Why Hiring Feels Easier and Harder at the Same Time
- Mar 23
- 4 min read
Canada’s labour market is softening, but that does not mean hiring has suddenly become simple. Statistics Canada reported that employment fell by 84,000 in February 2026, the employment rate slipped to 60.6% and unemployment rose to 6.7%. On the surface, that suggests a looser market.
But hiring conditions are not easing evenly.
Separate Statistics Canada data on job vacancies shows a more complicated picture. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the national job vacancy rate held steady at 2.8%, while the share of vacant positions requiring five or more years of experience reached a record high of 12.9%. In other words, some pressure is coming out of the market, but employer expectations are still climbing in many areas.
That helps explain why many employers are experiencing two realities at once. They may be seeing more applicants, slower growth or more candidate availability in some parts of the market. At the same time, they are still struggling to fill roles that require specialized expertise, deeper experience or harder-to-find skills.
This is the part labour-market headlines often miss: a cooler market does not automatically translate into easier hiring.
What the data is really saying
The recent labour data points to moderation, not simplification. February’s employment decline was concentrated in full-time work and private-sector employment also fell. Ontario’s unemployment rate rose to 7.6% as more people searched for work. That can create the appearance of a more employer-friendly market.
At the same time, vacancy data suggests hiring friction has not disappeared. The vacancy rate has come down from 2022 highs, but it is no longer dropping sharply and the experience bar continues to rise. That means employers may have access to more candidates overall, while still struggling to find people who match increasingly specific requirements.
That is why hiring can feel easier and harder at the same time.
Easier because applicant flow may improve.
Harder because more volume does not necessarily mean more fit.
Where employers get tripped up
In a cooling market, organizations often assume they can be more selective. Sometimes that is true. But sometimes it leads to inflated requirements, longer searches and unnecessary hesitation.
When employers respond to uncertainty by asking for more experience, narrower backgrounds or a near-perfect match, they often create their own hiring bottleneck. The candidate pool may be larger, but the truly viable pool may not be. That leads to more screening, more rounds, more debate and slower decisions.
The result is not always better hiring. Often, it is just noisier hiring.
What employers should do now
1. Revisit your requirements
If your postings are asking for five or more years of experience, confirm that this is genuinely necessary. In some cases, that threshold reflects habit or risk aversion more than actual job need.
2. Separate applicant volume from applicant quality
A larger pool can create false confidence. Track how many candidates are actually qualified, not just how many are applying.
3. Stop assuming one market story applies to every role
A softer labour market may help with some positions and do very little for others. Hiring conditions can vary significantly by function, seniority and specialization.
4. Tighten workforce planning
If specialized roles remain difficult to fill, this is the time to focus on succession, internal development and retention, not just external recruitment.
5. Help hiring managers assess depth, not just availability
Managers need to be able to distinguish between more candidates and better candidates. Those are not the same thing.
Quick checklist: are you reading the market accurately?
Ask yourself:
Are we assuming hiring should be easier simply because unemployment is up?
Have we reviewed whether our experience requirements are too high?
Are we seeing more applicants or more qualified applicants?
Do we know which roles are actually easing and which remain difficult?
Have we adjusted our hiring process to handle higher volume without adding delay?
Are we investing enough in retention and internal talent for harder-to-fill roles?
If the answer to several of these is no, your organization may be reacting to labour-market headlines without adjusting to what is actually happening underneath them.
The bottom line
The labour market is cooling, but not evenly. That matters because uneven markets are often the hardest to interpret. Employers who assume hiring will simply get easier may end up overestimating supply, underestimating friction and missing where talent gaps still exist.
The smarter move is to treat this as a planning signal, not a shortcut. Look closely at your roles, your requirements and your decision-making process. In this kind of market, better judgment matters more than broad assumptions.
If your team is trying to make sense of a shifting talent market, we can help. The Orion Group supports organizations with hiring strategy, workforce planning and selection process design so they can respond to labour-market changes with more clarity and less guesswork. Reach out to us today to learn more.
