Human Resources Module of the Canadian economy, 2021

In the Human Resources Module, the concept of "jobs" aligns with the Canadian Productivity Accounts definition and with the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts . This concept corresponds closely to the production of goods and is based on the province or the territory of employment. Individuals may have more than one source of income from employment because they work for more than one employer. The number of jobs in the economy thus exceeds the number of people employed to the extent that employees may occupy more than one job.

Since its introduction in the 2021 Census of Population, the "gender" variable refers to the gender of the person holding the paid worker job. Gender refers to an individual's personal and social identity as a man, woman or non-binary person (a person who is not exclusively a man or a woman). Given that the non-binary population is relatively small, data aggregation to a two-category gender variable was necessary. Prior to the 2021 Census of Population, this variable refers to the sex at birth.

The "immigrant status" variable refers to the immigrant status of the person holding the paid worker job. Immigrant status refers to whether the person is a non-immigrant, an immigrant or a non-permanent resident. For the purpose of this product, immigrant also includes non-permanent residents.

The "visible minority" variable refers to whether the person holding the paid worker job self-identified as a visible minority or not. For the purpose of this product, visible minority is defined as persons who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour. It also includes individuals who self-identify as Indigenous.