Labour Force Survey Monthly

Labour Force Survey, April 2026

released May 8, 2026

Prince Edward Island Employment

Unemployment Rate By Province (seasonally adjusted, in percentage)

Summary

Statistics Canada’s LFS shows P.E.I.’s seasonally adjusted employment increased 1,900 from one year ago to 95,500 in April 2026. This is a decline of 500 from last month. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 8.0 percent, up 1.0 percentage points from April 2025 and up 0.7 percentage points from last month. The total labour force totaled 103,800 in April, up 3,100 compared to April 2025 and up 200 from one month ago. The participation rate was 66.5 percent in April, no change from March.

The year-over-year increase in employment was due mostly to an increase of 1,800 (2.2 percent) in full-time employment, while part-time employment increased by 100 (0.8 percent).  Full-time employment totaled 82,700 in April, while part-time employment was 12,800. The services sector saw an increase of 4,100 as compared to April 2025, while employment in the goods-producing sector declined by 2,300 over the same period (see table below for year-over-year employment gains and losses by industry), to total 72,600 and 22,900 respectively.

Employment in April decreased by 0.9 percent for people aged 25 and over as compared to March 2026, while employment for youth aged 15 to 24 increased 1.4 percent. Youth employment has dropped by 0.9 percent since April 2025, while employment for the 25 and over age group increased 2.7 percent over this period.

Employment gains (+)/ losses (-) between April 2025 and April 2026 occurred in the following sectors on Prince Edward Island¹:

The number of unemployed persons in April on Prince Edward Island was 8,300, up 700 from one month ago and up 1,300 as compared to April 2025. Long-term unemployment—the number of people who had been continuously unemployed for 27 weeks or more—was 1,200 in April, up from 800 in March. Expressed as a proportion of the total labour force, long-term unemployment was 1.2 percent in April, up from 0.8 percent in March.

PEI Unemployment Rate (Seasonally Adjusted)

According to the Labour Force Survey, year-over-year growth in PEI’s population aged 15 years and older was 1.8 percent in April. The employment rate—the proportion of the population aged 15 years and older who are employed—can help assess whether employment growth is keeping pace with population growth. In April, PEI’s employment rate was 61.2 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from April 2025. This indicates that growth in employment has outpaced growth in the population aged 15 years and over year-over-year. The employment rate was at an all-time high of 63.1 percent in September 2023.

The three-month moving average unemployment rate used by the Employment Insurance program for the Charlottetown region was 6.4 percent in April, up from 6.3 percent in March. The minimum draw period and hours needed to qualify remain at 15 weeks and 665 hours for this region. The rate in the PEI region in April was 8.9 percent, down from 9.0 percent in March. The minimum draw period and hours needed to qualify remain at 18 weeks and 595 hours for this region. For more information, please refer to Employment Insurance (EI) - Canada.ca.

NATIONAL

Nationally, employment decreased by 18,000 in April 2026 as compared to last month and the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.9 percent, as there were more people looking for work. The employment rate fell 0.1 percentage point to 60.5 percent in April.

At the industry level, employment in the goods-producing sector fell by 26,800 (-0.6 percent) as compared to last month, while employment in the services-producing sector increased by 9,100 (0.1 percent).

Provincially, seasonally adjusted employment in April increased notably in Ontario (0.5 percent), while employment fell in Quebec (-0.9 percent), Newfoundland and Labrador (-2.1 percent), Saskatchewan (-0.6 percent) and New Brunswick (-0.7 percent).

National average hourly wages for employees rose 4.5 percent ($1.64) on a year-over-year basis in April. By province, year-over-year wage growth was highest in April in Prince Edward Island (8.6 percent; $2.55), Alberta (6.5 percent; $2.40), and Quebec (5.9 percent; $2.05). PEI’s average hourly wage remains the lowest among provinces, along with Manitoba, at $32.24 in April.  

Unadjusted for seasonality, the national three-month moving average unemployment rate in April was 7.1 percent. The rate for population groups designated as visible minorities was 8.7 percent. Visible minority groups for which the rate was higher than the average were Black Canadians at 12.7 percent, West Asian Canadians at 11.2 percent, Arab Canadians at 10.6 per cent, and Latin American Canadians at 8.8 percent.

Canada Employment

¹ Components may not sum to total due to rounding

Notes:
1.    The LFS estimates for April are for the week of April 12 to 18.
2.    The LFS estimates are based on a sample and are therefore subject to sampling variability. For more information, see the Statistics Canada publication "Interpreting Monthly Changes in Employment from the Labour Force Survey."
3.    The next release of the LFS will be on June 5, 2026.

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, released April 10, 2026.

For more information and links to data tables, refer to the Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey release for April 2026.

Related downloads for this release:

Monthly Labour Force Survey report - PDF (100KB)