July 15, 2025
SUMMARY
Both employment and labour force in the Ontario construction industry increased year-over-year (y/y) by 3.7% and 5.3%, respectively. This ended the 3-month streak of declining annual employment and brought the unemployment rate down to 6%.
EMPLOYMENT
Monthly employment and labour force trends improved over the past year and as we entered summer. June employment increased 3.7% y/y while labour force increased by a higher 5.3% y/y. This ended the trend of declines in year-over-year employment seen in prior months in 2025 (outside February, which saw no change compared to February 2024). Unemployment also dropped from 8.6% in May to 6% in June. Despite the improvement in these figures, unemployment still sat unusually high relative to this time in other years. Outside the pandemic, this unemployment was the highest in June in 10 years (it was 6.1% in June 2015). The construction sector did, however, outperform the overall Ontario unemployment rate, which was 7.5%.
CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY DEMOGRAPHICS
Women’s employment and labour force numbers increased by 15.2% y/y and 15.5% y/y, respectively. This stemmed primarily from the cohort of those aged 25–54, which saw a 21.9% y/y increase in employment, and 22.5% y/y in its labour force. Month-to-month employment trends also indicated continued improvement, with June boasting the highest number in the past year. Men’s employment had a milder 2% y/y increase and a 3.9% y/y increase in the labour force.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ali Ahmad
Research Analyst
Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS)
180 Attwell Drive, Suite 360, Toronto, ON M9W 6A9
P 416.620.5210 ext. 222
aahmad@iciconstruction.com
