Canada's labour market gained another 19,400 net jobs last month, and the vast majority of the new work was full time.
But latest Statistics Canada job survey also shows the bulk of those new positions were in the self-employment category, which can include people working for a family business without pay.
The agency says the country's unemployment rate crept up in March to 6.7 per cent from 6.6 per cent because more people were looking for work.
The country lost 2,400 positions in the services sector last month, but added 21,800 factory jobs thanks to the biggest month-to-month surge in manufacturing work since 2002.
Alberta easily saw the biggest boost among provinces by adding 20,700 full-time jobs last month and, at the other end of the spectrum, Quebec shed 17,800 full-time positions.
Ontario unemployment rate increased from 6.2% to 6.4%. Toronto's jobless rate held steady at 7.1%
The number of private-sector jobs rose 13,700 between February and March, while public-sector positions dropped by 12,700.
A consensus of economists had expected job gains of 5,000 last month and for the unemployment rate to increase to 6.7 per cent, according to Thomson Reuters.
with files from Siobhan Morris