Canada’s employment services industry grew 15.0% to $18.5 billion in 2021 following a rebound in labor demand, according to Statistics Canada. The economy faced fewer public health restrictions and job market pressures in many sectors, which bolstered the rebound.

Employment services industry includes employment placement firms, executive search services, temporary help services and professional employer organizations.

Operating expenses rose 15.0% to $17.2 billion, leaving the profit margin steady at 6.6%, while the cost structure for the industry remained stable.

In addition, the employment services industry’s salaries, wages, commissions and benefits increased 16.3% to $9.7 billion in 2021.

According to the agency, temporary staffing services benefited the most from the return to work in 2021 as their portion of sales climbed to 55.3%, the highest share since 2013.

Meanwhile, permanent placement and contract staffing generated 37.2% of sales. Other goods and services sales, including those by professional employer organizations, accounted for 7.5% of total sales.

At 82.7%, sales to businesses continued to be the primary source of revenue. The share of sales to the public sector at 13.0% has risen since the Covid-19 pandemic, while sales outside Canada, 2.6%, and sales to individuals, 1.7%, remained moderate.

As provinces continued to ease Covid-19 restrictions, the unemployment rate decreased to 4.9% in the summer of 2022, the agency said. “Job vacancies and the job vacancy rate continued to rise to record levels. By the end of the second quarter of 2022, there were 50% more job vacancies than there had been at the same time the previous year.”