Section D: The Labour Force

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Frank T. Denton, McMaster University

Labour Force at Census Dates (Series D1-123)

Labour Force, Annual Data (Series D124-497)

Growth between Census Dates (Series 498-521)

Job Vacancies and Employment Indexes (Series D522-550)

This section provides series relating to the labour force, employment, unemployment and job vacancies. For the most part, the series are obtained from publications of Statistics Canada, formerly the Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Some of the older series are directly from census tabulations while others are derived from such tabulations but incorporate adjustments to improve the consistency of the series through time. Many of the series of more recent vintage are derived from the Labour Force Survey. Also included are series from the Statistics Canada Employment Survey, the Statistics Canada Job Vacancy Survey, the set of Help-Wanted Indexes developed in the Department of Finance and taken over subsequently by Statistics Canada, and a few other series.

The actual numbers compiled for many of the tables have been taken from a variety of places, including published and unpublished tables and worksheets. In many cases it would be difficult to list exact locations to which a user might refer and we shall not attempt to do this. Instead, we shall refer to the sources in a general way, for example, particular series from the Labour Force Survey will be identified as from that source, but not as coming from particular tables in particular publications. The following general notes on the basic sources may be helpful.

Decennial Censuses

The decennial censuses provide figures for the working population going back into the latter part of the 19th century. Such figures are presented in the first table of this section. A problem with the 'raw' census figures is that definitions and measurement procedures were not the same from one census to another. A major break occurred in 1951. From that time on, the census used a 'labour force' concept roughly in line with the concept used in the Labour Force Survey, while in earlier censuses a 'gainfully occupied' concept was used. In addition, the definitions of industries and occupations have not remained constant in successive censuses. Estimates on a consistent labour force basis have been constructed by Frank T. Denton and Sylvia Ostry, by age and sex, back to 1921; by sex, back to 1901; and in total, back to 1851. R. Marvin McInnis has constructed series of male and female employment, by industry and by province, back to 1911, and by occupation, back to 1891, on as consistent bases as data permitted.

The Labour Force Survey

The Labour Force Survey is a sample survey of Canadian households which provides a wide range of data relating to the labour force, employment and unemployment. The only exclusions from the survey are members of the armed services, inmates of institutions, Indians on reserves and residents of the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories. The survey was initiated in November 1945 and carried out roughly at quarterly intervals until November 1952. Since that time it has been a monthly survey. The definitions of employment and unemployment were formally constant from the inception of the survey until 1960 when a decision was made to transfer persons on temporary layoff from the employed to the unemployed category. Prior to that change, the official employment and unemployment series were labelled 'persons with jobs' and 'persons without jobs and seeking work'. After the change, the official series became 'employed' (defined as the old 'persons with jobs' series, less temporary layoffs) and 'unemployed' (the old 'persons without jobs and seeking work' series, plus temporary layoffs). Starting in January 1976, the survey was modified substantially as a result of the introduction of a new questionnaire and a new set of operational definitions. However, all of the series in this section are based on pre-1976 data and are not affected by the latter changes. The series, in most cases, are thus consistent with the definitions instituted in 1960. In 1957, Statistics Canada published estimates for the period 1921 to 1945, based on various related series, and according with the 'persons with jobs' and 'persons without jobs and seeking work' definitions then in effect. They are presented here also. Inasmuch as these pre-1946 estimates were not revised to allow for the change in the treatment of temporary layoffs, some Labour Force Survey series for 1946 to 1960 are shown also on the unrevised basis, in order to provide some continuity of the earlier series into the post-war period.

The Employment Survey

The Employment Survey is a monthly mail survey of industrial and business establishments having more than a certain minimum number of employees. The survey provides information on employment, payrolls, average earnings and hours of work. Employment indexes are calculated by relating current employment in the establishments covered, to employment for the same set of establishments in a specified base year. At the present time, establishments with 20 or more employees are included in the survey. In earlier times, the cut-off point was 15. The survey covers all industries except agriculture, fishing and trapping, education and related services, health and welfare services, religious organizations, private households, and public administration and defence. Different base years have been used at different times. Also, there have been changes in the industrial classification system used. In this section, two sets of indexes are shown, for major industry groups and for provinces. One set is based on the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification system (S.I.C.), with 1961 = 100, and the other on the 1948 S.I.C., with 1949 = 100. The first set covers the period 1957 to 1975; the second covers the period 1921 to 1962, thus providing an overlap with the first set.

Job Vacancy Statistics

The Job Vacancy Survey is a sample survey of employers, conducted in part by mail and in part by interview. All sectors are covered except agriculture, fishing and trapping, domestic service and the armed services. The survey is conducted twice a month and results are published regularly at quarterly intervals. Published series for the years 1971 to 1975 are reproduced in this section, by geographic region.

Series of longer duration are the Help-Wanted Indexes developed in the federal Department of Finance and taken over and maintained subsequently by Statistics Canada. These series extend back to 1962 and are reproduced here for the period 1962 to 1975. The Help-Wanted Indexes are based on help-wanted advertising space in selected daily newspapers across the country.

Vacancy series, going back further in time, were available from the records of the National Employment Service (NES). These series relate only to vacancies of which the NES was notified. The NES series themselves are not shown here. However, synthetic estimates for the entire period 1951 to 1975 have been constructed by Frank T. Denton, Christine H. Feaver and A. Leslie Robb, based on a combination of Job Vacancy Survey data, Help-Wanted Indexes, and NES vacancy series. These are provided here for the period 1951 to 1975.

References

The following list of basic references, relating to the data sources discussed above, may be consulted for more detailed descriptions of sources, methods and definitions: Historical Statistics of Canada, Section C: The Labour Force, (especially the notes relating to the census series), Kenneth Buckley; Census of Canada, decennial censuses from 1911 to 1971, Statistics Canada; Historical Estimates of the Canadian Labour Force, 1961 Census Monograph, Frank T. Denton and Sylvia Ostry, Statistics Canada, 1967, (Catalogue 99-549); The Growth of Manpower in Canada, 1961 Census Monograph, Frank T. Denton, Statistics Canada, 1970, (Catalogue 99-556); Notes to Accompany Tables of Working Population by Industry and Occupation Group, R. Marvin McInnis, mimeographed, Queen's University, 1976; The Labour Force, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-001); Canadian Labour Force Survey, Methodology, 1965, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-504); Canadian Labour Force Estimates, 1931-1945, Statistics Canada, (Reference Paper No. 23, revised 1957); Employment, Earnings and Hours, (formerly Employment and Payrolls), Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 72-002); Annual Report on Job Vacancies, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-203); Canadian Job Vacancy Survey: Technical Appendix, 1972, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-521); 'The Canadian Help-Wanted Index', appendix A, Economic Review, April 1973, Department of Finance; Patterns of Unemployment Behaviour in Canada, Frank T. Denton, Christine H. Feaver and A. Leslie Robb, Economic Council of Canada, Discussion Paper No. 36, 1975 (construction of synthetic job vacancy series is described on pages 45-49).

The tables are available as comma separated value files (csv). They may be viewed using a variety of software. You may have to create an association between your software application and the csv files. The pdf files should be used to verify table formats. For example, footnotes appear in a column to the right of the cell they reference in the csv files; while in the pdf files footnotes appear as superscript numbers.

Labour Force at Census Dates (Series D1-123)

Source: for 1971, Census, 1971; for 1961, Census, 1961; for 1881 to 1951, reproductions of series Cl-7, with minor rounding of percentages, from Historical Statistics of Canada, which are taken from Census, 1951, vol. IV, tables I, II and IV; Census, 1921, vol. IV, tables III and VI.

Series D1-7, for 1881 to 1941, are based on the gainfully occupied concept employed in Canada up to, and including, the 1941 Census. For 1951 to 1971 they are based on the labour force concept. For discussion and comparison of these concepts, see Buckley's notes and also Denton and Ostry, Historical Estimates of the Canadian Labour Force.

Source: Notes to Accompany Tables of Working Population by Industry and Occupation Group, R. Marvin McInnis, Queen's University.

These series are based on published and unpublished census data, using a standard industrial classification system developed by McInnis in order to achieve approximate consistency of industry definitions through time. The figures have been provided by him in the form of mimeographed tables for reproduction here. They are from a larger set of historical series to be included in a forthcoming monograph by McInnis.

The following general notes are edited versions of ones provided by McInnis. These notes apply to the occupational series D86-106 and the provincial series D512-521, as well as to the industrial series D8-85.

1. Figures for Canada are exclusive of the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, as currently defined.

2. Data for 1891 to 1941 are for 'gainful workers'. For 1951 to 1971, they adhere to the 'labour force' concept. The differences in the totals are generally small but some industry and occupation groups are particularly sensitive to the concept selected.

3. The age coverage is left at that of the census of each year. From 1891 through 1931 this was the working population over 10 years of age. In 1941 and 1951 this was raised to 14 years of age and in 1961 and 1971 it was 15 years of age. Before 1941 the number of gainful workers 10-14 years of age was small and heavily concentrated in agriculture. Age coverage is the principal reason that the totals shown in earlier years do not agree with those published in the original edition of Historical Statistics of Canada.

4. The 1911 total differs from that in the published census of that year by a small amount. The unpublished data used for the industry tables of that year had never been fully and explicitly reconciled. The difference is only 1,514 workers. It differed in direction so that the tables for female workers were in disagreement by 1,808. Half of that was female unpaid family workers in agriculture which were excluded by definition from the published 1911 Census tables.

5. The figures for 1921 and 1951 exclude Indians living on reserves, in line with the published censuses of those years. The McInnis monograph, from which these tables have been extracted, includes 1921 and 1951 estimates of Indian fishermen and trappers. Hence the totals shown here agree with the published censuses rather than the McInnis monograph.

The following notes provided by McInnis relate specifically to the industrial series D8-85.

The industry classification used in these series is a condensation of a classification developed by McInnis and reported on in greater detail in a forthcoming monograph. McInnis' groupings identify 50 industry categories into which the work force can be grouped with a high degree of definitional consistency over all of the censuses from 1911 through 1971. They incorporate features of both the 1951 and 1961 S.I.C. but lean somewhat toward the latter. The figures for 1921 are the most subject to possible definitional inconsistencies. The 1911 figures are entirely drawn from unpublished tabulations and fit quite consistently into the classification scheme. Unfortunately, 1911 is the earliest census year for which the 'occupational' statistics could satisfactorily be reorganized to get a consistently-defined, detailed industrial categorization.

Owing to limitations of space the 50 industries of McInnis' classification have been further grouped into the condensation provided here. The groupings were selected to fit as closely as possible the categories used in the historical statistical tables of a number of other major countries and by the United Nations.

Attention might be drawn to a few noticeable problems. 'Fishing and trapping' is downwardly biased in 1921 and 1951 by the exclusion of native Indians on reserves. For the years from 1931 onward 'Other and unspecified manufacturing' consists of miscellaneous manufacturing industries while in 1911 and 1921 it includes a relatively large number of workers who were listed in census tables as working in just 'Manufacturing, type unspecified'. 'Other transport' excludes Post Office employees who are grouped with 'Government'. The number of workers with 'Industry unspecified', which had shrunk to a small fraction of the total labour force in 1951 and 1961, rose to an alarming 8 per cent in 1971. Statistics Canada is not yet able to offer an explanation of this.

The 1961 S.I.C. numbers included in each group of industries are as follows:

Agriculture: 001, 003, 006, 011, 013, 015, 017, 019, 021 less own account veterinarians;

Forestry: 031, 039;

Fishing and trapping: 041, 045, 047;

Coal mining: 061;

Other mining: 051-059, 063, 065, 071, 073, 077, 079, 083, 087, 092, 094, 096, 098, 099;

Food, beverages and tobacco manufacturing: 101-153;

Leather and rubber products: 161, 163, 169, 172, 174, 175, 179;

Textiles and clothing: 183, 193, 197, 201, 211-218, 221, 223, 229, 231, 239, 242-249, 395, 878;

Wood products, paper and publishing: 251, 252, 254, 256, 258, 259, 261, 264, 266, 268, 271-274, 286-289;

Metal products, machinery and transport equipment: 291, 292, 294-298, 301-309, 311, 315, 316, 318, 321, 323-329, 331, 332, 334-339;

Chemical, petroleum and non-metallic mineral products: 341, 343, 345, 347, 348, 351-357, 359, 365, 369, 371-379;

Other and unspecified manufacturing: 381-385, 393, 397, 399;

Electricity and gas: 572, 574;

Construction: 404, 406, 409, 421, 516;

Railway transport: 506, 545;

Other transport: 501, 502, 504, 505, 507-509, 512, 515, 517, 519, 524, 527, 543, 544;

Retail and wholesale trade: all groups of same title in 1961;

Finance, insurance and real estate: 702, 704, 731, 735, 737;

Education: 801, 803, 805, 807, 809;

Health and welfare services: 821, 823, 825, 827, 828, plus own account veterinarians from 021;

Food and lodging: 875, 876;

Personal and recreational services: 851, 853, 859, 872-874, 877, 879, 893;

Other services: 831, 861, 862, 864, 866, 869, 871, 891, 894, 896, 897, 899;

Government: 548, 576, 579, 902, 909, 931, 951, 991;

Industry unspecified: 999.

Source: same as series D8-85.

The general notes provided in the description of series D8-85 apply here also. In addition, McInnis has provided the following specific notes relating to the occupational series D86-106.

1. Only the broadest sort of occupational breakdown is used here but the intention is to make it a more purely 'occupational' classification than was presented in the original edition of Historical Statistics of Canada, in which tables tended to have a heavy industrial orientation.

2. The earliest that this broad categorization could be carried back was 1891. Before that the census data for occupations are much less amenable to systematic grouping. Among other things they do not distinguish the sex of workers in any but a few occupations.

3. The occupational classes adhere very closely to those used in the 1961 Census. The 'operatives' grouping is purely a residual and consists of all workers not grouped with one of the five other classes.

4. The category 'Owners and managers' includes business proprietors and salaried managerial personnel. Independent or 'own-account' craftsmen such as tailors, dressmakers and blacksmiths are counted as 'operatives' rather than 'owners and managers'.

The sharp jump in the 'owners and managers' group between 1901 and 1911 might lead to suspicions that, in the 1891 and 1901 censuses, large numbers of persons who should have been grouped with that class were hidden in other categories. A careful examination of the data suggests that this is not the case. Indeed there are several instances of particular occupations where the managerial content may be overstated in 1891 and 1901, for example, 'government officials'. The increase in 'owners and managers' between 1901 and 1911 was widely distributed across the industry structure but especially large gains are found in the construction industry, where the number of builders and contractors increased sevenfold, and in wholesale and retail trade, where the number of merchants increased by almost 30,000. In manufacturing, there appears to have been a large increase in the number of small enterprises. What was happening seems to have been partly an increase in the number of business units, and partly an upgrading of independent craftsmen and working proprietors of craft shops to become owners and managers of businesses with employees. Before 1911 the 'owners and managers' group did not include the operators of many small firms such as cheesemakers, millers, furniture makers, butchers, draymen and liverymen.

Between 1921 and 1931 there was a sizable fall in the number of 'owners and managers'. This was heavily concentrated in two industries. In construction, the number of builders and contractors declined markedly as a consequence of the particularly depressed condition of the industry. In urban and other transport, the reduction in the numbers of 'owners and managers' was due to a long-run shift associated with the disappearance of local livery stables and carters, as automobiles and motor trucks increasingly substituted for horse-drawn carriages.

From 1941 to 1951 the number of 'owners and managers' again increased dramatically due to the rise of middle management. By far the greater part of the increase came in paid managers rather than business proprietors. Again the change was widely diffused across the industry structure and a close examination revealed no basis for suspecting that the change may have been largely definitional.

1. 'Professional occupations' agree as consistently as possible with the 1961 Census definition. Lawyers, physicians, engineers and other recognized professionals in independent practice are included here rather than with 'owners and managers'.

One possible anomaly should be noted. In 1911 only nuns who were active as teachers were evidently treated as gainfully employed. In 1901, although the record is not perfectly clear, it appears that all nuns were included.

In the earlier years some accountants who would now be treated as professional workers were probably grouped with clerical occupations.

1. The 'Clerical and sales workers' category is consistent with the clerical and sales occupation division of the 1961 Census. It is fairly narrowly defined and leaves out several occupations that might be regarded as white collar, salestype occupations, for example, bartenders, waiters, recreation and amusement attendants, and radio announcers. On the other hand the grouping does include service station attendants, who are more akin to blue collar 'operatives'.

2. 'Operatives' refers mainly to skilled and semi-skilled craftsmen but is essentially a catch-all that includes everything not in the other occupational classes. All farm workers are grouped separately, as are persons who are explicitly designated common or unskilled labourers. In accordance with recent census practice, unskilled workers in fishing, forestry and mining are grouped with 'operatives' rather than 'labourers'.

3. 'Farmers and farm workers' include farm operators, paid farm labourers and unpaid family workers. The last of these categories has been highly sensitive to census procedure and has varied widely from census to census.

In 1891 unpaid family workers ('farmers' sons') comprised one-third of the agricultural work force. Of the 241,000 'farmers' sons', some 61,000 were under 15 years of age. Without question, a very comprehensive definition of gainful occupation in agriculture was followed in 1891. Between 1891 and 1901, when the numbers of farmers and hired farm workers rose by about 5 per cent, the number of 'farmers' sons' declined by 23 per cent. The major part of the decline occurred in the group under 16 years of age. 'Farmers' sons' were not counted with the gainfully occupied if they were attending school. In this connection, footnote 9 of series C8-35 in the original Historical Statistics of Canada is wrong in stating that the figure "includes all farmers' sons 14 years and over, whether or not reported in gainful occupation". That may have been true in earlier census years but it was explicitly not the case in 1901.

The relative number of unpaid family workers in agriculture fell to an unusually low level in 1911, when they accounted for only 11 per cent of all agricultural workers. This was noted by George V. Haythorne in his book, Labour in Canadian Agriculture, which offered a fanciful explanation of the phenomenon. It is quite clearly a definitional matter. While the number of paid farm labourers rose over the 1901 to 1911 decade there does not appear to have been a simple transfer from unpaid to paid classification. The ratio of both paid and unpaid farm labour to the number of farm operators in 1911 was only two-thirds of what it was in either 1901 or 1921. The figures presented here include some female unpaid farm workers who were simply dropped from the published 1911 Census tables.

The number of unpaid family workers in agriculture rose again in 1921 as the census treatment of 'farmers' sons' and increasingly now, daughters, again became more comprehensive. A significant number of unpaid agricultural workers under 15 years of age reappears and the proportion of the total male population 15-24 years that was classed by the census as unpaid farm workers almost doubled from what it had been a decade earlier. The ranks of the unpaid agricultural workers were smaller in 1931, mirroring the unemployment in the non-agricultural sector, and the numbers remained high in 1941. However, there is little indication of any consequential change owing to definitional alteration after 1921.

The 1951 Census and the shift to the labour force concept brought new problems. The entire agricultural labour force declined sharply and male unpaid family workers fell even more. The change in concept, however, admitted many more females to the status of unpaid agricultural labour. Between 1951 and 1961, with the same labour force concept, the number of female unpaid family workers in agriculture increased dramatically. The trend has continued, possibly reinforced by the shift to self-enumeration, so that by 1971, about a quarter of Canada's agricultural labour force consisted of unpaid females.

Over the long term it would seem that the numbers have come full circle. In 1891, the agricultural work force was inflated by the large numbers of children reported as gainfully occupied. In the early years of the century the farm work force included a much smaller number of unpaid family workers. The number rose again and has continued high as farmers' wives have replaced farmers' sons. The effect upon the total measured work force is far from insignificant. In their estimates of the Canadian labour force, Denton and Ostry included an adjustment for female unpaid family workers in agriculture. There exists no series, however, that attempt to correct for the changing definitional treatment of males.

1. 'Labourers' are rather narrowly defined and exclude unskilled workers in fishing, forestry and mining, as well as agricultural labourers, paid and unpaid. This is in line with the 1961 Census treatment. Furthermore, there has been no attempt to add into the category unskilled workers with specific occupational titles who would most likely have been classed as labourers in the earlier censuses. Thus the decline in the relative size of this occupational group is probably overstated.

Prior to 1931 it was generally the practice not to label female workers as 'labourers', although that does not seem to have been the case in the unpublished 1911 tabulations from which these figures are drawn. In 1921 there were, by definition, virtually no female 'labourers'. The numbers were very small in 1891 and 1901 also, although it is less certain that the problem was a definitional one in those years. No euphemistically titled female occupation could be found in the census tables that might be suspected of sheltering the missing female labourers.

Source: Historical Estimates of the Canadian Labour Force, 1961 Census Monograph, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 99-549).

The series for 1951 and 1961 are based on Labour Force Survey estimates, adjusted to include the armed services, the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories, and Indians on reserves. For 1941 and earlier, census data were adjusted to convert from a gainfully occupied to a labour force basis. The adjustments were based on conversion ratios derived for 1951. Estimates were made of what the gainfully occupied figures would have been, had the 1951 Census used the gainfully occupied concept, rather than the labour force concept. Ratios of 1951 labour force (based on the survey) to estimated census gainfully occupied were then used to adjust the pre-1951 Census figures. This was done by age and sex, back to 1921. Estimates for 1911 and 1921 were also constructed, but the absence of age detail for the recorded census gainfully occupied made it necessary to use a different approach, and made it possible only to provide estimates by sex, and not age and sex. The 1921 participation rates were reweighted, using the 1901 and 1911 population age distributions. This was done both on the labour force basis and on the gainfully occupied basis. The ratios of reweighted labour force to reweighted gainfully occupied were then used to adjust the recorded 1901 and 1911 Census gainfully occupied figures.

More detailed information about the methods used in constructing the series is provided in the source publications, along with additional tabular detail.

Source: same as series D107-122.

The figures for 1901 to 1961 are totals of the components estimated by the procedures described in connection with series D107-122. For 1881 and 1891, the estimates are based on adjustments of recorded census counts of the gainfully occupied. The 1891 count was adjusted by applying the 1901 ratio of labour force to gainfully occupied, separately for each sex, and combining the results. The 1881 count was then adjusted on the basis of the 1891 ratio for both sexes combined.

The estimates for the earlier dates were obtained by a different method, there being no acceptable census gainfully occupied totals to work with for the period before 1881. (The actual figures for the gainfully occupied, from the 1871 Census, were not used because of incompleteness of coverage and doubts as to their accuracy.) Ratios of labour force to population, for individual age-sex groups, were constructed on the basis of data for 1921; the earliest date for which the necessary age-sex detail was available. These ratios were applied to the actual census population figures in each age-sex group and the results summed over all groups. In this way, a preliminary labour force series was constructed for each census year in the period 1851 to 1881. This series was then used as an index to project backwards the 1881 benchmark total, obtained previously, to 1871, 1861 and 1851.

Labour Force, Annual Data (Series D124-497)

Source: for 1946 to 1960, The Labour Force, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-001), and the Department of National Defence; for 1921 to 1945, Canadian Labour Force Estimates, 1931-1945, Statistics Canada, (Reference Paper No. 23, revised 1957).

These series are reproductions of series C47-55, in Urquhart and Buckley, Historical Statistics of Canada, with the addition of a single series for the total labour force, inclusive of the armed services. The series are regarded as pertaining to 1 June of each year but in practice, for 1946 to 1960, data were used from the Labour Force Survey, with the reference week closest to 1 June.

The 1921 to 1945 series are estimates based on various data. Census enumerations of the total gainfully occupied in 1921, 1931 and 1941, and of the unemployed in 1931 and 1941, were adjusted to conform with the labour force concept used in the survey. Estimates for years in between these dates were obtained by interpolation, based on related series. In the case of persons without jobs and seeking work, no 1921 benchmark existed and the pre-1931 estimates were derived by backward projection from 1931. The persons with jobs and persons without jobs and seeking work series conform to the Labour Force Survey definitions in effect prior to the change in 1960. Persons on temporary layoff up to 30 days are thus counted as having jobs. These numbers are reported by Buckley in Section C of Historical Statistics of Canada, for 1946 to 1960, based on Labour Force Survey estimates, as follows: 1946, 18; 1947, less than 10 (actual figure not available); 1948, 16; 1949, less than 10; 1950, 13; 1951, 13; 1952, 19; 1953, 12; 1954, 10; 1955, 11; 1956, less than 10; 1957, 13; 1958, 19; 1959, 21; 1960, 20.

More detailed information on the methods used in constructing the 1921 to 1945 series can be found in Canadian Labour Force Estimates, 1931-1945. Additional information about the Labour Force Survey methodology, underlying the 1946 to 1960 series, can be found in The Labour Force and Canadian Labour Force Survey, Methodology.

Source: The Labour Force, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-001), and the Department of National Defence.

The definitions of civilian labour force, employed, and unemployed are those used by the survey prior to the changes in 1976. From 1953 on, the averages are based on 12 monthly surveys per year; prior to 1953, they are based on four surveys per year, roughly at quarterly intervals. Newfoundland is excluded before 1950 and the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories are excluded in all years. Also excluded in all years are Indians living on reserves. For additional information about the Labour Force Survey methodology, see The Labour Force and Canadian Labour Force Survey, Methodology.

Series D134, 135 and 137, which involve the armed services, were furnished from Labour Force Survey files but are based on data from the Department of National Defence. The total non-institutional population and labour force are obtained by adding the armed services to the civilian non-institutional population and labour force.

Source: The Labour Force, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-001).

See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

The participation rates are obtained by expressing labour force figures as percentages of corresponding non-institutional population figures. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

The unemployment rates are obtained by expressing unemployment figures as percentages of corresponding civilian labour force figures. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145.

Source: for 1946 to 1958, The Labour Force, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-001); for 1931 to 1945, Canadian Labour Force Estimates, 1931-1945, Statistics Canada, (Reference Paper No. 23, revised 1957).

See the note to series D124-133.

Source: same as series D146-159.

These series are based on the 1948 Standard Industrial Classification system. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

These series are based on the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification system. The availability of figures for 1961 to 1964 provides an overlap with series D266-289, which extend back to 1946 but are on the 1948 S.I.C. basis. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: for 1946 to 1960, The Labour Force, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-001); for 1931 to 1945, Canadian Labour Force Estimates, 1931-1945, Statistics Canada, (Reference Paper No. 23, revised 1957).

See the note to series D124-133.

Source: same as series D146-159.

These series are based on the 1948 Standard Industrial Classification system. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

These series are based on the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification system. The availability of figures for 1961 to 1964 provides an overlap with series D329-340, which extend back to 1946 but are on the 1948 S.I.C. basis. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

These series are based on the occupational classification system established for the 1951 Census. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

These series are based on the occupational classification system established for the 1961 Census. The availability of figures for 1961 to 1964 provides an overlap with series D355-382, which extend back to 1948 but are based on the 1951 classification system. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

The participation rates are obtained by expressing labour force figures as percentages of corresponding non-institutional population figures. The 1959 to 1963 rates for the 'married' and 'other' categories incorporate minor adjustments to take account of subsequent data revisions. (Based on an observed revision of 0.1 per cent in 1964, the 1959 to 1963 rates were all adjusted downward by this amount.) See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

'Full-time' employment includes all persons who worked 35 hours or more during a survey reference week, plus those who had a job and did not work, or worked less than 35 hours, but said they usually work 35 hours. 'Part-time' employment includes those who worked less than 35 hours, or who had a job and did not work, and said they usually work less than 35 hours. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145. See also the note to series D449-454 for the definitions of 'part-time' and 'full-time' employment.

Source: same as series D146-159.

Newfoundland is included in the Canada total and Atlantic region series starting in 1950. Newfoundland is also shown separately, series D469, so that the Canada total and Atlantic region series can be adjusted to exclude that province, for purposes of comparability with the 1946 to 1949 figures. See the note to series D134-145.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145. See also the note to series D463-469, regarding Newfoundland.

Source: same as series D146-159.

See the note to series D134-145. See also the note to series D463-469, regarding Newfoundland.

Source: same as series D146-159.

The participation rates are obtained by expressing labour force figures as percentages of corresponding non-institutional population figures. See the note to series D134-145. See also the note to series D463-469, regarding Newfoundland.

Source: same as series D146-159.

The unemployment rates are obtained by expressing unemployment figures as percentages of corresponding civilian labour force figures. See the note to series D134-145. See also the note to series D463-469, regarding Newfoundland.

Growth between Census Dates (Series 498-521)

Source: The Growth of Manpower in Canada, 1961 Census Monograph, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 99-556); Historical Estimates of the Canadian Labour Force, 1961 Census Monograph, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 99-549).

The components of labour force growth for each decade of the period 1851 to 1961 were based on historical population data, immigration data, and labour force participation rates. For the decades since 1921, the labour force contents of immigration and emigration were estimated and then the difference between the two was subtracted from total labour force growth, to arrive at an estimate of the domestic supply component. For decades before 1921, the labour force content of natural increase was estimated first, using age-sex distributions of natural increases calculated by Nathan Keyfitz, ("The Growth of Canadian Population", Population Studies, vol. IV, No. 1, June 1950), together with the 1921 labour force participation rates estimated by Denton and Ostry. This provided the basis for estimation of the domestic supply component. The contribution of net immigration to labour force growth was then estimated as the difference between total labour force growth and the domestic supply component. More detailed information about the methods and sources of basic data can be found in The Growth of Manpower in Canada. With regard to the total labour force estimates for 1851 to 1961, from which the total labour force growth series was calculated, see the notes to series D107-122 and D123.

Source: The Growth of Manpower in Canada, 1961 Census Monograph, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 99-556).

The total civilian labour force series is based on Labour Force Survey data. The 1946 labour force total was adjusted, to include an estimate for Newfoundland, and both the 1946 and 1951 totals were then adjusted further, to allow for the effects of differences in the frequency and timing of the survey on the annual averages for those years. (The survey was conducted more or less on a quarterly basis before November 1952, but on a monthly basis since then.) The calculation of the components of growth involved the estimation of the labour force contents of immigration and emigration by the application of participation rates to the numbers of immigrants and emigrants in various age-sex groups. The total contributions of immigration and emigration were then calculated and their difference, the contribution of net immigration, was subtracted from total labour force growth to obtain an estimate of the domestic supply component. Additional information on methods and basic data sources can be found in The Growth of Manpower in Canada.

Source: same as series D8-85.

These series were compiled by R. Marvin McInnis, based on published and unpublished census data. See the notes to series D8-85 and D86-106.

Job Vacancies and Employment Indexes (Series D522-550)

Source: Annual Report on Job Vacancies, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-203); Canadian Job Vacancy Survey: Technical Appendix, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 71-521); "The Canadian Help-Wanted Index", appendix A, Economic Review, April 1973, Department of Finance; Patterns of Unemployment Behaviour in Canada, Frank T. Denton, Christine H. Feaver and A. Leslie Robb.

Three sets of annual series are presented here. The first set, labelled 'job vacancies', is extracted from the Statistics Canada Job Vacancy Survey. These series refer to 'full-time' vacancies and vacancies for 'casual, part-time, seasonal and temporary' jobs are excluded. For additional information about the survey, see the source material from Statistics Canada.

The second set of series are 'help-wanted indexes'. These were developed in the federal Department of Finance and later taken over, for regular calculation and publication, by Statistics Canada. The indexes were modelled after the index developed for the United States by the U.S. National Industrial Conference Board. The Canadian indexes are based on counts of columns in the classified advertising sections of selected daily newspapers in larger Canadian cities. Data were collected on a monthly basis. (Microfilmed newspapers were used to gather data as far back as January 1962.) The data for different cities are weighted, using population weights from the 1971 Census. The index base year is also 1971. For more information, see the source publication, from the Department of Finance.

The third set of series is a synthetic set constructed by Denton, Feaver and Robb, using data from three sources: the Job Vacancy Survey, the Help-Wanted Indexes, and the series of unfilled vacancies of the National Employment Service (NES). Job Vacancy Survey series (all categories, full-time and other combined), for the 36-month period December 1970 to November 1973, were used to establish average benchmark levels and seasonal patterns for the synthetic series. The Help-Wanted Indexes were used to project from these levels, forward to 1975 and backward to 1962. The synthetic series were then taken back from 1962 to 1951 on the basis of the NES series. All of the initial calculations were monthly, although only annual averages are presented here. The original series for 1951 to 1973 are from Denton, Feaver and Robb, Patterns of Unemployment Behaviour in Canada, and a detailed description of methods is provided there. The series were extended to 1974 and 1975 by the authors of that study, for presentation here.

Source: Employment, Earnings and Hours, Statistics Canada, (Catalogue 72-002).

These indexes are from the Statistics Canada Employment Survey, a monthly survey of industrial and business establishments with more than a certain minimum number of employees. The survey covers all employment sectors except agriculture, fishing and trapping, education and related services, health and welfare services, religious organizations, private households, and public administration and defence. Two sets of indexes are presented. One is based on the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification system and has 1961 as its base year. This series is provided for the period 1957 to 1975. The other set is based on the 1948 Standard Industrial Classification system and has 1949 as its base year. This latter set is provided for the period 1921 to 1962. There is thus a six-year period of overlap of the two sets. For further information see the source publication.

Source: same as series D528-539.

See the note to series D528-539.

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