In this week’s blog, we are looking at where the most opportunity lies in Canada in 2025 for summer jobs. Many of Canada’s largest urban cities offer the highest number of summer jobs and the most diversity in types of summer jobs. While they seem like the obvious best places to start your summer job hunt, they may not be. Success in finding and landing work will directly correlate to competition in the local labour market, regional labour market performance and, if relocating for summer work, cost of living.

The recent BMO Regional Labour Market Report Card ranks Canadian cities according to the performance of their job markets. https://economics.bmo.com/en/publications/detail/410a7ea2-c6d6-4d1a-8f2b-538e0e341647.

Here are the top 10 cities in Canada in order (1 being best) as having the best labour markets in the country:

1.  Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
2.  Moncton, New Brunswick
3.  Victoria, British Columbia
4.  Kingston, Ontario
5.  Halifax, Nova Scotia
6.  Barrie, Ontario
7.  Kitchener, Ontario
8.  Kelowna, British Columbia
9.  Abbottsford, British Columbia
10. Edmonton, Alberta

Regarding summer work, the types of positions that usually emerge center around travel, tourism, hospitality, education, arts, culture, retail, and more. The most abundant summer job opportunities are typically found in Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, and Ottawa.

What do these cities have in common? They are major urban centers, so while there are traditionally more summer jobs, the job markets are much more competitive. While these cities are known to have more summer jobs, according to the same BMO report, they rank lower in overall labour market performance.

  • Ottawa #11
  • Calgary #12
  • Vancouver #17
  • Montreal #19
  • Toronto #26

If you are researching Canada-wide summer job opportunities, you are likely open to relocation. You will likely find your opportunity online, and the hiring process will likely be digital for the most part.

Employers, especially if you apply out of province, will look to validate things like your ID, work experience, and references and will likely request background checks. Standard background checks for summer jobs may include a criminal record check, a social media background check, or even a driver’s abstract if the role involves driving.

You can obtain your criminal record check and social media background check online with Triton at tritoncanada.ca. When applying for summer work with an employer who requires a criminal record check, it is essential to validate what type of check you need and whether they require that you use a specific provider. This will help you avoid obtaining a check that you can’t use.

Some reasons Canadians choose Triton for their background checks include the fact that:

  • we are Canadian-owned.
  • our background checks are the most current, accurate, and accepted.
  • our platform is the most secure, and our service is the fastest.
  • our platform is available online 24-7 and is extremely easy to use.

A summer job could be a great way to earn a secondary income during the summer months. It may also be an opportunity to explore other parts of Canada, as well as internship opportunities and new landscapes. Your summer job could open the door to so many possibilities.