Box 1  Data source

The data used for this analysis are derived from the Census of Population 2001 and are aggregated at the Census Sub-Division (CSD) level.  For each pair of CSDs for which a commuting flow is recorded, the database reports the total flows and the flows for each gender. Data on geographic location of a CSD (coordinates of the geographic centre) and the classification of a CSD according to the type of area (MIZ codes) are from Statistics Canada (2002b).

For more detail on the place of work and place of residence data, see Statistics Canada (2002a).

Box 2  Definitions: Commuting

For the purpose of this analysis, a commuter is defined as an individual who reports a place of residence in one Census Subdivision (CSD) and a place of work in a different CSD that is less than 250 km from the place of residence. The data on place of work and place of residence come from the long questionnaire from the Census of Population.  Since the long questionnaire only enumerates one-fifth of households, confidentiality and reliability issues mean that the estimation of commuter flows of less than 20 commuters between any two CSDs (i.e. for a sample of less than 4 commuters) have been excluded. The focus of this analysis is on the nature of labour markets as connected by daily commuting; for this reason the definition of commuter was limited to anyone who works within 250 kilometers of his/her place of residence. Specifically, we include in our database only the commuting flows between each pair of CSDs whose geographic centres are less than 250 km apart. In simple terms, if the geographic centre of two municipalities is more then 250 km apart, a possible commuting flow between these municipalities is not considered as daily commuting for the purpose of this analysis.

It should be noted that this distance threshold (250 km) excludes only 0.7% of the total flows of commuters available in the original database. In other words, 99.3% of the commuters in the original database have a place of residence and a place of work that are located in two municipalities less than 250 km apart. Individuals who live and work in municipalities more than 250 km apart are a marginal group which might include individuals who are working at a temporary or seasonal worksite, but who still report their original place of residence in the Census or those “fly-in and fly-out” workers who have a place of residence that is different from a place of work.  Examples include miners or construction workers who fly into a worksite for 7 or 10 days and then fly out of the worksite for a number of days.

It should also be noted that the definition of commuting used here implies that the worker is crossing CSD boundaries when traveling to work. Hence, this definition does not include those individuals who travel to work within the boundaries of the same CSD but who might still travel a relatively long distance to work. On the other hand, this definition would include individuals who travel a short distance but cross a CSD boundary. The goal of this analysis is to account for multidirectional flows (from-to).  This requires that a continuous space be broken down into discrete geographic units.  In turn, this results in some degree of approximation of the real commuting flows.  

Based on our definition of commuting, out of a national workforce of approximately 14.7 million, there are approximately 4.8 million workers who commute. That means that 4.8 million workers cross the boundary of a CSD as they travel to work. In 2001, approximately 8% of workers worked at home (Statistics Canada, 2003). Other workers travel to get to work but they do not cross a CSD boundary.

Out-commuters and out-commuting are used to refer to the commuting flows from the perspective of the municipality from which the flow is generated. Hence, the percent of out-commuters is calculated with respect to the workforce or commuting flow of the area that generates the flows.  In-commuter and in-commuting are used to refer to the commuting flows from the perspective of the municipality that receives the flow. Hence, the percent of in-commuters is calculated with respect to the workforce or commuting flow of the area that receives the flow.

Box 3  Definitions: Geography

A Census Sub-Division (CSD) is a municipality (i.e. incorporated town, rural municipality, city, etc. determined by provincial legislation) or its equivalent such as Indian reserves, Indian settlements, and unorganized territories. In the 2001 Census of Population there were 5,600 CSDs. For a detailed description of a CSD, see Statistics Canada (2002a).  CSDs can vary tremendously in terms of population size – from a few residents to over 2 million residents in Toronto. Also, the geographic spread of a CSD can vary widely – from less than 1 square kilometre for a small rural town to large geographic expanses of so-called “unorganized” territories in northern parts of many provinces. CSD level data are aggregated into types of areas according to Statistics Canada’s Statistical Area Classification.

Larger urban centres (LUCs) are composed of CSDs classified as part of Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) and Census Agglomerations (CAs). In 2001, a CMA was defined as having an urban core of 100,000 or more and included all neighbouring CSDs were 50% or more of the resident workforce commuted to the urban core of the CMA. A CA had an urban core of 10,000 to 99,999 and also included neighbouring CSDs where 50% or more the resident workforce commuted to the urban core of the CA.

• Larger CMAs are CSDs delineated as part of a CMA with a total population of 500,000 or more. In 2001, this included Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Toronto, Hamilton, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver.
• Smaller CMAs are CSDs delineated as part of a CMA with a population of 100,000 to 499,999.
• CAs are CSDs delineated as part of a Census Agglomeration with a population of 10,000 to 99,999.

Rural and small town (RST) areas are CSDs which are not part of a CMA or CA. RST are further classified into a Metropolitan Influenced Zone (MIZ), as follows:

• Strong MIZ: CSDs in a RST area where 30% or more of the resident workforce commutes to any CMA or CA;
• Moderate MIZ: CSDs in a RST area where 5% to 29% of the resident workforce commutes to any CMA or CA;
• Weak MIZ: CSDs in a RST area where more than zero but less than 5% of the resident workforce commutes to any CMA or CA; and
• No MIZ:  CSDs in a RST area where none of the workforce commutes to a RST area (or the workforce is less than 40 workers).

The definitions of LUC and RST are based on commuter activity into a CMA or CA. Thus, the amount of commuter activity into a CMA or CA and the type of MIZ to which a CSD is assigned are directly correlated. For this same reason, some of the results presented in this analysis are simply confirming the commuting flows that are used to generate this classification. On the other hand, the MIZ classification does not assess the flows that occur between different MIZ categories or within the same MIZ category. This is where the results of this analysis are most revealing. In this study, the classification of CMA and CA is based on total population of the agglomeration rather than the population in the urban core. Any agglomeration with total population greater than 100,000 is classified as a CMA; hence, the category “smaller CMA” includes 7 CAs with an urban core population less than 100,000 but with a total population greater than 100,000. Also, for practical purposes, 16 non-CA CSDs in the Territories, with small commuting flows to a CA in the Territories, were assigned to the Strong MIZ class.  However, many of these were excluded in the analysis because the commuting flow involved less than 20 people and/or the distance they travelled was 250 km or more.

Does the definition of rural have an impact on the results? The geography used in this analysis has certain implications for the results. As mentioned above, the geographic definition is itself based on a specific trajectory of commuter activity. Alternative definitions of rural could generate different insights. For instance, an alternative definition is that of “census rural” which refers to the population outside centres of 1,000 or more inhabitants and outside areas with a population density of 400 or more inhabitants per square kilometre (du Plessis et al. 2001). Each CSD may have some census rural areas and some census urban areas.  Essentially, “census rural” is the countryside within each CSD.  In the 1991 to 2006 period, more than one-third of Canada’s “census rural” residents lived in a CSD that is delineated as part of a CMA or CA (Bollman and Clemenson, forthcoming). Thus, the use of “census rural” and “census urban” areas would capture multidirectional commuting flows within a CSD (rural-urban, rural-rural, etc). Specifically, given the definition of rural used, the rural-to-rural commuting presented in this analysis includes the flows between very small municipalities and towns with up to 10,000 inhabitants.

For details on the definitions outlined above see McNiven et al. (2000) and Statistics Canada (2002a).