Canada sees the highest unemployment rate for ‘returning students’ in June since 2009

In June, Canada reported a year-over-year increase in unemployment rates for returning students. The unemployment rate for returning students, aged 15-24, reached 17.4% in June 2025, according to Statistics Canada’s latest Labour Force Survey.

Returning students are defined as individuals who were attending school full-time in March and planned to return to school full-time in the fall.

From May to August, the Labour Force Survey collects labour market information about returning students who attended school full time in March and who intend to return to school full time in the fall.

In June, the unemployment rate for returning students aged 15 to 24 years was 17.4%, up from 15.8% in June 2024 and up 7.2 percentage points from the record low observed in June 2022 (10.2%), during a tight labour market.

This was the highest unemployment rate for the month of June since 2009 excluding the pandemic period.

Prior to June, the summer job season had started slowly in May, when the unemployment rate of young returning students reached 20.1%, comparable with levels last observed in 2009.

Teenagers and older youth alike faced higher unemployment rates in June compared with 12 months earlier. For returning students aged 15 to 16 years, the unemployment rate was up 3.3 percentage points to 27.8%; for those aged 17 to 19 years, it was up 1.8 percentage points to 19.0%, while for those aged 20 to 24 years, it edged up 1.2 percentage points to 12.3%.

In the Windsor census metropolitan area (CMA), the unemployment rate has increased markedly in recent months amidst trade disruptions in automotive manufacturing industries. The unemployment rate in Windsor was 11.2% in June, the highest among the CMAs. Since January 2025, it has increased 2.1 percentage points (three-month moving averages).

Overall, employment in Canada rose by 83,000 (+0.4%) in June, the first increase since January. Employment growth was concentrated in part-time work (+70,000; +1.8%). The unemployment rate fell 0.1 percentage points to 6.9% in June, the first decrease since January.