Canada’s health workforce tops 1.7 million as vacancies ease
There were 67,900 vacancies in health occupations in 2025, and their vacancy rate remained above the national rate.
Event / data period: 2025
Published: · Updated:
More than 1.7 million people worked in Canadian health occupations in 2025, up 81,200, or 4.9%, from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said in a study released October 19. Health occupations accounted for 8.2% of employment. The sector had 67,900 job vacancies, down from a 2023 peak of 90,700 but still nearly three times the 2016 level.
The vacancy rate in health occupations eased to 4.5% in 2025, below its 6.3% peak in 2023 but above the 2.7% rate across Canada. Licensed practical nurses had a 12.3% vacancy rate. Employment figures come from the Labour Force Survey and vacancy figures from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey; they are labour-market indicators and do not by themselves measure service capacity or health outcomes.
Data
Canada health workforce, 2025
Annual measures of employment and job vacancies in Canadian health occupations.
- People employed in health occupations
- ≥1,700,000 people
- 2025 · Observed
- Job vacancies in health occupations
- 67,900 jobs
- 2025 · Observed
- Job vacancy rate in health occupations
- 4.5 %
- 2025 · Observed
- Job vacancy rate across Canada
- 2.7 %
- 2025 · Observed
Methodology
Employment is from the Labour Force Survey; vacancies and vacancy rates are from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey. Health occupations follow Statistics Canada’s occupational classification. The vacancy rate is vacancies as a share of filled and unfilled positions; these measures describe employment and employer demand.
Updated:
Subjects and places
Subject proposals
- EmploymentSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: workforcewww150.statcan.gc.ca ↗
- Labor marketSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: workforcewww150.statcan.gc.ca ↗
- HealthSuggested
- Subject suggested from the title or summary: healthwww150.statcan.gc.ca ↗
Geographic references
Only source-provided geographic references are shown. Opening an external map is optional. Optional story maps use OpenStreetMap. Opening a map sends your IP address and this site’s address to the map provider; location data remains readable as text without loading the map.
- Canada · Place role: Coverage · Place type: Country or area · Location precision: RegionalEvidence
- Explicit preserved editorial country/region; no city or national centroid inferredwww150.statcan.gc.ca ↗