Canada
Title of the survey:
Labour Force Survey.
Organization responsible for the survey:
Planning and conduct of the survey:
Statistics Canada.
Analysis and publication of the results:
Statistics Canada.
Topics covered:
Persons currently economically active, employed and unemployed; persons currently in time-related underemployment and persons currently outside the labour force; discouraged workers; hours of work; duration of employment and unemployment; wages; second jobs; industry; occupation; status in employment; education/training levels.
Coverage of the survey:
Geographical:
Areas excluded are Yukon (collected, but not included in national estimates), Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Indian Reserves.
Population groups:
Civilian non-institutional population of age 15 years and above, excluding the full-time members of the Canadian Armed Forces and inmates of institutions.
Availability of estimates from other sources for the excluded areas/groups:
Estimates for Yukon as three months’ moving averages.
Groups covered by the survey but excluded from the published results:
Yukon, see above.
Periodicity:
Conduct of the survey:
Monthly
Publication of results:
Monthly, on first or second Friday of month following the month of the reference period.
Reference periods:
Employment:
Week that includes the 15th day of month.
Seeking work:
The last four weeks preceding the interview.
Availability for work:
The reference week which includes the 15th of the month.
Concepts and definitions:
Employment:
Employed persons are those aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week:
- did any work at all at a job or business, that is, paid work in the context of an employer-employee relationship, or self-employed. It also includes unpaid family work, which is defined as unpaid work contributing directly to the operation of a farm, business or professional practice owned and operated by a related member of the same household; or,
- had a job but were not at work due to factors such as own illness or disability, personal or family responsibilities, vacation, dispute or other reasons (excluding persons on layoff, between casual jobs, and those with a job to start at a future date).
Unemployment:
Unemployed persons are those aged 15 years and over who, during the reference week:
- were on temporary layoff during the reference week with an expectation of recall and were available for work, or
- were without work, had actively looked for work in the past four weeks, and were available for work, or
- had a new job to start within four weeks from reference weeks, and were available for work.
Underemployment:
Time-related underemployment:
No information provided.
Inadequate employment situations:
No information provided.
Hours of work:
Actual hours worked include both paid and unpaid hours worked. Usual hours worked for paid employees refer to the normal paid or contract hours, not counting any overtime, but for self-employed it refers to the number of hours worked in a typical week.
Employment-related income:
Income from paid employment:
Paid employees report wage/salary before taxes and other deductions, and include tips, commissions and bonuses, for main job.
Income from self-employment:
No information provided.
Informal sector:
Not applicable.
Usual activity:
No information provided.
Classifications:
Branch of economic activity (industry):
Title of the classification:
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS).
Population groups classified by industry:
Employed and unemployed persons (if worked within last 12 months).
Number of groups used for coding:
312.
Links to ISIC:
Indirect links to ISIC-Rev.3.
Occupation:
Title of the classification:
Standard Occupational Classification 1991 (SOC-91).
Population groups classified by occupation:
Employed and unemployed persons (if worked within last 12 months).
Number of groups used for coding:
514.
Links to ISCO:
Indirect links to ISCO-88.
Status in employment:
Title of the classification:
National classification, no title given.
Population groups classified by status in employment:
Employed and unemployed persons (if worked within last 12 months).
Groups used for classification:
Paid employees (distinguishing: private, public) and self-employed (distinguishing: incorporated, unincorporated and unpaid family worker).
Links to ICSE:
ICSE-1993.
Education:
Title of the classification:
National classification, no title given.
Population groups classified by education:
Employed and unemployed persons.
Groups used for classification:
No information provided.
Links to ISCED:
Indirect links to ISCED-1976.
Sample size and design:
Ultimate sampling unit:
Dwelling and household.
Sample size (ultimate sampling units):
61,000 dwellings; 53,500 households.
Overall sampling fraction:
1/240.
Sample frame:
Stratified multistage area frame. List frame of apartment buildings in large cities.
Updating of the sample:
On-going to deal with growth. Major re-design every 10 years.
Rotation:
Scheme:
Dwellings in sample for 6 consecutive months and then out.
Percentage of units remaining in the sample for two consecutive survey rounds:
83.3 percent.
Maximum number of interviews per sample unit:
No information provided.
Length of time for complete renewal of the sample:
No information provided.
Field work:
Type of interview:
Computer assisted interviewing, telephone and face-to-face.
Number of ultimate sampling units per sample area:
No information provided.
Duration of field work:
Total:
One week.
Per sample area:
No information provided.
Survey organization:
Permanent.
Number of field staff:
777 interviewers and 79 supervisors.
Substitution of non-responding ultimate sampling units:
No.
Estimation and adjustments:
Total non-response rate:
5 percent.
Adjustment for total non-response:
Yes.
Imputation for item non-response:
Yes, by using previous month’s response, if available, for maximum one month. Hot deck imputation.
Adjustment for areas/population not covered:
No.
Adjustment for undercoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for overcoverage:
Yes.
Adjustment for seasonal variations:
Yes, using Statistics Canada version of X11-ARIMA.
History of the survey:
Title and date of the first survey:
Labour Force Survey, November 1945.
Significant changes or revisions:
(a) Usual hours of work definition for paid employees changed January 1997: Was previously the same as for self-employed and covered both paid and un-paid hours. (b) Estimates are re-calculated after census population estimates become available. LFS estimates are benchmarked to latest census population counts. Last revision with release of January 2000 results, for estimates back to 1976.
Documentation and dissemination:
Documentation:
Survey results:
Labour force information (Catalogue number 71-001PPB) (monthly).
Survey methodology:
Guide to the Labour Force Survey (71-543GIE); Methodology of the Canadian Labour Force Survey, December 1998 (71-526-XPB).
Dissemination:
Time needed for initial release of survey results:
Within one month.
Advance information of public about date of initial release:
Yes.
Availability of unpublished data upon request:
Yes.
Availability of data in machine-readable form:
CD-ROM: Labour Force Historical Review (Catalogue 71F0004XCB) (annually, usually in February).
Website:
http://www.statcan.ca/.