% | 4.7% | Down 0.5 percentage points |
| Participation rate | 63.1% | 62.5% | Down 0.6 percentage points |
| Employment rate | 59.9% | 59.5% | Down 0.4 percentage points |
The local unemployment rate was also close to where it stood one year earlier. In August 2025, Thunder Bay’s rate was 4.8 per cent, with estimated employment of 66,800.
The Thunder Bay figures are seasonally adjusted three-month moving averages. Statistics Canada uses the moving average to reduce the large monthly swings that can occur when estimating labour conditions in smaller markets. The geographic area is the Thunder Bay census metropolitan area, not only the city’s municipal boundaries.
Northwestern Ontario Community Estimates
Statistics Canada also released model-based labour estimates for smaller areas. The most recent period available in that table is June 2026, two months behind the national and Thunder Bay metropolitan figures.
These estimates are not seasonally adjusted. They should not be directly compared with Canada’s August rate or used to claim that one community’s economy is performing better than another based on a single month.
| Statistical area | Estimated employment | Unemployment rate | Employment rate | 95% range for unemployment rate |
| Thunder Bay CMA | 67,280 | 4.8% | 60.2% | 3.9%–5.7% |
| Kenora CA | 7,960 | 5.0% | 62.2% | 3.9%–6.2% |
| Fort Frances SLA | 8,070 | 4.5% | 58.3% | 3.3%–5.6% |
| Sioux Lookout SLA | 3,230 | 6.2% | 68.3% | 5.1%–7.3% |
| Greenstone SLA | 2,090 | 5.5% | 59.9% | 4.4%–6.6% |
| Nipigon SLA | 1,150 | 6.1% | 53.7% | 4.8%–7.4% |
Source: Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0480-01. June 2026 estimates are monthly and not adjusted for seasonal employment patterns.
The Statistics Canada table did not provide separate June entries under the names Dryden, Red Lake, Atikokan or Ignace. Those communities should not be assigned figures from a neighbouring statistical area without confirmation of the area boundaries.
What CMA, CA and SLA Mean
The community names in the regional table describe statistical labour areas, not necessarily municipal boundaries.
- CMA means census metropolitan area. The Thunder Bay CMA includes the urban centre and surrounding municipalities linked to it.
- CA means census agglomeration. The Kenora CA includes the population centre and connected surrounding area.
- SLA means self-contained labour area. Statistics Canada builds these areas from communities outside a CMA or CA using commuting patterns. The Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout, Greenstone and Nipigon numbers therefore should not be read as town-only figures.
The 95 per cent ranges in the table show the uncertainty around each unemployment estimate. Wider ranges mean there is less precision. Statistics Canada combines available Labour Force Survey information with Employment Insurance statistics and demographic projections to produce the small-area estimates.
The small-area data also exclude people living on reserves and other Indigenous settlements in the provinces, full-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces and people living in institutions. That limitation is especially important when interpreting labour conditions across Northwestern Ontario and the Far North.
Youth Employment Weakens Nationally
Employment among Canadians aged 15 to 24 fell by 19,000 in August. The youth unemployment rate was 12.9 per cent, little changed from July but down from 14.3 per cent one year earlier.
Returning students experienced a somewhat better summer job market than in 2025. Their unemployment rate averaged 15.9 per cent from May through August, compared with 17.9 per cent during the same period last year.
The experience varied sharply by age. The summer unemployment rate was 9.2 per cent among returning students aged 20 to 24, 16.7 per cent among those aged 17 to 19 and 29.9 per cent among students aged 15 and 16.
Wage Growth Slows
Average hourly wages among employees rose two per cent from August 2025 to $37.02. That was slower than the 2.8 per cent annual increase recorded in July and the 3.3 per cent rise in June.
Workers in the lowest-paid quarter of employees saw average hourly wages rise by 1.1 per cent to $18.66. Employees in the highest-paid quarter recorded a 2.1 per cent increase to $65.15.
What the Numbers Mean for Northwestern Ontario
The lower Thunder Bay unemployment rate is encouraging, but it should be read alongside the decline in both employment and labour-force participation. A falling unemployment rate is less positive when part of the change comes from people leaving the labour force.
The smaller-area estimates provide a useful first look at Kenora, Fort Frances, Sioux Lookout, Greenstone and Nipigon. They do not replace local information about layoffs, hiring, major projects or workers travelling to jobs outside their home communities.
The national decline in natural-resources employment is also a warning sign worth watching in a region where mining and forestry have an outsized economic role. Future Labour Force Survey releases will show whether August was a short interruption in employment growth or the beginning of a broader slowdown.
Source
Statistics Canada released the August 2026 Labour Force Survey and updated labour-market tables on September 4, 2026.
