Canada’s unemployment rose in December, B.C.’s held steady

Canada’s economy added 8,200 jobs in December, but Statistics Canada says the unemployment rate still rose 0.3 per cent compared to the previous month as more people were looking for work.

In Friday’s Labour Force Survey, StatsCan said the national unemployment rate rose to 6.8 per cent.

The mediocre employment numbers followed three consecutive monthly increases in September, October and November, totalling 181,000.

The agency says employment grew in health care and social assistance, but fell in professional, scientific and technical services.

In British Columbia, the December unemployment rate remained steady at 6.4 per cent.

Before Friday morning’s data, one financial company says for Canada’s small businesses, the issue is not just higher unemployment, but where jobs are showing up, and where they are not.

Merchant Growth says many local business owners were hoping to see hiring momentum return through the holidays, but instead saw growth concentrated in short-term, seasonal roles outside their sector.

The company, which specializes in financing small businesses, says the gap continues to widen.

According to data from BMO, large firms added roughly 292,000 jobs last year, while small businesses, which employ nearly 90 per cent of Canada’s private-sector workforce, lost more than 300,000 jobs.

“For many small biz owners, that makes recent job gains feel fragile and temporary, rather than a true recovery,” said a release from Merchant.

“That pressure was especially visible over the holidays and is likely carrying into early 2026. When Merchant Growth surveyed its customers in November, 77 per cent of small businesses said they were not hiring seasonal staff, most often because they could not afford additional wages (28%), struggled to find qualified workers (24%), or were uncertain about sales (15%).”

The company said that with much of the recent hiring tied to seasonal retail roles, small business owners are heading into 2026 with a more cautious outlook.

“Many are freezing hiring, working longer hours themselves, and delaying growth plans until costs ease and demand stabilizes.”

The company’s Chief Growth Officer, Joe Cote, also has a message for consumers.

“Shop local! Divert $20 or $25 from your spend to be able to support small businesses. They really need you,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.