Study: Occupational patterns in industry groups in urban and rural Canada

Workers in predominantly urban regions of Canada are more likely to be higher skilled workers, while those in predominantly rural regions are more likely to be lower-skilled, according to a new study based on census data.

Predominantly rural regions of Canada have a higher concentration of unskilled occupations than urban areas, and this difference has generally widened over time.

The study found different occupational skill intensities in predominantly rural regions not only because these areas have a different mix of industrial sectors, but because rural workers also have a different set of skills within each industry group than their urban counterparts.

The study also found that within many industrial groups, predominantly rural regions are gaining unskilled workers, in a relative sense.

Between 1991 and 2001, the concentration of unskilled workers increased in predominantly rural regions within each manufacturing industry group, and within each service industry group. At the same time, the intensity of unskilled workers declined relatively in most industries in urban areas.

The lower skills in the rural work force imply a lower level of rural incomes, and a lower potential for rural job growth, especially as Canada shifts toward a more knowledge-intensive economy.

The difference in the mix of skills within each industry group across the urban-to-rural spectrum has important implications for understanding differences in productivity across regions.

Because the mix of skills is different across regions within an industry group, productivity within that industry may vary across geographic locations.

The study also showed that predominantly rural regions had a lower concentration of high-skilled occupations, such as managerial and professional occupations. However, there were some exceptions to this pattern.

For example, in consumer services, the pattern was reversed for managerial occupations. Predominantly rural regions had a higher concentration of managerial occupations, and the intensity was marginally higher for more remote regions.

In addition, rural northern regions had a higher intensity of managerial occupations in the public services sector. However, they had a low intensity of professional occupations in this sector.

During the 1990s, rural regions gained a relative intensity of managerial and professional employees in the goods-producing industry sectors, but the share of these workers in rural regions remained far below the national average for each goods-producing industry group.

In addition, rural regions had a higher than average share of unskilled workers in the service-providing sectors and most manufacturing industry groups. This concentration rose during the decade.

The Rural and Small Town Canada Analysis Bulletin, Vol. 5, no. 6, entitled Occupational Patterns Within Industry Groups: A Rural-urban Comparison (21-006-XIE2004006, free) is now available online. From the Our products and services page, choose Free then Agriculture.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Ray D. Bollman (951-3747; ray.bollman@statcan.gc.ca), Agriculture Division.