AI Shows No Broad Hiring Drop in Canada

Statistics Canada finds no broad evidence that AI has reduced hiring or raised job separations since November 2022.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Job Search

Bold flat-color editorial illustration of a row of empty wooden office chairs pulled from a long table against a pale horizon band, suggesting quiet workforce absence. — Statistics Canada found no broad evidence that AI has reduced hiring or raised job separations in Canada since November 2022. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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A Statistics Canada study found no broad evidence that AI has substantially decreased hiring or increased job separation in Canada since November 2022. The study also found no such effect for younger workers or for jobs more susceptible to AI substitution, such as data-entry clerks.

Why it matters

The findings give Canadian job seekers and employers an early read on how AI adoption is affecting the labour market. The study's authors say continued monitoring will be essential as AI adoption accelerates.

Labour force survey data for workers aged 15 to 64 from January 2006 to August 2026 shows the hiring rate for youth in AI-vulnerable jobs fell from 3.2 per cent to 3 per cent. Coding-intensive hiring dropped from 2.5 per cent to 1.9 per cent between 2022 and 2026, after exceeding 5 per cent around 2020 and 2021.

The players

Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada is the federal agency responsible for collecting and publishing official national statistics, including the labour force survey data used in this study.

Microsoft

Microsoft is a multinational technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington, that is offering voluntary buyouts to 60,000 employees across four countries.

The details

The study classified jobs by their potential exposure to and complementarity with AI, using hiring and job separation rates as early signals of labour market shifts. Employment growth for younger workers was relatively weak after the pandemic regardless of AI exposure.

November 2022: ChatGPT is publicly launched, the baseline for the study.
November 3, 2026: The Canadian Press publishes its report on the study.

Job Search Landscape

The study uses Statistics Canada's labour force survey series from January 2006 to August 2026 to test whether hiring patterns shifted after ChatGPT's November 2022 launch. Its findings suggest that hiring declines in coding-intensive and youth-heavy jobs predate any broad AI-driven effect on the overall labour market.

Job seekers in coding-intensive and entry-level roles may want to track hiring rates in their field as the labour market adjusts. Employers weighing AI tools against hiring plans can use the study's sector breakdowns as a reference point.

The takeaway

Early data does not show a broad AI-driven drop in Canadian hiring, but the study's authors stress that the picture could change as adoption accelerates. Staying alert to sector-specific trends will matter more than headline fears.