Health-Care Hiring Boom Propping Up Canada's Job Market

The Canadian job market has been propped up by a hiring boom in Alberta and Ontario's health-care systems, with over 100,000 new jobs added since the early days of the U.S. trade war.

This trend is consistent with increased funding for the sector set aside in those provinces' budgets, with Alberta budgeting $24 billion and Ontario budgeting $91.5 billion for health care last year.

The report from Desjardins Group notes that without this hiring, Canada's employment picture 'would have been broadly flat', meaning claims of a robust Canadian economy are 'a little misguided.'

Economists and health policy experts warn that more spending and job growth in health care don't automatically lead to better services for patients, with many new jobs going to support infrastructure rather than direct patient care.