Canada labour force participation rate

Change country

All countries

Most followed

United States United Kingdom Japan Canada Australia

By region

Asia-Pacific6

Australia Japan Malaysia Singapore New Zealand Philippines

Europe22

Middle East1

Saudi Arabia

North America3

Canada United States Mexico

South America2

Chile Colombia

Change indicator

Prices

Inflation rate Consumer price index

Labour

Unemployment rate Labour force participation rate

GDP

GDP growth rate GDP

Trade

Exports Imports Trade balance

64.8%down 0.2 points from Aug 2026September 2026 · released 9 Oct 2026

−1.2 ptsover 5 years

Compare with: Compare

No comparison

Most followed

United States United Kingdom Japan Australia

By region

Asia-Pacific6

Australia Japan Malaysia Singapore New Zealand Philippines

Europe22

Middle East1

Saudi Arabia

North America2

United States Mexico

South America2

Chile Colombia

Embed this chart

<iframe src="https://narwhalapi.com/economics/canada/labour-force-participation-rate/embed" title="Canada labour force participation rate" width="100%" height="420" style="border:0" loading="lazy"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://narwhalapi.com/economics/canada/labour-force-participation-rate">Canada labour force participation rate</a> by Narwhal</p>

Get Canada labour force participation rate updates by webhook

GET /v1/economics/CAN/labour-force-participation
// webhook: { "type": "release.updated" }

Read historical data and the release calendar by API.

Get an API key

Key data points

Last release: 9 Oct 2026
Observation period: September 2026
Next release: 6 Nov 2026, 13:30 UTC
Previous: 65.0% Aug 2026
Highest: 67.7% Dec 2003
Lowest: 60.1% Apr 2020
A year ago: 65.2%
Data since: 1976

Canada labour force participation rate by year

Canada labour force participation rate by year
Year	Average	High	Low	Change
2026 (to date)	65.0%	65.1%July 2026	64.8%September 2026	▼ −0.2
2025	65.3%	65.5%January 2025	65.1%August 2025	▼ −0.1
2024	65.5%	65.6%February 2024	65.2%September 2024	▼ −0.1
2023	65.8%	65.9%June 2023	65.7%April 2023	▼ −0.1
2022	65.5%	65.7%February 2022	65.3%July 2022	▲ +0.2
2021	65.5%	66.0%September 2021	64.9%January 2021	▲ +0.9
2020	64.4%	65.9%February 2020	60.1%April 2020	▼ −0.4
2019	66.0%	66.2%April 2019	65.8%October 2019	▼ −0.2
2018	65.8%	65.9%July 2018	65.6%April 2018	▲ +0.1
2017	66.0%	66.2%December 2017	65.9%February 2017	▲ +0.2
2016	65.8%	66.0%February 2016	65.6%July 2016	▼ −0.1
2015	66.1%	66.2%March 2015	66.0%January 2015	0.0
2014	66.2%	66.4%January 2014	66.0%August 2014	▼ −0.4
2013	66.7%	66.9%February 2013	66.5%September 2013	▼ −0.2
2012	66.7%	66.9%September 2012	66.4%February 2012	▲ +0.3
2011	66.8%	67.2%January 2011	66.5%December 2011	▼ −0.7
2010	67.1%	67.3%August 2010	66.9%February 2010	0.0
2009	67.3%	67.5%February 2009	67.0%September 2009	▼ −0.2
2008	67.6%	67.7%January 2008	67.4%July 2008	▼ −0.1
2007	67.5%	67.7%November 2007	67.3%May 2007	▲ +0.3

Show all

Canada labour force participation rate by year
Year	Average	High	Low	Change
2006	67.2%	67.3%April 2006	67.1%February 2006	0.0
2005	67.2%	67.4%February 2005	67.0%November 2005	▼ −0.3
2004	67.5%	67.6%January 2004	67.3%August 2004	▼ −0.1
2003	67.6%	67.7%December 2003	67.4%January 2003	▲ +0.3
2002	66.8%	67.4%December 2002	66.3%January 2002	▲ +1.1
2001	65.9%	66.2%December 2001	65.8%July 2001	▲ +0.3
2000	65.8%	66.0%October 2000	65.6%May 2000	▲ +0.3
1999	65.5%	65.7%April 1999	65.4%February 1999	0.0
1998	65.1%	65.4%September 1998	64.9%March 1998	▲ +0.4
1997	64.8%	65.1%October 1997	64.6%March 1997	▲ +0.1
1996	64.7%	64.8%February 1996	64.5%May 1996	▼ −0.1
1995	64.8%	65.2%March 1995	64.4%November 1995	▼ −0.4
1994	65.2%	65.4%September 1994	64.9%March 1994	▼ −0.2
1993	65.4%	65.5%June 1993	65.2%February 1993	▼ −0.1
1992	65.7%	65.9%November 1992	65.5%April 1992	▼ −0.2
1991	66.6%	66.9%June 1991	65.9%December 1991	▼ −0.9
1990	67.2%	67.5%January 1990	66.9%December 1990	▼ −0.6
1989	67.2%	67.5%March 1989	66.9%October 1989	0.0
1988	66.9%	67.0%November 1988	66.7%June 1988	▲ +0.1
1987	66.5%	66.8%December 1987	66.1%January 1987	▲ +0.7
1986	66.1%	66.3%April 1986	66.0%May 1986	0.0
1985	65.6%	66.1%December 1985	65.1%January 1985	▲ +1.0
1984	65.1%	65.7%September 1984	64.6%January 1984	▲ +0.6
1983	64.7%	65.0%June 1983	64.3%January 1983	▲ +0.5
1982	64.5%	64.7%July 1982	64.3%August 1982	▼ −0.1
1981	65.0%	65.3%September 1981	64.8%January 1981	▲ +0.1
1980	64.2%	64.4%April 1980	64.0%July 1980	▲ +0.2
1979	63.7%	64.0%November 1979	63.4%February 1979	▲ +0.4
1978	62.8%	63.4%December 1978	62.0%January 1978	▲ +1.4
1977	61.9%	62.1%November 1977	61.7%June 1977	▲ +0.3
1976	61.5%	61.8%December 1976	61.4%March 1976	▲ +0.3

Download history

Choose byYear

Preview

12 observations · January 2025 to December 2025

Selected historical observations
Date or period	Value · Percent	Source
January 2025	65.5%	Statistics Canada
February 2025	65.3%	Statistics Canada
March 2025	65.3%	Statistics Canada
April 2025	65.3%	Statistics Canada
May 2025	65.3%	Statistics Canada
June 2025	65.3%	Statistics Canada
July 2025	65.2%	Statistics Canada
August 2025	65.1%	Statistics Canada
September 2025	65.2%	Statistics Canada
October 2025	65.2%	Statistics Canada
November 2025	65.2%	Statistics Canada
December 2025	65.4%	Statistics Canada

Indicator info

Category: Labour
Source: Statistics Canada
Frequency: Monthly
Units: Percent

The share of the working-age population that is working or looking for work.

Unemployment rateSep 20266.5%Inflation rateAug 20263.0%Consumer price indexAug 2026169.8 GDP growth rateQ2 20261.1%

Reports

Released 9 Oct 202664.8%September 2026

In 24 days

Next release, 13:30 UTC6 Nov 2026October 2026

History

Labour force participation rate recent observations
Period	Value	Change
September 2026	64.8%	−0.2
August 2026	65.0%	−0.1
July 2026	65.1%	+0.1
June 2026	65.0%	0.0
May 2026	65.0%	0.0
April 2026	65.0%	+0.1
March 2026	64.9%	0.0
February 2026	64.9%	−0.1
January 2026	65.0%	−0.4
December 2025	65.4%	+0.2
November 2025	65.2%	0.0
October 2025	65.2%	0.0
September 2025	65.2%

Common questions

What is the labour force participation rate in Canada now?

The labour force participation rate in Canada was 64.8% in September 2026, down 0.2 points from Aug 2026. The figure was released on 9 Oct 2026.

When is the next labour force participation rate release for Canada?

The next release is scheduled for 6 Nov 2026, 13:30 UTC, covering October 2026.

What are the highest and lowest values of the labour force participation rate in Canada?

In data since 1976, the highest was 67.7% in Dec 2003 and the lowest was 60.1% in Apr 2020.

Where does this data come from?

Published by Statistics Canada, and shown here exactly as published. Publishers revise figures, and the latest published figure replaces the earlier one.

Source: Statistics Canada; Economics methodology →
API: GET /v1/economics/CAN/labour-force-participation; Economics API →