Labour shortage: where do the service trades stand?
In September 2021, Quebec had 258,520 job vacancies. By August 2026, 119,425 remained, according to Statistics Canada. Is the labour shortage over? Not everywhere. Public data show a market back to its pre-pandemic level, but they miss part of what service businesses experience. Here is what the figures say, industry by industry and trade by trade, and where the gap with the field is widest.
What the official figures say
Statistics Canada measures labour shortages with the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey. A position counts as vacant if it is open (or will be during the month), if there is work to be done and if the employer is actively looking for someone outside the business. The job vacancy rate compares those positions to all positions, filled or not.
| Quebec, monthly seasonally adjusted data | Job vacancies | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| September 2021 (series peak) | 258,520 | 6.6% |
| August 2024 | 125,220 | 3.1% |
| August 2025 | 109,230 | 2.7% |
| August 2026 | 119,425 | 3.0% |
The number of vacancies has shrunk by more than half since 2021. In 2019, before the pandemic, the monthly rate ranged between 3.2% and 3.7%: Quebec is back at roughly that level, even slightly below it. The quarterly, non-seasonally-adjusted data tell the same story: 254,590 vacancies in the second quarter of 2022 (6.4%), then 123,760 in 2025 and 123,695 in 2026, or 3.1% both years.
One figure moved the other way: the average hourly wage offered for vacant positions. It rose from $22.80 in the second quarter of 2022 to $28.60 in the second quarter of 2026. Employers find people more easily, but they pay more to do it.
Service industries, one by one
The average hides gaps. In the second quarter of 2026, almost every service industry was still above the overall rate of 3.1%.
| Industry (Quebec) | Rate Q2 2022 | Rate Q2 2026 | Average offered wage Q2 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal and laundry services* | 9.9% | 5.3% | $21.45 |
| Food services and drinking places | 13.8% | 4.7% | $18.15 |
| Other services (repair, personal services, etc.) | 8.7% | 4.3% | $27.60 |
| Repair and maintenance | 9.6% | 4.0% | $27.85 |
| Truck transportation | 8.1% | 4.0% | $28.85 |
| Social assistance | 7.3% | 3.6% | $26.00 |
| Specialty trade contractors (construction) | 7.3% | 3.4% | $34.15 |
| Administrative and support services | 7.8% | 3.2% | $25.35 |
| All industries | 6.4% | 3.1% | $28.60 |
* Estimate quality rated "acceptable" by Statistics Canada: read it as an order of magnitude.
The "administrative and support services" category includes building cleaning and landscaping, among others, but also security and call centres. Its rate close to the average therefore says little about each trade on its own. For that, you need to go down to the occupation level.
Specific trades: where the openings are
The table of job vacancies by occupation gives a sharper picture. Here are service trades in Quebec, in the second quarter (April to June), with the average offered wage.
| Occupation | Vacancies Q2 2025 | Vacancies Q2 2026 | Average offered wage Q2 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nurse aides and patient service associates | 5,280 | 4,610 | $27.40 |
| Transport truck drivers | 2,485 | 2,730 | $28.15 |
| Light duty cleaners | 1,320 | 2,205 | $21.00 |
| Material handlers | 1,160 | 1,540 | $22.20 |
| Automotive service technicians and mechanics | 1,500 | 1,420 | $28.75 |
| Construction trades helpers and labourers | 1,400 | 1,365 | $27.85 |
| Landscaping and grounds maintenance labourers* | 1,105 | 1,180 | $20.95 |
| Janitors, caretakers and heavy-duty cleaners* | 420 | 560 | $22.85 |
* Estimates of "acceptable" quality.
Three takeaways. Vacancies for cleaners jumped by about two thirds in one year, while the Quebec total stayed flat. Low-skill manual trades (cleaning, landscaping, material handling) offer the lowest average wages, around $21 to $22 an hour, far from the $28.60 average. And nurse aides, still the largest group in this table, are seeing their vacancies decline.
Why the field does not always match the statistics
Many service contractors read "3% job vacancies" and do not recognize their reality. The figures are not wrong: they measure something specific. Statistics Canada's methodology notes explain most of the gap.
- Employers must be actively recruiting. A position only counts if the employer is recruiting outside the business. A contractor who stopped posting, or who turns down contracts for lack of staff, shows up nowhere.
- Subcontractors are excluded. Positions reserved for subcontractors or self-employed workers are not job vacancies. Yet many snow removal, roofing and cleaning businesses work with self-employed people.
- Small trades are too small to measure. For roofers and painters, the second-quarter 2026 estimates are rated too unreliable to publish. Yet the Commission de la construction du Québec rates roofers' prospects as excellent: low availability, very high turnover and only 624 new apprentices admitted in 2025, below the average of 810 for the four previous years.
- The offered wage is a floor. When a posting shows a range, the employer reports the lower bound.
- The data arrive late. The April-to-June figures were released in mid-September; a spike in demand from a storm or a heat wave only shows up months later, smoothed into an average.
Bottom line: the overall shortage has eased, but it persists where headcounts are small, offered wages are low or the work is seasonal, which is exactly the case for several service trades.
Where the gap is widest
Crossing the public data with the survey's limits, three trade profiles stand out.
| Profile | Examples | What the data show |
|---|---|---|
| Low-paid trades with high turnover | Cleaning, landscaping, material handling | Vacancies up over one year, offered wages around $21 to $22 |
| Skilled trades with small headcounts | Roofer, painter | Invisible in the survey, but flagged as short-staffed by the CCQ for roofers |
| Trades that require a licence | Truck driver | Vacancies up over one year, offered wage of $28.15 |
For other trades, the market has clearly loosened compared with 2022: the number of positions to fill has been cut in half, and the balance of power between employers and workers has evened out. Regional details are in The regions most short of workers this fall, and the seasonal picture in Winter jobs in Quebec: the trades hiring from November to March.
One limit to keep in mind: these comparisons cover the second quarter, when landscaping and construction are in full swing. A fall or winter comparison would give different results for those trades.
What this means for you
If you are hiring, remember that offered wages have risen faster than vacancies have fallen. A clear posting, with the hourly rate and the real schedule, and a quick reply to candidates make more of a difference than one more ad. The methods are detailed in Recruiting through a labour shortage: a guide for small service businesses. On GPP Emploi, posting a job is free and you only pay when a contact is accepted; the employers guide also explains the Central signal, which shows you available workers near you when your business is taking more requests than usual.
If you are looking for work, the trades with the widest gap are also the ones where you have the most bargaining power. The GPP Emploi home page shows, live, the service requests taken by trade and region in GPP Central, data that official statistics do not have. Then create your free profile, no résumé needed, and choose the regions where you want to work.
In short
- Quebec had 119,425 job vacancies in August 2026 (a 3.0% rate), compared with 258,520 at the September 2021 peak.
- The average offered wage rose from $22.80 to $28.60 an hour between the second quarters of 2022 and 2026.
- Most service industries remain above average, and cleaning vacancies jumped in one year.
- The survey excludes subcontractor positions and publishes nothing for small trades such as roofer or painter, hence the gap with the field.
Frequently asked questions
Is there still a labour shortage in Quebec in 2026?
Overall, it has eased a lot: the job vacancy rate was 3.0% in August 2026, compared with 6.6% in September 2021. It persists in specific trades, though, especially those with low wages, seasonal work or few workers.
How many job vacancies are there in Quebec?
According to Statistics Canada, Quebec had 119,425 job vacancies in August 2026, seasonally adjusted. In the second quarter of 2026, the quarterly estimate was 123,695 vacancies.
Which trades have the biggest labour shortage in Quebec?
In the second quarter of 2026, nurse aides, truck drivers and light duty cleaners were among the service trades with the most vacancies. For trades with small headcounts, such as roofer, you need other sources, such as the CCQ.
What is the job vacancy rate?
It is the number of vacant positions divided by total labour demand, meaning filled positions plus vacant ones. A 3% rate means 3 positions out of 100 are waiting for someone.
Why do some trades not appear in the statistics?
When the sample is too small, Statistics Canada rates the estimate too unreliable to publish. That was the case for roofers and painters in Quebec in the second quarter of 2026.
Sources
- Postes vacants, employés salariés et taux de postes vacants selon les provinces et territoires, données mensuelles désaisonnalisées (tableau 14-10-0432-01)
- Postes vacants, employés salariés, taux de postes vacants et moyenne du salaire horaire offert selon le sous-secteur de l'industrie, données trimestrielles non désaisonnalisées (tableau 14-10-0442-01)
- Postes vacants et moyenne du salaire horaire offert selon la profession (groupe de base), données trimestrielles non désaisonnalisées (tableau 14-10-0444-01)
- Couvreur / Couvreuse – fiche métier (Commission de la construction du Québec, 2026)
