From 2019 to 2024 U.S. added 7.6 private sector jobs per 1,000 working-aged people, Canada added none

VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 3, 2026 /CNW/ -- Over a recent five-year period, the United States added 7.6 private-sector jobs per 1,000 working-aged people, but Canada added none, according to a new study published by the Fraser Institute, an independent non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

"Despite political rhetoric, Canada has performed poorly compared to America in creating private-sector jobs," said Ben Eisen, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute and co-author of Comparing Private Sector Job Creation in Canadian Provinces and U.S. States 2019-2024.

The study finds that, after adjusting for growth of the working-age population, the United States has substantially outperformed Canada in terms of private-sector job creation from 2019-2024. Specifically, whereas the U.S. added 7.6 private-sector jobs for every 1,000 working-aged persons over the five-year period, Canada added none.

In fact, if private-sector job creation (adjusted for working-age population change) in Canada had kept pace with the United States since 2019, Canada would have created an additional 554,000 private-sector jobs in 2024.

At the provincial level, Canadian provinces performed much worse than comparable U.S. states. For example, Ontario had the worst record of private-sector job growth in the Great Lakes region, British Columbia had the worst record throughout the Pacific Northwest, and Alberta was among the worst performers compared to other energy-producing states.

In fact, nine provinces lost private-sector jobs (per 1,000 working aged people) over the five-year period. B.C. lost the most (35.7), followed by Saskatchewan (26.1), Ontario (17.8), New Brunswick (15.5), Prince Edward Island (14.4), Alberta (8.8), Quebec (5.5), Manitoba (3.4) and Nova Scotia (2.6).

Only Newfoundland and Labrador added private-sector jobs per 1,000 working-aged people from 2019 to 2024, adding 20.6.

"Canadian politicians have frequently pointed to strong employment growth in recent years as evidence of a healthy labour market, but the data tell a different story," Eisen said.

"Across Canada, private-sector employment has failed to keep pace with growth in the working-age population."

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute's independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org

SOURCE The Fraser Institute

MEDIA CONTACT: Ben Eisen, Senior Fellow, Fraser Institute; To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact: Erin Clemens, [phone] ext. 615, [email protected]