Census of Population: Labour force activity, occupation, industry, class of worker, place of work, mode of transportation, language of work and unpaid work

The sixth round of data from the 2001 Census of Population, which provides a thorough analysis of developments in the nation's labour force during the past 10 years, is now available.

This report includes detailed information on factors that have shaped the nation's workforce, such as growing reliance on immigration in the workforce, new trends in commuting to work, and the use of English and French in the workplace.

Shaping the nation's workforce: Immigrants, increased demand for skills, and an aging labour force

During the past decade, three key factors have shaped the nation's workforce: an increasing demand for skills in the face of advancing technologies and the knowledge-based economy, a working-age population that is increasingly made up of older people, and a growing reliance on immigration as a source of skills and labour force growth.

The demand for skills has been clearly evident in new data from the 2001 Census. From 1991 to 2001, the number of people in the labour force increased by 1.3 million (+9.5%) to 15.6 million. Almost one-half of this growth occurred in highly skilled occupations that normally require university qualifications. In contrast, low skilled occupations requiring high school or less accounted for only one-quarter of the increase.

At the same time, the workforce has become much "greyer." The average age of the labour force rose from 37.1 years in 1991 to 39.0 years in 2001.

By the end of the decade, 15% of the labour force was within 10 years of retirement age. By 2011, when almost one-fifth of the baby boom generation will be at least 61 years of age, there will be a potential for shortages in certain occupations.

In addition, rates of fertility have remained at low levels for the last three decades. As a result, fewer young people are entering the working-age population to replace individuals in the age group nearing retirement. In 2001, there were 2.7 labour force participants aged 20 to 34 for every one aged 55 and over, down from 3.7 in 1981.

Retiring baby boomers will have a significant impact on the size of the labour market, especially as relatively small cohorts of young people will be entering it. Boomers - people aged 37 to 55 in 2001 - made up 47% of the labour force. Ten years from now, one-half of them will be 55 or over, and 18% will be over the age of 60.

Canada has increasingly turned to immigration as a source of skills and knowledge. Census data show that immigrants who landed in Canada during the 1990s, and who were in the labour force in 2001, represented almost 70% of the total growth of the labour force over the decade. If current immigration rates continue, it is possible that immigration could account for virtually all labour force growth by 2011.

The 2001 Census showed that a gap in labour market conditions persisted between immigrants who landed between 1996 and 2000 and the Canadian-born population. In 2001, 65.8% of recent immigrants aged 25 to 44 were employed, compared with 81.8% of Canadian-born people in the same age group. The unemployment rate of recent immigrants (12.1%) was still nearly twice that of the Canadian-born population (6.4%).

At the same time, a higher proportion of recent immigrants were in highly skilled occupations. For example, recent immigrants made large gains in information technology occupations and accounted for two fifths of the labour force growth in this field.

Place of work: Majority of growth in employment found in suburban municipalities of metropolitan areas

Census data show that workers are no longer concentrated primarily in core municipalities, but are spreading across suburban municipalities. Many more workers are now located in these surrounding municipalities. As a result, urban dynamics, including commuting patterns, are changing.

The employed population whose usual place of work was within a census metropolitan area in 2001 was 7.9 million, an increase of 1.5 million from 1981. However, only about 25% of the new employed workers were located in the central municipalities, as many industries have created hubs of employment in suburban municipalities.

The number of workers in suburban municipalities has, in fact, been growing at a much faster pace over the last 20 years than the number of those working in city centres. In 1981, about 1.8 million people worked in suburban municipalities. By 2001, this number had jumped 63% to 3.0 million. In contrast, the number of workers in the central municipalities increased only 7%, from 4.6 million in 1981 to 4.9 million in 2001.

The large growth in workers employed in suburban municipalities from 1981 to 2001 has shifted the commuting patterns within census metropolitain areas towards these surrounding areas. In 1981, about 1 million workers travelled to a suburban municipality, about the same number as those who commuted to core municipalities. By 2001, the number of workers travelling to a suburban municipality increased a dramatic 74% to 1.8 million, but the number of those commuting to the central municipality rose only 28% to 1.3 million.

Some 68,520 people, or 0.5% of the employed labour force, said they worked outside Canada's borders in 2001, up from 49,275 in 1996. Border areas with the United States had the largest number of Canadians working outside the country.

About 1,175,000 people reported working at home during the week before the census, compared with just over 1 million five years earlier. They made up 8% of all workers, unchanged from 1996.

Despite an increase in the use of public transit, the vast majority of commuters still settled behind the wheel for their daily trek to work. There were almost one million more drivers on the road across Canada on May 15, 2001 than there were on Census Day five years earlier.

Nearly seven francophone workers out of 10 use French at work outside Quebec

The 2001 Census showed that 2.5 million Canadians reported using more than one language at work. Outside Quebec, 67% of francophone workers used French on the job in 2001. French was used most often by 40% of these workers, and regularly by 27%.

In New Brunswick, 92% of francophone workers used French at work, the highest proportion among the provinces excluding Quebec. Nearly 76% of these workers used it most often, and 16% used it regularly. In Ontario, its use was less widespread - only 69% of francophone workers used it. About 35% used it most often, and 34% regularly.

Inside Quebec, 63% of immigrant workers used French most often in 2001, compared with 47% who used English most often.

Allophones - those whose mother tongue is neither English nor French - accounted for nearly 70% of all immigrant workers in Quebec. Among these allophone immigrant workers, French also predominated. In 2001, 60% used French most often, compared with 48% who used English. This overlap occurred because about 14% of these workers said they use both languages most often at work.

Detailed analysis of these new census data is presented in three online reports: The changing profile of Canada's labour force, Where Canadians work and how they get there, and The use of English and French at work. All three are available on Statistics Canada's website (), and are illustrated by numerous tables and charts.

These reports also link to various products and services available from the Census module, which was designed to provide easy access to census data, using new electronic tools. Information in the module is organized into four broad categories: analysis, data, maps and reference material.

In addition, in the Community profiles module, data on labour force indicators, industry, occupation, unpaid work, place of work and mode of transportation are available for Canada and the provinces and territories, as well as for 27 metropolitan areas and nearly 6,000 cities, towns, villages and Indian reserves.

For more information, contact Media Relations (613-951-4636), Communications Division.