Brantford area jobless rate close to 10%
Brantford jobs in October 2025 saw a decline as the job market recorded the highest unemployment rate in Ontario, just shy of 10% – the highest it’s been since the pandemic.
Last month’s Brantford-Brant jobless rate was 9.9 per cent, up 0.2 per cent from September, continuing an upwards trend, according Statistics Canada’s seasonally adjusted estimates, which are based on a three-month moving average.
By contrast, the unemployment rate dropped in Ontario and nationally. Canada saw employment growth of 67,000 and the jobless rate fell to 6.9 per cent. Most of the employment gains, 55,000 positions, were in Ontario, which recorded a 7.6 per cent unemployment rate. It was the first sizeable employment gains in the province since June.
Brantford-Brant for many months saw its employment and unemployment steadily increase in tandem. In the six-month period from March to September, the number of employed residents climbed 5,300, while those unemployed grew by 4,100.
Danette Dalton, executive director of the Workforce Planning Board of Grand Erie, said that trend ended in October. Local employment fell and unemployment grew.
“It’s been alarming to see so many of our residents – our friends and neighbours – become unemployed,” Dalton said. “The silver lining, if we can call it that, has been that so many people have been able to find jobs up to now. Until now, there have been more gains than losses in Brantford jobs.”
Unemployed residents will need help
Dalton said those gains may have partially disguised how serious unemployment has become.
“Figures we’re seeing now, with an estimated 9,800 people unemployed and a jobless rate almost 10 per cent, flashes back to the summer of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic created lots of job losses,” she said.
“Like then, our community is going to need a lot of help, including mental health supports. As we approach the holiday season, the stresses on unemployed people and their families will likely increase. It’s a time to be generous in whatever way we can.”
The Workforce Planning Board’s job board, Grand Erie Jobs, saw about 1,650 new jobs in October, down 10% from the month prior.
Visit Statistics Canada’s website to read their news release on the October 2025 employment numbers for Canada and Ontario.
