People looking for work who can't find it
Area: Greater Victoria (CMA) 3 months to October 2026 · Where this covers
4.8% unemployed
About the same
Was 4.2% in Oct 2025
Source: Statistics Canada, 3 months to Oct 2026 · Full source
What it measures
The unemployment rate: of the people working or looking for work, the share who are looking and cannot find a job.
Why it matters
Jobs and income are what make the cost of living manageable.
Over time
How we decided “about the same”
A lower number means a smaller share of people who want a job are without one. 4.8% in the three months to October 2026 compared with 4.2% a year earlier (+0.6 percentage points). The rules.
Source
- Published by
- Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey
- Period
- 3 months to October 2026
- Updated by agency
- Monthly; latest release Nov 6, 2026
- Retrieved
- Nov 10, 2026, 11:52 PM B.C. time
Adapted from Statistics Canada, table 14-10-0459-01. This does not constitute an endorsement by Statistics Canada of this product.
Show the numbers as a table
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| 2026-10 | 4.8% |
| 2026-09 | 5.3% |
| 2026-08 | 5.3% |
| 2026-07 | 5.0% |
| 2026-06 | 4.4% |
| 2026-05 | 4.1% |
| 2026-04 | 4.3% |
| 2026-03 | 4.6% |
| 2026-02 | 4.5% |
| 2026-01 | 4.4% |
| 2025-12 | 4.3% |
| 2025-11 | 4.1% |
| 2025-10 | 4.2% |
| 2025-09 | 4.7% |
| 2025-08 | 5.1% |
| 2025-07 | 4.9% |
| 2025-06 | 4.0% |
| 2025-05 | 3.8% |
| 2025-04 | 3.7% |
| 2025-03 | 3.7% |
| 2025-02 | 3.6% |
| 2025-01 | 3.6% |
| 2024-12 | 3.7% |
| 2024-11 | 3.9% |
Keep in mind
- This comes from the Labour Force Survey, a sample survey, so it is an estimate. For the latest month, the standard error of the year-over-year change is about 0.8 percentage points, so small changes may just be sampling noise.
- City-level estimates are noisier than national ones, which is why Statistics Canada publishes a three-month moving average.
- The area is the Victoria census metropolitan area, which is larger than the City of Victoria.
- The unemployment rate does not show job quality, wages, or people who have stopped looking for work.
Where this covers
Area: Greater Victoria (CMA)
Statistics Canada’s Victoria metropolitan area: 13 municipalities plus nearby electoral-area and reserve lands.
Included
- Victoria
- Saanich
- Oak Bay
- Esquimalt
- View Royal
- Langford
- Colwood
- Highlands
- Metchosin
- Sooke
- Central Saanich
- North Saanich
- Sidney
- Juan de Fuca electoral area, part 1 (for example East Sooke, Jordan River and Shirley)
- First Nations reserves: Cole Bay 3, Union Bay 4, East Saanich 2, South Saanich 1, Becher Bay 1, Esquimalt, New Songhees 1A and T'Sou-ke
Not included
- Salt Spring Island
- Southern Gulf Islands (Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna islands)
- Port Renfrew area (Juan de Fuca electoral area, part 2)
Official definition
How the agency describes it: Victoria census metropolitan area (Greater Victoria).
Connected to: Federal (national survey), Market and economy-wide factors. This is a label, not a judgement.