Canada has witnessed an increase in the number of employment opportunities at universities and colleges in the country.

The number of roles in the field increased by 0.7 per cent during the second quarter of the year, while the amount of public healthcare jobs in Canada remained stable.

However, data from Statistics Canada indicates that the country's public sector workforce contracted by 0.2 per cent during the three months to June 2010, according to QMI Agency.

The fall was attributed to a dip in local provincial and territorial workforces, with the total public sector staff standing at 3.6 million over the period, or 20.3 per cent of the overall number of people in work in Canada.

A drop in the proportion of total jobs in the public sector was attributed by the statistics agency to growth in positions in private businesses.

With a population of just over 38 million, Canada's employment rate currently stands at eight per cent.

Posted by Fiona Summers