Participation Rate

The participation rate is the share of the population 15 and older in the labour force, meaning workers plus seekers. It comes from the Labour Force Survey, a monthly survey of about 56000 households and 100000 people by Statistics Canada, the national statistical office.

The survey started in 1945, turned monthly in 1952, and became the official source of the unemployment measure in 1960. It covers civilians 15 and older in the 10 provinces, and excludes reserves, soldiers, institutions and remote zones. It does not measure the share with jobs, vacancies, wages or the unemployment rate.

The reference week is the Sunday to Saturday week holding the 15th, one week earlier in November and sometimes December. Collection runs over the 10 days after that week, and results appear in The Daily, a weekday bulletin at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time except holidays. The release falls on the first or second Friday, about 10 days after collection, and it is the first of the major monthly data series.

Each release brings employment, joblessness, hours, wages and province, demographic and industry splits. Only gaps significant at the 68% confidence level count. Each January revises the prior 3 years for calendar effects, and about every 5 years weights shift to the latest census.

The rate rises when workers and seekers grow faster than the population, and falls when population growth runs faster.

• Employed: people who did any paid or business work in the week, or held a job but were away.
• Unemployed: people without work who searched in the prior 4 weeks and were free to start, plus layoffs and soon starters.
• Labour force: employed plus unemployed, the numerator of the rate.
• Population 15 and older: civilian non-institutional residents in scope, the denominator of the rate.
• Not in labour force: students, caregivers, retired and others neither working nor seeking.

Published on February 9, 2024, the January 2024 release put the rate at 65.3%, down 0.2 percentage points. The labour force held flat while the population 15 and older kept rising. Employment rose by 37000 (0.2%) and joblessness eased 0.1 points to 5.7%, yet engagement still fell.

Over the year the rate fell 0.4 points from 65.7% in January 2023 to 65.3% in January 2024. People outside the labour force grew 4.5% (493000) against 3.1% for the whole population (1000000).

Youth 15 to 24 fell 3.0 points to 62.7% while ages 25 to 54 slipped 0.3 points to 88.6%. Ages 55 and older held at 36.8%. That release covered 14 to 20 January 2024 with about 49200 interviews, and national data excluded the territories.

1. Classify: put each person 15 and older in work, out of work and seeking, or outside the labour force.

Students seeking full time work do not count as free, while layoffs and soon starters count as jobless.

1. Weight: scale answers to the population using selection odds, growth, missed replies near 10% and census checks.
2. Add up: sum scaled workers and seekers as the labour force, and sum all in scope as the population.
3. Divide: divide the labour force by the population and multiply by 100.

For example, 20362000 workers and 1230000 seekers give a labour force of 21592000 from 33060000 people, or 65.3%. If people rise to 33150000, the rate falls to 65.1% with no job loss.

1. Adjust: remove regular calendar effects from about 3000 series with X-12-ARIMA, using adjusted workers and seekers over raw people.