Economic and Social Reports, April 2022

Released: 2022-04-28

The April 2022 issue of Economic and Social Reports is now available and contains four articles.

Examining the neighbourhood characteristics of lower-income families in census metropolitan areas

Neighbourhoods contribute to the well-being of residents in various ways, such as social contacts with others, access to goods and services, and access to green space. The article "Neighbourhood characteristics of lower income families in census metropolitan areas," documents the neighbourhood characteristics of individuals in low-income families.

Individuals in lower-income families in the bottom 20% of the family income distribution, compared with individuals in the other 80% of the income distribution, tend to live in neighbourhoods with higher population densities, more multi-unit dwellings, lower median family incomes, and less green space. They also tend to be overrepresented in neighbourhoods with better accessibility to public transit and grocery stores, neighbourhood characteristics often associated with higher population densities. In terms of crime, individuals in lower-income families are also overrepresented in higher-crime neighbourhoods.

This article by Statistics Canada, with funding support from Women and Gender Equality Canada, uses a new dataset that integrates many sources of neighbourhood-level information for almost 50,000 individuals, residing in 6,481 neighbourhoods, across 29 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in Canada. The neighbourhood characteristics include population density, percentage of population residing in multi-unit housing, median family income, green space, proximity to public transit, proximity to grocery stores, level of violent crime, and level of property crime.

A companion article, "Neighbourhood Characteristics of Selected Population Groups of Interest," extends the analysis to include the neighbourhood characteristics of individuals in single-parent families, with mood or anxiety disorders, in designated visible minority categories and immigrants.

A sociodemographic profile of Ukrainian-Canadians

Existing Ukrainian-Canadians will play an important role in helping Ukrainians displaced by the Russian invasion settle in Canada. In the 2016 Census, about 1.36 million people reported at least one of their ethnic origins as Ukrainian, close to 4% of the Canadian population. The article "A sociodemographic profile of Ukrainian-Canadians" provides an overview of the geographic distribution of existing Ukrainian-Canadians and their socio-demographic characteristics compared with Canada's national population.

Most Ukrainian-Canadians live in Ontario, British Columbia, and the Prairies. They are less concentrated in Toronto and Montréal CMAs and are generally well distributed across CMAs. Most Ukrainian-Canadians have lived in Canada for generations. They have higher levels of education and employment and are more likely to work in jobs with higher occupational skills than the national average. They also have higher median employment incomes than the national average among workers with positive earnings.

Baby boomers work more years than earlier generations

Longer life expectancies and a shift to more knowledge-based employment may have contributed to baby boomers working more years than earlier generations. The article "Do aging baby boomers work more than earlier generations?" compares the labour force participation (LFP) rates among five birth cohorts born between 1920 and 1965, including baby boomers who were born between 1946 and 1965.

At age 65, male baby boomers had a LFP rate at least 16 percentage points higher than their counterparts born before 1940. Female baby boomers achieved even higher LFP rates than their counterparts in previous generations, with more than 50% still participating in the labour force at age 60, and more than 25% at age 65.

Canadians used the Internet and digital technologies more during the COVID-19 pandemic

As many services and activities moved online because of pandemic restrictions, many Canadians increased their use of the Internet and digital technologies. More information on the changing distribution of Canadians across Internet user groups prior to and during the pandemic is available today in the Daily release "Canadians' use of the Internet and digital technologies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Products

The April 2022 issue of Economic and Social Reports, Vol. 2, no. 4 (Catalogue number36280001) is now available. This issue contains the articles "Do aging baby boomers work more than earlier generations?," "Neighbourhood characteristics of lower income families in census metropolitan areas," "A sociodemographic profile of Ukrainian-Canadians," and "Canadians' use of the Internet and digital technologies before and during the COVID-19 pandemic."

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).