Large municipalities in Ontario saw some of the worst unemployment numbers in 2024

Numerous regions throughout Ontario are seeing some of the highest unemployment rates in 2024. 

According to information from Statistics Canada this week, numerous Census metropolitan areas (CMAs) across Canada are seeing spikes in unemployment not seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. 

CMAs are large data pools of population centres that provide the federal government with a unit of measurement surrounding national and hyper-local employment trends. 

According to Statistics Canada, the number of unemployed people in Canada increased by 87,000 in November, bringing the total number of unemployed persons to 1.5 million nationwide.

Despite this metric, the national unemployment rate only rose 0.3 percentage points to 6.8 per cent, as national attitudes towards employment have spiked, with more people looking for work outside of their traditional wheelhouses and young people entering the Canadian workforce for the first time. 

However, numerous Ontario municipalities are still experiencing some of the worst fallout from employment struggles in the country. 

According to Statistics Canada’s CMA unemployment rate chart, the regions in Ontario that have seen significant spikes in unemployment in 2024 are:

• Windsor (8.7 per cent)
• Toronto (8.1 per cent) 
• Oshawa (7.8 per cent)
• Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo (7.7 per cent)
• Hamilton (6.8 per cent)
• St. Catharines- Niagara (6.7 per cent)
• London (6.7 per cent)

For more information on Statistics Canada’s 2024 unemployment report, visit the Government of Canada’s official website.