Exclusion of populations living in the territories and on-reserve

LFS estimates for the territories are not included in the national totals. Although the LFS produces data on the territories, a different methodology is used than that for the provinces.

The Labour Force Survey does not include the population living on Indian reserves. All data on the Aboriginal population in this report therefore reflect the situation of Inuit, Métis and North American Indians living off-reserve, in the ten provinces.

Although Inuit are included in the total for Aboriginal people, most of them are excluded from this report because they live in the territories, primarily Nunavut (15,300) and the Northwest Territories (2,900). However, according to the 2006 Census, 44% of Inuit were living in the provinces, mainly Quebec (6,900), Newfoundland and Labrador (3,600), Ontario (1,300) and Alberta (1,100).

Aboriginal identities

The Aboriginal population can be defined in various ways, based on the four questions asked in the census (aboriginal identity; member of an Indian band or First Nation; Registered or Treaty Indian; and ethnic origin, including Aboriginal ancestries), depending on the perspective and needs of the data user.

The Labour Force Survey measures the Aboriginal identity. A person has an Aboriginal identity if he or she reports identifying with at least one Aboriginal group, for example, North American Indian, Métis or Inuit. This is based on the individual’s own perception of his/her Aboriginal identity. “Aboriginal identity” is not to be confused with “Aboriginal ancestry”, another concept measured by the Census but not the LFS. Moreover, the LFS Aboriginal identity concept differs from the Aboriginal identity concept used in the Census, since Census uses more questions to define the identity. For more information, see the publication entitled How Statistics Canada Identifies Aboriginal Peoples

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/english/freepub/12-592-X

The main Aboriginal identities are North American Indian, Métis and Inuit. The respondent can also answer “other identity” or report more than one identity. In this report, Aboriginal people include these five categories, whereas North American Indians, Métis and Inuit are those who reported only one Aboriginal identity. Persons who identified as First Nation are classified with North American Indian. The term “North American Indian” is the one used in the LFS questionnaire, and will therefore be used in this report.

Comparison between LFS and Census:

Period covered and speed of release

The annual LFS estimates on Aboriginal people will be available every year, whereas the Census is conducted every five years. Another advantage is that LFS estimates are representative of the entire year (12 reference weeks), whereas census estimates relate to only a single week in May. The time that elapses between the collection and the release of the data is also shorter for the LFS, making it possible to draw a very current picture of the labour market for Aboriginal populations.

Population covered

The population studied is more limited in the LFS, since reserves are excluded, which constitutes an especially important difference in the case of data on Aboriginal people. Also, the estimates for the territories are not included in the national estimates.

Range of statistics

The census data undeniably provide a wider range of data than the LFS. Also, the Census defines the Aboriginal population in various ways, whereas the LFS measures only Aboriginal identity.

Additional information about comparability of estimates

Data from the LFS and the Census are not directly comparable, since the survey concepts and methods are different. For a more complete description of the differences, see the document “Differences between the LFS and Census estimates on the labour component, July 2008”, available on request at Labour Statistics Division.