MARCH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASES TO 5.3%
Walkerton, ON (April 10, 2026) – In March, the unemployment rate in the Stratford-Bruce Peninsula Economic Region increased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.3% yet remained the lowest unemployment rate in the province for the past three months. Meanwhile, the provincial unemployment rate also increased 0.2 percentage points this month to 7.5%, both unadjusted for seasonality. Employment in the Region decreased by 3,600 (-2.1%) in March, with loss in full-time employment (-2.7%; -3,700) and gain in part-time employment (+0.5%; +200).
In March, the Region’s overall population aged 15+ increased by 300 whereas the labour force size decreased by 3,400 people. The number of people not in the labour force in the Region increased by 3,800. This reduced the Region’s participation rate by 1.2% percentage points to 61.1%. Employment in the Region decreased in both the goods-producing sector (-3.1%%; -1,900) and the services-producing sector (-1.4%; -1,600).
The Goods-producing sector saw a decrease in overall employment numbers in March (-3.1%; -1,900). Losses were experienced in Agriculture (-14.3%, -1,300) and Construction (-7.2%, -1,600), whereas gains were seen in Utilities (+5.6%, +700) and Manufacturing (+0.6%, +100).
Overall employment in the Services-producing sector saw a decrease of -1.4% (-1,600 people) in March. Other services (except public administration) experienced the biggest percentage decrease in employment (-16.7%,-1,600), followed by Health care and social assistance (-11.8%, -3,300) and Education Services (-6.6%, -600). On the other hand, Transportation and warehousing experienced the largest percentage increase in employment (+24.3%, +900), followed by Wholesale and retail trade (+8.2%, +2,100) and Business, building and other supportive services (+6.4%, +300).
“Although this month shows another decline in the participation rate for the region we continue to monitor changes for seasonal rebounds” says Dana Soucie, Executive Director for the Four County Labour Market Planning Board. “As a rural region with a chronically low unemployment rate, collaborations and continued services to support sectors in need are critical to the health of our future workforce”.
Current Job postings for the Bruce, Grey, Huron, Perth region have increased overtime since the pandemic and can be found at www.connect2JOBS.ca. The current number of job postings currently exceeds 1,500.
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Note: Statistics Canada’s monthly Labour Force Survey provides estimates of employment and unemployment, based on a sampling of households in communities. Stratford-Bruce Peninsula figures represent a three-month moving average, unadjusted for seasonality. Numbers may not sum to total due to rounding.
