Canada's September jobs report is due 9 October after August's loss of 42,000 jobs and 2.0% wage growth

Statistics Canada publishes the September Labour Force Survey on Friday 9 October 2026 at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time (12:30 UTC). It is the main Canadian jobs release before the Bank of Canada's next interest rate announcement and Monetary Policy Report on 28 October. The figures below are those published before 5 October.

Where August left things

• Employment: down 42,000, or 0.2%, after a strong run (up 75,000 in July)
• Unemployment rate: 6.4%, unchanged
• Employment rate: 60.8%, down 0.1 percentage point
• Average hourly wages: 2.0% higher than a year earlier, down from 2.8% in July and 3.3% in June, the slowest increase since November 2017

Manufacturing added 22,000 jobs in August, while business, building and other support services lost 20,000 and public administration 8,800 (August report).

Other Canadian data in the meantime

• Retail sales fell 0.7% in July to $73.7 billion, with an advance estimate of a 1.3% rise in August (report)
• Consumer prices were up 3.0% in August, and 2.4% excluding gasoline (report)
• The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25% on 2 September, its seventh straight hold (report)

What to look at

• The employment change and whether August's loss reverses
• The unemployment rate against 6.4%
• Wage growth, which the Bank watches as a guide to underlying inflation
• The split between full-time and part-time work and between sectors

What it means for the Canadian dollar

A soft labour market with inflation near 3% leaves the Bank of Canada between two pressures. Oil, which usually supports the Canadian dollar, also feeds inflation (oil and the Canadian dollar). The Federal Reserve has raised rates since the Bank's last hold, so the rate gap matters for USD/CAD. How to read an economic calendar explains actual, forecast and previous readings.

What happens next

Canada's September inflation is published on 19 October and August retail sales on 23 October. The Bank's decision is on 28 October at 9:45 a.m. Eastern Time.