Small communities in Atlantic Canada: their industrial structure and
labour market conditions in the early 1980s
by John Heath and Garnett Picot
Business and Labour Market Analysis Division
Analytical Studies Branch research paper series, No. 040
This paper uses a new experimental data source developed within the
Business and Labour Market Analysis Group in Statistics Canada to examine
changes in the industrial structure of small communities in Atlantic
Canada, and how workers from these communities fared over the 1981-1986
period. Communities are classified according to industrial structure
and size, and comparisons are made between small and large communities,
and among communities with different industrial structures. Four questions
are addressed:
- In terms of industrial structure, what differentiates small from
large communities?
- Did the resource based communities become more diversified over
this period as the resource based industries turned down?
- Did workers from small communities face a more difficult labour
market than those from larger centres?
- What were the differences in the labour market experiences of workers
from four communities with very different industrial structures over
the 1981-1986 period?
Major differences between small and large communities are observed,
both in their industrial structure and in the labour market experiences
of their workers over this period. When earnings of individuals are
examined, it is observed that there is tremendous volatility in earnings
for all groups of workers. Average change in real earnings mask the
fact that many workers take substantial cuts in real earnings over a
period, while others have very large gains.
Not available electronically.
