Explore youth labour force characteristics across Canada

Understanding labour force characteristics

Employment rate

The employment rate is the share of the total working-age population that is actively employed. Since the employment rate is calculated from the working population, it can be interpreted as X% of the overall Canadian population is employed.  

Knowing the number of employed Canadians provides context on the country’s contributing tax base, which can impact long-term planning for social and health benefits.  

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate is the share of the labour force that is actively looking for work and not currently employed. It is a key indicator of the difficulty of finding a job in the current job market.  

When calculating the unemployment rate, an individual is only considered unemployed if they are available for work, not currently employed and have actively looked for work in the last four weeks. LMIC recommends using Statistics Canada’s definition from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) (Statistics Canada, 2020), which considers one unemployed if they are available to work and:

• They are without work during the reference week, and have been looking for work in the last four weeks,  
• They are temporarily laid off with the expectation to return to work, or
• They are without work but expect to start a job within four weeks.

Labour Force Participation

Labour force participation is the number of people currently working or looking for work. The participation rate is the number of people participating in the labour market as a share of the total working-age population. When calculating the participation rate, a person is considered to be participating in the labour market only if they are either employed or unemployed.

The higher the participation rate, the more engaged the population is in the labour market. Decreasing participation rates can indicate that workers are frustrated due to difficulty finding work or managing other labour market issues, and choosing to leave the labour market until circumstances improve.  

Data for this set of data was available for provinces only; overall Canadian rates and totals reflect provincial data only. Data may be suppressed for narrower selections when drilling down into smaller geographies and/or with more granular education, age and gender parameters. 

Table notes  

Geography

Provinces and Canada (Territories data not available).  

Age Group

The age group of the labour force, including:  

• Youth (15-24 years old)
• Prime-age (25-54 years old)
• Senior (65+ years old)

Educational Attainment

Primary school 

Includes those with a primary school education but did not go to high school.

Some high school education

Includes those with some high school education but did not graduate.

High school graduates

Those who graduated from high school.

Some post-secondary education 

Worked toward, but did not complete, a degree, certificate (including a trade certificate), or diploma from an educational institution. This includes universities, vocational schools, apprenticeship training, community colleges, Collège d'Enseignement Général et Professionnel (CEGEP), and schools of nursing.

Postsecondary credential (below a bachelor’s degree) 

Completed a certificate (including a trade certificate) or diploma from an educational institution beyond the secondary level. This includes certificates from vocational schools, apprenticeship training, community colleges, Collège d'Enseignement Général et Professionnel (CEGEP), and schools of nursing. Also included are certificates below a bachelor’s degree obtained at a university.

University degree (bachelor’s or above) 

Combines bachelor’s degree graduates and those with their highest credential above a bachelor’s degree, such as a master’s or doctoral degree.  

Bachelor’s degree 

Those with a bachelor’s degree.  

Graduate degree (above a bachelor’s degree) 

Includes a master’s or doctoral degree.  

Gender

Men+ or Female+. According to Statistics Canada, given that the non-binary population is small, aggregating data into a two-category gender variable is necessary to protect the confidentiality of responses. Individuals in the category “non-binary persons” are distributed into the other two gender categories and are denoted by the “+” symbol. The category “Men+” includes men, as well as some non-binary persons, while the category “Women+” includes women, as well as some non-binary persons. Please see Statistics Canada’s reference guides for more information.  

References

Statistics Canada. Labour force characteristics by educational attainment, monthly, unadjusted for seasonality. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1410001901

Statistics Canada. Gender of person. https://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/p3Var.pl?Function=DEC&Id=410445  

Statistics Canada, Guide to the Labour Force Survey. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-543-g/71-543-g2025001-eng.htm