Canada’s economy got a fresh diagnostic today with a new bundle of Economic and Social Reports from Statistics Canada.
The September package spans health care staffing, immigration pathways, long-run business dynamism, disability and job tenure, and where work-from-home roles cluster across the Greater Toronto Area.
Growth, wages, and property values, the common thread is how Canadian labor markets and firm dynamics are changing in real time.
Health care workforce and immigration pathways
One study, produced with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, looks at whether immigrants who planned to work as nurses actually did so, according to Statistics Canada’s September 2025 reports.
Among applicants admitted between 2010 and 2020 at ages 18 to 54 who intended to work in nursing, 63% were employed in nursing occupations in 2021, while a quarter were in lower-skilled health or non-health roles or were not employed. Canadian work experience before admission proved pivotal.
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The share employed in nursing rose to 81% for those with Canadian experience, compared with 53% for those without it.
The pipeline also runs the other way of immigrants admitted in 2010 to 2020 who were working as nurses in 2021, 65% had not originally intended to enter nursing, a sign that domestic training and early Canadian experience can redirect careers into high-need fields.
Immigration status trends and business churn
In the year after the reference period, 64% to 79% kept their non-permanent resident status, 12% to 20% did not extend their permits, and 4% to 10% became permanent residents.
By the third year, 31% to 40% had obtained permanent residency, 36% to 38% still held non-permanent status, and 23% to 33% had not extended.
Those shares help employers in hospitality, retail, logistics, and tech gauge retention risks and plan wages and training. A separate paper examines firm entry and exit from 1980 to 2021 and finds Canada’s entry and exit rates fell by roughly half over that period.
By the late 2010s, rates stabilized around 12% to 13%, similar to U.S. levels. The United States saw a sharper hit during the 2009 recession, while Canada absorbed a bigger blow from the COVID-19 shock.
Less churn usually means slower reallocation of capital and labor, which can weigh on productivity and trend growth that is a caution flag for long-horizon equity returns and potential output.
Workplace inclusion and Toronto’s telework landscape
After adjusting for age, gender, and sector, overall tenure for employees with disabilities is broadly in line with what their characteristics would predict.
Tenure is lower than expected for some disability types, for workers with non-episodic disabilities, and for those with severe or very severe disabilities.
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Targeted accommodations can reduce turnover costs and protect firm-specific know-how. A fifth article maps teleworkable jobs across the Greater Toronto Area.
In 2021 there were well over 50,000 jobs in the financial district and downtown core that could be done from home, with additional pockets from High Park to East Danforth and into North York.
Hybrid patterns help explain persistent office vacancies and intersect with conversion efforts that several Canadian cities, including Calgary and Hamilton, have already begun.
The geography of teleworkable jobs signals where conversion economics look viable and where office vacancy may prove sticky.
