Canadian Cities With The Most Competitive Job Markets Have Been Revealed & It's Tough Out There

There is a new study about job markets in Canada that breaks down how many applicants you typically have to compete with in order to get hired in certain cities — and it's eye-opening, to say the least.

Career experts at Resume.io looked at the most competitive job markets around the world for job seekers, so you can not only see how stiff the competition is in this country, but globally as well.

The study analyzed job postings on LinkedIn and calculated how many people apply for local positions on average within one week of a listing being posted on the employment site.

Of all the places in Canada that were looked at, one Canadian city stood out as having the most competitive job market of any location in this country by a longshot, according to the study.

To no one's surprise, people who are applying to positions in the Toronto job market have to beat out the most applicants to get hired.

The average job listing in the city that goes up on LinkedIn gets around 65 applications from job seekers within just a single week!

One of the reasons why postings for positions in the city get so many applications is that salaries are approximately 14% higher than the average earnings across Canada, Resume.io explained. It's likely that higher earnings are also linked to the increased cost of living that comes with being in the GTA, and that the density of population accounts for the greater application rates in some ways as well.

Plus, minimum wage in the province is set to go from $15.50 per hour to $16.55 per hour on October 1, 2023.

How do other Canadian cities compare?

When it comes to where other Canadian cities rank in this study, there is a big drop off in the average number of applications for positions after Toronto.

Postings on LinkedIn for jobs in Vancouver get around 47 applications, while there are 41 submissions on average for positions in Markham, 40 for ones in Brampton, and 36 for listings in Mississauga.

Jobs in St. Catharines typically get 26 applicants, positions in Calgary get 24, and ones in Kitchener get 23.

Then, London job postings typically have 20 applications submitted within a week while ones in Winnipeg get 19, positions in Ottawa get 17, and jobs in Surrey have 16.

The study also revealed that the cities with the least competitive job markets — at least compared to Toronto — are Edmonton and Victoria, with LinkedIn job postings in those places getting 14 applications on average.

What about cities around the globe?

If you're wondering where the most competitive job market in the world is, that title goes to Doha, Qatar, according to Resume.io.

Within a week, around 399 people submit applications on average for a job that's posted on LinkedIn!

Also, Illinois has the most competitive job market of any U.S. state — with 107 applicants per job posting within one week — and San Jose is the U.S. city that has the most competition for job postings.

Listings for positions in San Jose, California that go up on LinkedIn also get about 107 applications in just one week.

While Toronto is the most competitive job market in Canada, there are quite a few cities around the world that have stiffer competition for jobs.

Along with Doha and San Jose, which rank first and seventh globally, Dubai (282), Istanbul (168), Johannesburg (160), Abu Dhabi (148), Madrid (115), Buenos Aires (104), San Francisco (91), Tel Aviv (82), New York City (80), Lison (67) and Bangkok (67) all have tougher job markets than Toronto, according to Resume.io.

However, the Toronto job market is more competitive than London — which sees 19 applicants per job within a week — and Sydney — which gets 50 applicants per job in a week — despite both places being the most competitive cities in their country.

What are some resume red flags?

Narcity recently spoke with a recruiter and career coach to find out all of the details you need to know about resume red flags and things you should never have on your CV.

Emily Durham, who also posts videos on TikTok about applying for jobs and getting hired, shared that a lack of data on your resume is a big misstep.

Also, including your photo, sharing non-relevant work experiences, and revealing your address are three things to never have on your resume.

If you want to put yourself in the best position to get hired, these tips could help ensure that your resume doesn't get tossed aside.

That's because Durham revealed that typically "recruiters review resumes for less than a minute" before deciding if the applicant is going to get an interview!

This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.