Stats Canada: Less than half of Canadians have full-time jobs

Dec 1 2017, 11:15 pm

Less than half of Canadians worked full-time jobs in 2015, according to Stats Canada.

Fewer Canadians aged 25 to 54 worked full-time, all year, shifting away from traditional employment to more part-time and part-year work.

Stats Canada attributes this change to a “combination of social and economic changes, such as the 2008-2009 financial crisis and automation technologies, which have affected the labour market” along with the shift towards more flexible work schedules.

With the decrease in full-time jobs, the employment rate in Canada was 60.2% in May 2016, down from 62% in May 2006.

“Employment rates varied significantly across Canada in 2016, reflecting a number of factors, including growth in certain industries such as oil, the age structure of provinces and territories, and migration patterns over the past decade,” reads Stats Canada’s report.

The Prairies had above national average employment rates, particularly Alberta which was at 65.4%. Meanwhile, Newfoundland and Labrador had the lowest employment rates at 49.5%.

As for the three largest cities, employment rates were just above the national average. Vancouver led the way at 61.8%, followed closely by Toronto (61.2%) and Montréal (61.0%.)

Statistics Canada, Census of Population, 2016.

More and more Canadians are working in service-producing industries. Stats Canada reports that from 2006 to 2016, employment in the services sector grew 12% to 13.7 million. In May 2016, almost four out of five workers (79.7%) worked in the services sector, up from 76.1% of the workforce in 1996.

In 2016, the health care and social assistance industry was the largest employer among all industries followed by retail trade. Just over two million people, representing 12.1% of all workers, were in health care and social assistance, while retail trade accounted for just under two million workers, or 11.5% of all workers.

And some of these workers are past the age of 65, as Stats Canada notes, nearly one in five Canadians aged 65 and older reported working at some point during 2015. This was almost double the proportion in 1995.

See also
Daily Hive StaffDaily Hive Staff

+ News
+ Jobs
ADVERTISEMENT