In its monthly Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada reports that employment fell by 71,000 jobs in November.

A large share of those job losses (-45,000) were in Quebec. Alberta and British Columbia (both -18,000) also accounted for significant losses. Employment in Ontario grew by 0.2 percent to 7.5 million, but the province’s unemployment rate rose to 5.6 percent due to more people looking for work.

Construction gained about 4,800 jobs in November—an increase of 0.3 percent from month to month. Employment in the sector is up 0.6 percent over the first 11 months of last year. Here in Ontario, the industry lost 4,200 jobs in November for a drop of 0.8 percent, but employment is up by nearly 10,000 jobs, or 1.9 percent, since November 2018.

Employment across the province is up 15,400 for the month, and has risen by more than 271,000 jobs since June 2018.

In a statement released on December 6, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli hailed the finding as a significant win.

"Our role as government is to lower the cost of doing business to make Ontario open for business, open for jobs and open for trade," he said. "That is why our government is committed to cutting red tape and taking concrete steps to create a competitive business landscape that will create jobs across the province."

The province has is proposing to pass a package of more than 80 proposed actions that it says will eliminate unnecessary or outdated rules and streamline regulations that need updating. The Better for People, Smarter for Business Act, for example, will simplify and modernize regulations, and eliminate requirements that the government calls “outdated or duplicative.”

The government is also proposing to reduce the small business tax rate by 8.7 percent as of January 1, 2020.

"Ontario is heading in the right direction," said Fedeli. "We are giving businesses the tools they need to lay the foundation for economic growth that will benefit workers and job creators alike."