Study: Self-Employment Activity in Rural Canada

According to a new study analysing data from the 2001 Census, nearly 4 out of every 10 of Canada's self-employed workers live in rural areas of the country.

In 2001, just over 1.7 million people nationwide aged 20 to 64 reported in the census that they were self-employed in their main job.

Of these individuals, 626,400 (or 37%) of the total, were self-employed people living in a rural area.

These rural areas include two groups. About 462,600 (or 27%) lived in small towns and rural areas outside the commuting zones of larger urban centres. An additional 163,800 (or 10%) lived in rural areas within the commuting zones of larger urban centres.

This study compares rates of self-employment activity between rural and urban workers aged 20 to 64. Self-employment activity includes all workers who are self-employed in their main job. It also includes those who earn self-employment income from a farm, unincorporated business or professional practice in a secondary job.

In areas where farming is most prevalent (that is, rural areas outside the commuting zones of larger urban centres), the study found that 28% of workers were self-employed, or had self-employment income from a secondary job. This is twice the proportion of only 13% among their urban counterparts.

When farming is excluded, the proportion of rural workers who were either self-employed, or who earned some self-employment income from a secondary job, fell from 28% to 16%.

Farming is a source of employment and income for many rural workers. However, its relative importance is declining. Between 1981 and 2001, there was a substantial decline in farm self-employment activity rates among workers who lived outside the commuting zones of larger urban centres.

In contrast, non-farm rates remained fairly stable between 1981 and 1986, then increased in the subsequent decade.

Farm and non-farm self-employment activity rates were higher among rural men than women, but the gap between the rates narrowed between 1981 and 2001.

The study also found that about one-half of all workers aged 20 to 64 with income from unincorporated self-employment relied on it for at least three-quarters of all income. While among those with self-employment income on farms, only one-third relied on it for most of their income.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 3901.

The Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin, Vol. 5, no. 5, entitled Self-Employment Activity in Rural Canada (21-006-XIE, free) is now available online. From the Our products and services page, under Browse our Internet publications, choose Free, then Agriculture.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Valerie du Plessis (613-951-1949, valerie.duplessis@statcan.gc.ca), Housing, Family and Social Statistics Division, or Ray D. Bollman (306-379-4431, ray.bollman@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.