Regional unemployment stayed flat in July

Aug 10, 2026 | 12:31 PM

The unemployment rate for the economic region that includes Vernon leveled off but has remained quite high.

Statistics Canada said the Thompson-Okanagan’s unadjusted unemployment rate was 7.5 per cent in July.

That was unchanged from June’s rate, and while it was below the rate of 8.1 per cent in May it remained well above the unemployment rate of 5.4 per cent in July of 2025.

Meanwhile, the regional employment was recorded at 57.2 per cent in July, up from 57.0 per cent the previous month.

StatsCan did not provide data specific for Vernon, but did have rates for Kelowna.

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The Central Okanagan city had an unemployment rate of 9.3 per cent in July. That was up from June’s rate of 9.2 per cent, and the highest unemployment had been since November of 2025 when the rate hit 10.4 per cent.

Kelowna’s employment rate was recorded at 60.5 per cent in July, up from 59.0 per cent the month before.

Provincially, unemployment fell from 6.5 per cent in June to 6.3 per cent in July. B.C.’s employment rate also rose to 61.1 per cent in the most recent reporting month compared to 60.7 per cent in June.

Canada as a whole had an unemployment rate of 6.4 per cent and an employment rate of 60.9 per cent in July. Those were both improvements from the month prior when unemployment was 6.5 per cent and employment was 60.8 per cent.

by Liam Verster

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