1. Executive summary

Ottawa postings rose 19.9% month-over-month in May to 8,660, a 12-month high. That is genuinely a recovery month — but a single reading, and the longer view tempers it: the level still sits 21.3% below Ottawa's prior-five-year May average and is marginally down year-over-year (-0.8%). One note before you read on: Ottawa's postings now come from WE Data Tools, so this 8,660 level is its own series and is not comparable to the older Signal49 Ottawa figure. Unemployment eased to 6.3%, a fifth consecutive non-increasing month and below Ontario's 7.0%, while EI beneficiaries are up sharply year-over-year — together a reminder that a softening headline rate can sit alongside real churn underneath.

2. Job postings & trend

At 8,660, May postings were up 19.9% from April and reached a 12-month peak. The volume is real, but the comparisons that matter for planning are sobering: down 21.3% against the prior-five-year May average and down 0.8% year-over-year. The headline totals reconcile cleanly to the postings trend file, so the level is sound; what we can't yet say is whether the higher volume holds — this is one month without run-length. For a counsellor, the practical read is that there is more to apply to this month than last, but the market is still running below a normal spring.

3. Top industries

Ottawa clears the 70% coding floor (73.2% coded), making it the only edition where the industry ranking is actionable this month. Health care and social assistance is the largest group at 14.6% of classified postings, though its share cooled against February. Retail trade is steady at 13.7%, and Professional, scientific and technical services holds 10.0%. Educational services reads at 12.3% — a large jump from February — but that move is anomaly-flagged (z=2.82), so we are reporting it without leaning on it until next month confirms it is a real shift rather than a coding artifact. Public administration cooled to 5.1%.

4. Top occupations

Occupation coding is reliable this month, so these reads are actionable. Sales and service occupations dominate at 34.7% of classified postings, followed by Business, finance and administration (15.4%) and Trades, transport and equipment operators (14.8%). The modest tilt of interest: Trades heated about +2.3pp versus February while Business, finance and administration cooled about -2.3pp. Note that Ottawa's Sales and service, Health, and Natural and applied sciences shares all moved beyond 2σ this month and are flagged verify-before-lean, so we describe the broad standings rather than feature any single swing.

5. Education in demand

Most Ottawa postings name no education level at all — that is the expected pattern, not a flaw. Among the minority that specify one, university degrees lead (10.3% of all postings), followed by post-graduate degrees (8.6%), trades certification (6.8%), college certificate or diploma (6.6%) and high school (5.9%). For counselling, the takeaway is to read a named credential as a genuine signal of requirement, since employers who care tend to say so — and to treat the silent majority as 'experience and fit matter more than a specific diploma.'

6. Skills in demand

Skills coverage is healthy (81.9%). On the soft side, communication, leadership and customer service top the list; on the technical side, management, operations and sales lead, with Artificial Intelligence appearing as a named skill in 480 postings; among trade skills, driving, construction and first aid stand out. The standing AI callout: AI was named in 6.5% of this edition's postings (566 of 8,660). The signal for clients is that the everyday human skills still outrank the technical buzzwords in volume — strong communication remains the most broadly requested asset.

7. Language requirements

14.9% of Ottawa postings require French or bilingual ability — 1,292 of 8,660 postings (the distinct union).

8. Type of work

By duration, Ottawa work is overwhelmingly permanent at 88.3%, with contract at 6.7% and temporary at 5.0%; a seasonal overlay touches 3.1% of postings. This is the duration mix Lesley publishes (not full-time/part-time). The read is steadiness: the bulk of advertised work is ongoing rather than short-term, so a job seeker can reasonably weigh these as durable opportunities.

• Permanent: 7,649 (88.3%)
• Contract: 582 (6.7%)
• Temporary: 429 (5.0%)
• Seasonal (overlay): 269 (3.1%)

Permanent / contract / temporary are mutually exclusive (duration); seasonal is a tagged overlay.

9. Advertised wages

The median advertised wage is $25.00/hr, with the middle half of postings running from $20.00 (p25) to $35.05 (p75). Coverage is 45.1% — wages are advertised on fewer than half of postings, and these are advertised rates, not paid. As a counselling anchor, $25.00/hr is a reasonable midpoint to set expectations against, while reminding clients the spread is wide.

10. Top employers

The University of Ottawa leads decisively with 483 postings, ahead of the City of Ottawa (98), the Ottawa Catholic School Board (73), the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board (71) and CFMWS (58). The list underlines Ottawa's institutional and public-sector backbone — universities, the municipality, school boards and federal-adjacent organizations are the steady hirers here.

11. Unemployment

Ottawa's unemployment rate (EI region 3511) eased to 6.3% in May, down 0.3pp and a fifth consecutive non-increasing month, holding below Ontario's 7.0% (also non-increasing for a third month). One honesty note: the year-over-year improvement (-0.8pp) is measured against a May 2025 base that ESDC floored at 7.1%, so it overstates the real gain. Lean on the month-over-month easing, not the year-over-year figure.

12. Employment Insurance beneficiaries

EI beneficiary counts (March 2026 reference, the data-month-minus-two convention) reached 11,190 in Ottawa, up 19.7% year-over-year and 11.6% quarter-over-quarter. The 55-and-over group is rising fastest (+27.6%), so the pressure is showing most among older workers — a useful flag for counsellors planning caseloads. Counts among younger women fell (-3.6%), but on a very small base (270), so we would not read direction into it yet. Taken together, EI up while the rate eases is a clue that the underlying churn is larger than the headline suggests.

13. Additional resources

YourNextJob.ca

Job board, job map, career ladders, and training across Cornwall, SD&G, P-R, Akwesasne, and Ottawa.

Visit yournextjob.ca →

LabourMarketInfo.com

The 40 occupations that employ the most people locally — age, gender, education pathways, posting counts, and average advertised wages.

Check it out →

LMI Help Desk — your local LMI source

Have a specific labour-market question? Our analyst is waiting to hear from you.

Send email →

14. Methodology & sources

Job postings. Your Next Job (YNJ), with cleanup pipeline: Kijiji removed, bilingual posting duplicates removed, same-employer same-title reposts within 4 days collapsed, employer alias normalization, NAICS 561310 excluded from the industry chart only.

Coverage this month. 2,296 of 8,660 postings carried no NAICS code; 25 agency postings excluded from the industry view.

Unemployment. Statistics Canada Tables 14-10-0354-01 (regional EI rates) and 14-10-0287-01 (Ontario monthly LFS). EI beneficiaries. Table 14-10-0323-01 (reference month is two months prior to the data month).

Wages. Median advertised hourly wage from YNJ; advertised, not paid.