07:41 AM EDT, 03/13/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Canada will release the Labour Force Survey for February at 8:30 a.m. ET on Friday, said Bank of Montreal (BMO).

The Canadian economy looks to add 10,000 jobs in February, reversing part of January's slump, noted the bank. The near-25,000 decline to start the year was concentrated entirely in Ontario, which was hit with unseasonably cold winter weather.

As such, BMO expects labor force participation to also recover, although weaker population growth will keep a lid on the size of the labor force.

As a consequence, the bank looks for the unemployment rate to tick up to 6.6%, only partially reversing the three-tenths drop in January.

Looking ahead, employment will be impacted by further layoff announcements, particularly in sectors hit by the United States tariffs, added BMO. Notably, public sector employment is also set to step down from elevated levels as the federal government attempts to trim department spending, although there will be some offsetting hiring in the coming months as Statistics Canada conducts its 2026 Census.

On Friday, investors will also get data on manufacturing sales for January -- likely adding to a run of poor data in the month -- and capacity utilization for Q4. Both are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.