Canadian employment increased by 15,900 in September and, of the 305 industries surveyed, 170 recorded gains. This was the largest number of industries adding to their payrolls since July 2008. Since payroll employment peaked in October 2008, the number of employees in Canada has declined by 448,100 (-3.0%). Most of the declines occurred during the first six months of the economic downturn in both the goods and service sectors.

Construction Sector

Growth in payroll employment in September came from the goods sector (+27,500), led by the construction industries (+10,000). Between October 2008 and April 2009, payroll employment in construction fell by 64,100. The number of construction jobs remained relatively stable throughout the summer months, followed by an increase in September 2009. Only two provinces, Quebec and Ontario, experienced modest increases in construction employees every month from May to September.

Payroll employment in construction increased in a number of industries, including other speciality trade contracting (+2,500); utility system construction (+2,100); and foundation, structure, & building exterior contracting (+1,800). Payroll employment gains also occurred in other goods industries, including support activities for forestry and support activities for mining, oil and gas extraction.

Manufacturing Sector

Payroll employment rose in 55 of 86 manufacturing industries, but in small numbers. The overall increase in the number of manufacturing jobs in September was 2,100. However, September was the first month since July 2008 in which employment has increased in more than half of manufacturing industries.

Service Sector

In September, payroll employment gains and losses in service industries yielded a net loss of 4,100 employees. Notable gains included special food services; school and employee bus transportation; other provincial & territorial public administration; and services to buildings & dwellings. These gains were offset by payroll employment losses, including those in grocery stores; full-service restaurants; depository credit intermediation; community colleges; architectural, engineering & related services; and business support services.

Average weekly earnings

Average weekly earnings of payroll employees was $830.68 in September, up 1.9% from September 2008. This was faster than the 1.5% growth observed between August 2008 and August 2009, and the fastest since January 2009.

Among Canada’s six largest industrial sectors, average weekly earnings increased between September 2008 and September 2009 in public administration (+5.7%); educational services (+3.7%); retail trade (+3.3%); manufacturing (+2.9%); and health care and social assistance (+1.6%). Over the same period, average weekly earnings fell 0.4% in accommodation and food services.

September marked the first year-over-year increase in average weekly earnings in manufacturing since the start of the economic downturn. Increases in earnings were most notable in primary metal; chemical; transportation equipment; wood product; and food manufacturing. All had posted marked year-over-year declines in average weekly earnings over the previous 11 months.

Between September 2008 and September 2009, nine provinces saw increases in average weekly earnings. The fastest increase occurred in Prince Edward Island (+6.4%), followed by Manitoba (+3.9%), Newfoundland and Labrador (+3.8%) and New Brunswick (+3.8%). The only province to post a decline in average weekly earnings over the period was British Columbia (-0.3%).
Total hours

Total hours worked including overtime by hourly paid employees decreased by 4.7% between September 2008 and September 2009. This was the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year declines in total hours.
data from Statistics Canada

30 Nov 2009

In 2008, there were key differences in many indicators of quality of employment between immigrants and non-immigrants. On average, immigrant wages were lower, while rates of involuntary part-time work, temporary employment and over-qualification were higher. For immigrants who landed in Canada more than 10 years ago, however, the indicators of quality of employment more closely resembled those of the Canadian born.

Despite differences among many employment quality indicators, shares of immigrants and Canadian-born workers who were multiple-job holders were similar. There were also similar shares of immigrants and Canadian born working on a part-time basis, receiving on-the-job training or with flexible work hours.

In 2008, compared with their Canadian-born counterparts, employed immigrants aged 25 to 54, particularly those who landed in Canada more recently, were younger, more likely to be male, had higher levels of post-secondary education, were more likely to work for smaller firms and tended to be in different occupational groups.

Working hours and part-time work

The average usual weekly hours worked by immigrants in their main job was 38.3 hours in 2008, only slightly higher than the 38.1 hours of Canadian-born workers. The gap was wider for immigrants who landed more than 10 years earlier (38.6 hours). However, immigrants were less likely to work either paid or unpaid overtime compared with the Canadian born, regardless of period of landing.

In 2008, 5.2% of both employed immigrants and Canadian born were working at more than one job, or moonlighting. There were no notable differences based on an immigrant’s period of landing.

Immigrants who had multiple jobs worked longer hours overall than Canadian-born multiple-job holders. Immigrants who had more than one job were working an average of 50.0 hours in 2008, which was 2.3 hours per week more than Canadian-born multiple-job holders. This gap was particularly evident for those who landed prior to 1998.

Among part-time workers, the share of immigrants who cited working part time involuntarily (38%) was higher than Canadian-born in 2008 (30%). This gap persisted regardless of period of landing, but it was widest for newly arrived immigrants. In 2008, 41% of immigrant workers who landed within the previous five years worked part time involuntarily, compared with 30% of Canadian-born workers.

Stability and security of work

Employment quality can also be measured by the proportion of employees in temporary jobs.

In 2008, 9.7% of immigrants were working in temporary positions, slightly more than the 8.3% of Canadian-born employees. The share of immigrants who landed within the previous five years who worked in temporary positions (16%) was nearly double that of their Canadian-born counterparts. However, the share of those who landed more than 10 years earlier in temporary jobs (7.2%) was lower than that for Canadian-born employees.
Wage-related indicators

In 2008, the average hourly wage of a Canadian-born employee in the core working-age group of 25 to 54 was $23.72, compared with $21.44 for an immigrant worker, a difference of $2.28 an hour. A gap existed regardless of when the immigrants landed. However, it was widest, at $5.04, for immigrants who had landed within the previous five years.

The gap in wages between immigrant workers and their Canadian-born counterparts was particularly wide among those with university degrees. Immigrants aged 25 to 54 with a university degree earned $25.31 an hour on average in 2008, about $5 an hour less than their Canadian-born counterparts.

In terms of wage distribution, the proportion of immigrants earning less than $10 an hour in 2008 was 1.8 times higher than for Canadian-born workers. At the other end of the spectrum, a lower share of immigrants earned $35 or more an hour than the Canadian born.

Over-qualification for the job

In 2008, 42% of immigrant workers aged 25 to 54 had a higher level of education for their job than what was normally required, while 28% of Canadian-born workers were similarly over-qualified. Regardless of period of landing, immigrants had higher shares of over-qualification.

More than 1.1 million workers aged 25 to 54 who had a university degree were working in occupations whose normal requirements were at most a college education or apprenticeship. The share of immigrants with degrees who were over-qualified was 1.5 times higher than their Canadian-born counterparts.

Over-qualification was particularly prevalent among university-educated immigrants who landed within five years before the survey. Two-thirds worked in occupations that usually required at most a college education or apprenticeship.
data from Statistics Canada

25 Nov 2009

A new, more comprehensive study guide for Canadian citizenship was launched this week. Discover Canada: The Rights and Responsibilities of Citizenship includes information on common values such as freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law and the equality of men and women. It promotes to immigrants and Canadian citizens alike a greater understanding of Canada’s history, values, symbols and important Canadian institutions, such as Parliament and the Crown. It also highlights the contribution of ethnic and cultural communities in shaping our Canadian identity and the sacrifices made by Canada’s veterans for our country.

“People come from all over the world to seek Canadian citizenship. It is highly valued,” said Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.. “We expect people who want to become Canadians to have a good understanding of their rights and responsibilities, and the values and institutions that are rooted in Canada’s history. By strengthening the guide, we are increasing the value of Canadian citizenship.”

In developing the study guide, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) consulted with a panel of prominent Canadians, including public figures, authors and historians. The new guide has also been reviewed by well-known organizations involved in citizenship promotion, such as the Historica-Dominion Institute, the Association of Francophone and Acadian Communities and the Institute for Canadian Citizenship.

“Discover Canada should be in the hands of not only new Canadians, but every high school student in Canada,” said Marc Chalifoux, Executive Vice-President of the Historica-Dominion Institute. “All citizens, whether they were born in Canada or not, need to understand how the institutions of this country came to be. This guide tells them how.”

These are the first substantive changes to the study guide since it was created in 1995.

“It is not easy to capture Canada—its geography, its people, its society and its history—in a brief document, but this one does a fine job,” said Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan of Oxford University, author of the bestselling Paris 1919.

“At last, Canada has a guide for prospective citizens that is not an embarrassment,” said historian Jack Granatstein, author of Who Killed Canadian History?

Rudyard Griffiths, co-founder of the Dominion Institute and author of Who We Are: A Citizen’s Manifesto, said: “Finally we have a citizenship guide that provides newcomers with a comprehensive overview of the people, places, symbols and values that define our collective way of life. Two thumbs up!”

One of the requirements of citizenship is to demonstrate an adequate knowledge of Canada, and the rights and responsibilities of citizenship.

Xavier Gélinas, a Quebec historian and curator at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, noted that the guide, in both text and powerful images, includes a focus on the bilingual and bicultural nature of Canada. “One example is the inset photograph of the Speaker’s chair in the Quebec National Assembly, featured on the cover. As a historian, I have rarely seen such a frank recognition of Quebec’s reality and distinctiveness in a document published by the Canadian government. It demonstrates federalism in words, deeds and images.”

“Discover Canada introduces would-be Canadians to a nation of distinctive history, geography, character and traditions,” said Professor Randy Boyagoda, novelist and contributor to The Walrus magazine. “This guide cogently describes many of Canada’s strengths, not least of which are the rights and responsibilities of its citizens.”

“The new guide is a very positive step forward in providing more historical context than we’ve seen in previous editions, and presenting it in a way that helps readers to understand its relevance in shaping the way we are today,” said Deborah Morrison, President and CEO of Canada’s National Historic Society. “I hope you will encourage even greater distribution of the guide as I think it will be beneficial to all Canadians, the old and the new!”

Citizenship applicants who are scheduled for a test or an interview before the end of February 2010 should read the old study guide, A Look at Canada, which will continue to be available on the CIC website. Those who take the test, or who have an interview in March 2010 or later, should study Discover Canada.

18 Nov 2009