2026 Canada Hiring Plans and Challenges

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Job seekers: Explore opportunities and grow your career.

The staffing conversation in 2026 has shifted from how many people to hire to who and why. Companies are prioritizing roles that drive growth and accelerate AI adoption and its impact, with steady demand for both permanent and contract talent. For most employers, the issue is not whether to hire, but how to hire effectively.

Businesses are facing more challenges finding candidates with the right skills, and AI is adding to that complexity. Job application volume is increasing but candidate quality varies, requiring more time to validate skills, credentials and experience.

To keep work moving, companies are relying more on staffing firms to access specialized talent and hire faster. Ultimately, success in 2026 depends on smarter staffing strategies, stronger candidate assessment and putting the right people in the right roles to achieve the greatest business impact.

Hiring managers: Get customized insights and workforce strategies from a Robert Half talent solutions professional.

Workforce gaps are accelerating the need for new talent strategies. Most employers said their current teams can’t meet priority project demands. Here’s what leaders can do:

Small Midsize Large Small Midsize Large

Hiring plans for 2026

Demand for permanent and contract talent signals urgent skill needs, and staffing firms are uniquely positioned to help companies meet immediate and long-term workforce goals.

55%

of company leaders plan to increase permanent headcount in the first half of the year.

50%

expect to bring on more contract talent, reflecting the need for scalable support and specialized skills in the current market.

Increase Decrease Stay the
same Increase Decrease Stay the
same

Hiring is getting harder

53% of business leaders said finding skilled talent is more difficult than it was a year ago. Additionally, 64% of leaders said AI-generated applications make the process more challenging.

Additional evaluations needed to validate skills

Increased applications from unqualified candidates

Difficulty identifying authentic resumes

More time spent verifying candidate credentials

As hiring becomes more time consuming and complex, an experienced recruiter can help you cut through the noise and effectively connect you with skilled candidates who match your needs.

Benefits include:

of leaders said the rise of AI has made them more likely to seek support from a staffing firm to navigate hiring challenges.

said staffing firms have been effective in addressing AI-related hiring challenges.

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More to explore

Labour market overview Stay on top of Robert Half and Statistics Canada job posting data to learn about today’s hiring market.

Small business recruitment trends Get up to speed on small business staffing trends and find out what it takes to attract and hire top talent.

2026 Canada Salary Guide Explore the latest data for roles across 6 professional fields and what you should pay or earn in local and national markets.

The surveys cited were developed by Robert Half and conducted by an independent research firm. Results may not total 100% due to rounding or allowing for multiple responses. Respondents included executives, hiring managers and workers from small (10-99 employees), midsize (100-999 employees) and large (1,000+ employees) businesses in private, publicly listed and public sector organizations across Canada.

Over 650,000 new positions from more than 4,900 independent job boards and company websites are represented in this report, including thousands of placements from Robert Half. Positions are categorized into more than 365 job titles within Robert Half’s Salary Guide using a proprietary mapping methodology that employs state-of-the-art large language models. This dataset includes roles across the finance and accounting, technology, marketing and creative, legal, administrative and customer support, and human resources professions.