Highlights of Stats Canada job vacancy rates data for the month of September, from Tourism HR Canada:

• The number of vacancies in the accommodation and food services industry was truly unprecedented.
• This year, the number of vacant jobs spiked to nearly 200,000. Almost 40,000 more jobs were vacant in September than in August.
• This means 14.4% of jobs in this industry were unstaffed, impacting the ability to remain open to full capacity, stretching current staff member’s workloads, and likely diminishing service levels.
• On a more positive note, the number of job vacancies did drop slightly in the arts, entertainment and recreation industry, falling just shy of 1,500 to 16,380 (leaving 5.5% of jobs unfilled).
• Tourism is much more seasonal in nature, so there may be a return to higher rates in the spring.

Below are the charts for each of these industry groups. Further information can be found on the Stats Canada website, including data for other industries—Tourism is far from the only sector facing historically high vacancy rates, leading to increased competition for workers.