Youth unemployment rate more than double national average

People attend a job and continuing education fair in Montreal, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi)

Labour market conditions have been worsening for young Canadians, according to a new Statistics Canada report that shows how the youth unemployment rate is outpacing the national average.

Canada’s unemployment rate for 15- to 24-year-olds rose to 14.1 per cent in February, up from 13.3 per cent at the end of 2025. That makes the youth unemployment rate more than double the national average of 6.7 per cent in February, which was a slight 0.1 per cent decrease from December 2025.

In a new economic report, Statistics Canada says young Canadians also “bore the brunt” of a challenging labour market in 2025.

“After eight consecutive months without a month-over-month increase, youth employment rose in October and November 2025 before edging down in December,” the report explained. “Labour market conditions worsened among youth in early 2026.”

Racialized youth groups experienced higher unemployment rates than the national average. Among Black youth, the unemployment rate was 23.2 per cent in February, up 4.6 per cent year over year. For Chinese youth in the same month, the unemployment rate was 17.4 per cent.

The unemployment rate for South Asian youth was 13 per cent in February, while non-racialized and non-Indigenous youth came in at 11.2 per cent.

According to the latest Statistics Canada data, the country shed 109,000 jobs in the first two months of 2026, with just over half being full-time work and most losses concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. In the same period, youth employment fell by 64,000.

The 14.1 per cent youth unemployment rate is still below the 14.6 per cent recorded in September 2025, which was the highest rate in 15 years, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic.