07:05 AM EDT, 07/18/2025 (MT Newswires) -- This week's Focus Feature will explore some of the disruptions currently hitting the Canadian job market, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

Things like the trade war with the United States, a leaner federal government, high youth unemployment and the proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), noted the bank.

Since AI really began to proliferate in 2022, job performance in occupations with high exposure and low complementarity -- in other words, AI could replace a worker rather than be used by them -- have indeed underperformed, statedd BMO.

On the flip side, performance in highly-exposed occupations which have an apparent ability to harness AI, have actually outperformed the broad labor market by a "solid" margin, pointed out the bank.

BMO doesn't want to read too much into this, given the short sample period and full awareness that broader macroeconomic forces have likely been playing the biggest role. But, it's probably safe to say that, like past advancements, AI will hurt some areas of the job market, help others, and ultimately reshape the employment landscape once again.