DOI: 10.5683/sp3/obcupz
title: Labour Force Survey, January 2020 [Canada] [Rebased, 2023 Revisions]
title: Labour Force Survey, January 2020
title: LFS January 2020
title: Enquête sur la population active, janvier 2020 [Canada] [Remanié 2023]

description: The Labour Force Survey provides estimates of employment and unemployment which are among the timeliest and important measures of performance of the Canadian economy. With the release of the survey results only 10 days after the completion of data collection, the LFS estimates are the first of the major monthly economic data series to be released. The Canadian Labour Force Survey was developed following the Second World War to satisfy a need for reliable and timely data on the labour market. Information was urgently required on the massive labour market changes involved in the transition from a war to a peace-time economy. The main objective of the LFS is to divide the working-age population into three mutually exclusive classifications - employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force - and to provide descriptive and explanatory data on each of these. LFS data are used to produce the well-known unemployment rate as well as other standard labour market indicators such as the employment rate and the participation rate. The LFS also provides employment estimates by industry, occupation, public and private sector, hours worked and much more, all cross-classifiable by a variety of demographic characteristics. Estimates are produced for Canada, the provinces, the territories and a large number of sub-provincial regions. For employees, wage rates, union status, job permanency and workplace size are also produced. These data are used by different levels of government for evaluation and planning of employment programs in Canada. Regional unemployment rates are used by Employment and Social Development Canada to determine eligibility, level and duration of insurance benefits for persons living within a particular employment insurance region. The data are also used by labour market analysts, economists, consultants, planners, forecasters and academics in both the private and public sector.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;This public use microdata file contains non-aggregated data for a wide variety of variables collected from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). It contains both personal characteristics for all individuals in the household and detailed labour force characteristics for household members 15 years of age and over. The personal characteristics include age, sex, marital status, educational attainment, and family characteristics. Detailed labour force characteristics include employment information such as class of worker, usual and actual hours of work, employee hourly and weekly wages, industry and occupation of current or most recent job, public and private sector, union status, paid or unpaid overtime hours, job permanency, hours of work lost, job tenure, and unemployment information such as duration of unemployment, methods of job search and type of job sought. Labour force characteristics are also available for students during the school year and during the summer months as well as school attendance whether full or part-time and the type of institution.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;b&gt;LFS revisions&lt;/b&gt;: Labour force surveys are revised on a periodic basis, either to adopt the most recent geography, industry and occupation classifications; to use new observations to fine-tune seasonal adjustment factors; or to introduce methodological enhancement. Prior LFS revisions were conducted in 2011, 2015 and 2021. The most recent revisions to the LFS were conducted in 2023. The first major change was a transition to the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 V1.0, with all LFS series from 1987 onwards having been revised to the new classification. The second major change were methodological enhancements to LFS data processing, applied to all LFS series beginning Jan 2006. The third major change was a revision of seasonal adjustment factors, applied to LFS series Jan 2002 onward. A list of prior versions of this LFS dataset can be found under the ‘Versions’ tab.
description: Migration from Nesstar
description: Labour Force Survey
description: Notes: Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any data which would divulge information obtained under the Statistics Act that relates to any identifiable person, business or organization without the prior knowledge or the consent in writing of that person, business or organization. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data. The LFS produces a wide range of outputs that contain estimates for various labour force characteristics. Most of these outputs are estimates in the form of tabular cross-classifications. Estimates are rounded to the nearest hundred and a series of suppression rules are used so that any estimate below a minimum level is not released. The LFS suppresses estimates below the following levels: Canada 1,500 Newfoundland 500 Prince Edward Island 200 Nova Scotia 500 New Brunswick 500 Quebec 1,500 Ontario 1,500 Manitoba 500 Saskatchewan 500 Alberta 1,500 British Columbia 1,500 Yukon 200 Northwest Territories 200 Nunavut 200 Since the sample design, rotation pattern and reliability criteria are different in the three territories from those in the ten provinces, estimates for the territories are not included with the provincial totals, but rather they are calculated and reported separately as a part of each of the extended projects.;