Regional unemployment continued to climb in April

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Meanwhile, the regional employment rate was recorded at 54.8 per cent in April.

Labour Statistics

Regional unemployment continued to climb in April

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That was down from 55.5 per cent employed in March, but up from the rate of 53 per cent in April, 2025.

StatsCan did not provide figures specific to Vernon, but did have adjusted rates for Kelowna.

The Central Okanagan city had an unemployment rate of 8 per cent in April, up from 7 per cent the month before. That was also the highest it had been since November of 2025 when unemployment was recorded at 8.3 per cent.

Kelowna’s employment rate was recorded at 57.7 per cent, down from 58.6 per cent in March.

The trend in the Okanagan was also seen provincially and nationally.

StatsCan said B.C. had an adjusted unemployment rate of 6.8 per cent and an employment rate of 60 per cent in April. Unemployment was up from the previous month’s rate of 6.7 percent, while employment was down from the rate of 60.1 per cent the month before.

“While many provinces lost jobs last month, [StatsCan’s] Labour Force Survey data shows that British Columbia’s construction and manufacturing sectors continue to grow, with nearly 12,000 jobs added in the past two months,” Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth, said in a release.

“This is a positive trend and reflects the work underway to build the major projects and infrastructure we need to grow our economy.

“April also saw an increase of 10,300 in self-employment, which demonstrates people’s confidence in starting their own businesses.”

B.C. had the fifth-lowest unemployment rate in the country this past April after Manitoba (5.0), Saskatchewan (5.6), Quebec (6.2), and Nova Scotia (6.3).

Kahlon claimed the war in Iran and tariffs from the U.S. were impacting people, businesses and economies, though stated investors were confident in B.C. pointing to “$88-nillion worth of proposed major projects moving forward, estimated to create tens of thousands of new jobs over the next three years.”

Meanwhile, Canada as a whole had an unemployment rate of 6.9 per cent, and an employment rate of 60.5 per cent in April. Those were changed from March’s figures of 6.7 per cent unemployed and 60.6 per cent employed.

“In April, the unemployment rate rose 0.2 percentage points to 6.9 per cent, as more people searched for work. The unemployment rate has increased 0.4 percentage points since January 2026, but remained below the recent peak of 7.1 per cent observed in August and September of 2025. On a year-over-year basis, the unemployment rate was virtually unchanged in April 2026,” StatsCan explained in its monthly report.

The agency added full-time employment declined in April but part-time employment increased, noting the “net overall decline in employment over the first four months of 2026 was concentrated in full-time work, which fell by 111,000 over the period.”