The number of job vacancies declined in Quebec for the third consecutive year in 2025. It is even half what it was in 2022, according to the Quebec Statistics Institute (ISQ) on Wednesday. In its latest Employment Report for 2025, the ISQ states that there were 118,000 job vacancies, a 14 per cent decrease from the previous year. By comparison, there were 241,700 job vacancies in 2022, more than double the number. Three industries are particularly affected by the number of job vacancies: health care and social assistance, with 31,100 vacancies; manufacturing, with 12,300; and retail trade, with 10,300. And despite popular belief, the Institute notes that the average hourly wage has increased more than the Consumer Price Index, rising 3.6 per cent compared to 2.4 per cent in 2024. That’s also confirmed in the longer term, between 2015 and 2025, according to Pierre-Olivier Paré, labour statistics analyst at the ISQ, in an interview. This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 5, 2026.
