The Fraser Institute announced on Nov. 3 that the United States added 7.6 private-sector jobs per 1,000 working-aged people from 2019 to 2024, while Canada added none, National Post reported. The independent, non-partisan Canadian think tank’s study, Comparing Private Sector Job Creation in Canadian Provinces and U.S. States, 2019-2024, adjusted the figures for growth in the working-age population and found that Canada’s private-sector employment failed to keep pace with that population over the five-year period.
If Canada had matched the U.S. pace since 2019, the country would have created an additional 554,000 private-sector jobs in 2024, according to the study, which drew on data from Statistics Canada, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau.
U.S. Added 7.6 Private-Sector Jobs per 1,000 Residents; Canada Added None
Ben Eisen, a senior fellow at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the study, said the gap contradicts the political narrative around Canada’s labour market. “Despite political rhetoric, Canada has performed poorly compared to America in creating private-sector jobs,” Eisen said.
“Across Canada, private-sector employment has failed to keep pace with growth in the working-age population.”
Nine Provinces Lost Private-Sector Jobs per 1,000 Working-Age Residents
At the provincial level, Canadian provinces performed worse than comparable U.S. states. Nine provinces lost private-sector jobs per 1,000 working-aged people from 2019 to 2024.
Only Newfoundland and Labrador added private-sector jobs per 1,000 working-aged people over the period, gaining 20.6. Ontario had the worst record in the Great Lakes region, British Columbia the worst in the Pacific Northwest, and Alberta was among the worst compared with other energy-producing states.
Ottawa Cited 7.4% Employment Growth; Adjusted for Population, Canada Was Flat
The study’s findings contrast with the federal government’s own assessment. In its 2024 Fall Economic Statement, Ottawa said employment increased 7.4% from 2019 to 2024, the strongest increase in the G7, and touted 330,000 jobs created in the previous year. But after adjusting for population growth, the Fraser Institute authors found total Canadian employment was essentially flat per 1,000 working-age residents, while the U.S. added 7.6 jobs.
Excluding public-sector hiring widens the gap: government jobs grew faster than private-sector jobs in most provinces, and Alberta was the only province where government employment did not outpace private-sector employment, Yahoo News Canada reported.
Small Firms Planned More Layoffs Than Hiring in October 2026
The weakness persists in current data. Average planned wage increases sat at 2.2%. Monthly figures have been mixed, from 75,000 jobs added in July 2026 to an unemployment rate that rose to 6.7% in October 2026 from 6.5% in September, with 4,700 jobs lost that month, Yahoo News Canada reported.
Questions Readers Ask About the Canada-U.S. Private-Sector Jobs Gap
What data did the Fraser Institute study use? The study used data from Statistics Canada, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the U.S. Census Bureau, covering 2019 through 2024, the most recent year of available data.
Why did the study start in 2019? The authors chose 2019 to capture the COVID recession and recovery and to compare developments over a significant period, Eisen said.
How much would Canada have gained by matching the U.S.? Approximately 554,000 additional private-sector jobs in 2024, after adjusting for working-age population change.
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