Our first Internet issue

Welcome to the first monthly online issue of Perspectives! Our goal is to disseminate analysis of labour and income issues on a more timely basis, as well as to further integrate our analytical products. In addition to its present content, the "new" Perspectives provides the contents of Labour Force Update, as well as articles produced in other divisions of the Labour and Household Surveys Branch, namely, the Income Statistics Division and the Special Surveys Division.

The current quarterly paper publication also continues. Each monthly online issue will present at least one full-length article (with a maximum of three per month). This first issue features one—an analysis of pension plans offered by employers. (These monthly releases will then be reproduced in the quarterly paper version.) Each online issue will provide article highlights free of charge or the full article(s) for a fee, available from Perspectives' main page. The subscription price is $5/month or $48/year. The subscription process will remain unchanged for the quarterly paper publication.

Subscribers will eventually have the option of viewing up to 11 previous monthly issues in addition to the current issue. One year following their initial release, articles will be available free of charge in an archive module, which will also be available on the Perspectives' main page. All articles, beginning with the first issue of Perspectives in 1989, will be available in this fully searchable historical module.

We also provide some of the regular departments of the print publication. For example, "Editor’s corner" (similar to "Forum") will feature letters to the editor, any errata (if necessary) and discussions of relevant or timely information related to labour and income. "Key labour and income facts" provides charts of the latest available monthly statistics from the Labour Force Survey; Employment Insurance; the Help-wanted Index; and Employment, Earnings and Hours, along with links to the "Canadian Statistics" page on the main Statistics Canada website.

"More news" is similar to "What’s new?" in that it announces recently released data, research and products related to labour and income, as well as selected upcoming conferences and special events. A brief summary of each new item is provided, with a link to The Daily (if applicable) for a more comprehensive description. Finally, we have included links to various guides and manuals, such as the Labour Market and Income Data Guide and the Guide to the Labour Force Survey. Users can find these links under "Survey information."

We hope you will find this monthly online issue to be timely, informative and useful in providing you with Statistics Canada’s latest analysis of labour and income trends. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions (e-mail: perspectives@statcan.gc.ca).