After holding steady for the past two years, Canada’s private sector vacancy rate is beginning to creep up, according to the latest Help Wanted report released today by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Job openings in full, part-time and temporary positions in Canada rose by 7,000 jobs in the third quarter compared to the second quarter, the largest quarterly increase measured by CFIB in the past two years. In total, an estimated 322,200 full, part-time and temporary positions are available across the country in the third quarter, according to the report.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, 2.7 percent of jobs lay vacant — a tenth of a point higher than in the second quarter. Modest increases were seen in most business size categories.

“As the unemployment rate goes down, the job vacancy rate goes up,” said Ted Mallett, CFIB’s chief economist and VP. “A tightening labor market means that employers have a harder time finding the qualified employees they need; especially small businesses. Generally, businesses with fewer than 20 employees are reporting vacancy rates more than double that of businesses employing 50 or more.”

Of the approximately 322,000 vacancies, just over half were in small businesses currently employing fewer than 50 people. About one-in-five vacancies were in mid-sized firms while almost one-in-four were in large enterprises with employment above 500.

The data come from CFIB surveys conducted with members on their economic and business outlooks. CFIB is Canada’s largest association of small- and medium-sized businesses with 109,000 members across every sector and region of the country.