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The report, entitled Canada’s Part-Time Conundrum, examined the 2016 jobs data to the end of November (December data is due to be released by Statistics Canada on Jan. 6). Canada’s latest employment survey showed that the unemployment rate dropped to 6.8 per cent in November after the labour market added 19,400 part-time jobs and lost 8,700 full-time positions, raising questions about the quality of work in Canada.

It is clear that depressed activity in oil producing provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan weighed heavily on employment numbers in Canada, but even outside of energy-producing provinces full-time jobs were up a “measly” 0.5 per cent year on year, TD says.

A bright spot for full-time work was the real estate sector, with employment in construction and finance making up 75 per cent of the new full-time jobs in non-energy producing provinces, the report adds. TD sees this as a “cautionary tale,” however.

“Higher interest rates, stretched valuations and tighter regulations foretell an inevitable slowdown within this sector,” Caranci and Marple write. “Demand for those full-time jobs will not only slow, but there is the real possibility of some reversal.”



The surge in part-time work could also stem from recent changes to Employment Insurance that allow people to continue receiving benefits while returning to the workforce, TD points out. The effect of Canada’s aging baby boomers switching to part-time positions could also be a factor, but the decline in labour force participation for older groups tends to offset this, it adds.