Labour Force Occupations, 2001

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Abstract

As of May 15, 2001, Canada's labour force consisted of almost 15.6 million people, up 9.5% from 14.2 million a decade earlier. Of the 15.6 million people in the labour force, more than 2.5 million were in highly skilled occupations that normally required university education. This was a 33% increase from 1991, triple the rate of growth for the labour force as a whole.

Map Source: Adapted from Statistics Canada, Profile of Labour Force Activity, Class of Worker, Occupation, Industry, Place of Work, Mode of Transportation, Language of Work and Unpaid Work, for Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Divisions and Census Subdivisions, 2001 Census - 20% Sample Data, Catalogue no 95F0490XCB2001001.

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Highly skilled occupations accounted for almost one-half of the total labour force growth over the decade. As a result, there has been a shift in the skill makeup of the labour force. In 2001, people in highly skilled occupations normally requiring a university education accounted for 16% of the total labour force, up from 13% a decade earlier.

Skilled occupations - those usually requiring a community college diploma or apprenticeship training - grew at less than a third of the pace of the labour force as a whole. The census enumerated nearly 4.7 million people in such occupations, a 3.3% increase from 1991. As a result of this slow growth rate, occupations usually requiring a college education or apprenticeship training accounted for 30% of the total labour force in 2001, down from 32% a decade earlier.

Within the skilled occupations, there was a 3.8% decline in the number of people in occupations normally requiring apprenticeship training, such as skilled trades. In particular, the number with skills in certain construction trades plunged by between 40% and 60%.

In contrast, the number of skilled occupations usually requiring a college education increased 6% during the decade, two thirds the pace of the total labour force. Within this skill group, there was a strong increase in childcare workers and administrative officers.

The census enumerated 6.8 million people in occupations normally requiring at most a high school diploma. The rate of growth for these occupations was 5.4%, much slower than total labour force growth. As a result, their share of the labour force in 2001 was 43%, down from 45% in 1991.

The number of managers increased 17.2% over the decade to just over 1.6 million in 2001. These occupations accounted for 18% of the growth of the labour force.

The Daily is Statistics Canada's official release bulletin. The Daily for February 11, 2003, marked the public release of this census variable. Technical notes for this variable can be found at 2001 Census Technical Reports and User Guides.

The text was adapted from Statistics Canada, The changing profile of Canada's labour force, Catalogue number 96F0030XIE2001009. Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from the Statistics Canada’s Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at: www.statcan.ca/ , and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.

Please read the following Data and Mapping Notes for information on how the map was derived.