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Study: Commuting in rural Canada
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Rural commuters are just as dependent on rural labour markets as they are on urban labour markets. About 450,000 rural residents commuted to another rural town or municipality for work, while a similar number commuted to an urban centre.
The findings challenge the prevailing idea that rural commuting in Canada essentially involves travelling from a rural residence to a job in the city.
One-half of rural commuters worked in an urban area. Urban-based jobs provided employment for 16% of the rural workforce, but this represented only 4% of urban-based jobs.
For commuters from urban to rural, rural-based jobs provided employment for only 1% of the urban workforce, but represented 7% of rural-based jobs.
The commuting pattern varied in different parts of rural Canada. Rural Canada was divided based on the share of the workforce residing in a rural town or municipality that commuted to an urban area for work.
In those rural areas most linked with urban areas, over 80% of all commuters travelled to an urban area for work. In contrast, less than 10% of commuters in more peripheral rural areas travelled to an urban centre.
In rural areas with weaker linkages with urban centres, however, there were strong rural-to-rural economic linkages. In these areas, most rural commuters travelled to the same type of rural area as where they lived.
The typical rural town or municipality had around 25% of all its jobs filled by in-commuters. The typical rural town or municipality was strongly linked with neighbouring rural towns and municipalities.
Note: The study "Rural commuting: Its relevance to rural and urban labour markets" investigates the commuting patterns of rural and urban Canadians in terms of both their origin and their destination. A commuter was defined as anybody who crossed a municipal boundary on their daily journey to work.
The Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin: "Rural commuting: Its relevance to rural and urban labour markets," 2001, Vol. 7, no. 6 (21-006-XWE, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Alessandro Alasia (613-951-1204; alessandro.alasia@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.
