Economic and Social Reports, June 2023

Released: 2023-06-28

Five new articles are available in today's release of Economic and Social Reports.

Labour market insights from the new Canadian Economic Tracker

The Canadian Economic Tracker, released on May 16, 2023, is a new data visualization tool combining selected monthly indicators of economic activity from Statistics Canada's Common Output Database Repository (CODR) into a unified, customizable interface. A new series of articles will use the tracker to explore and interpret the trends and dynamics affecting Canadians as economic activity continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first in the series, "Labour market imbalances: Evidence from the Canadian Economic Tracker," gleaned insights on the labour market from the indicators in the tracker. It found that labour market imbalances persist but vary across industries. For instance, unmet labour demand has eased in accommodation and food services, and manufacturing. However, there has been little sign of vacancies easing in health care and social assistance.

Immigrants' sense of belonging to Canada strongest in Atlantic provinces and Ontario

Immigrants' sense of belonging to Canada is a well-documented measure of their social integration, however, it differs by sociodemographic characteristics such as years since immigration, age at immigration, admission category and population group. The study "Immigrants' sense of belonging to Canada by province of residence" finds that sense of belonging also varies modestly by province of residence. Generally, sense of belonging to Canada was strongest among immigrants living in Atlantic Canada and Ontario, and weakest among immigrants in British Columbia and Alberta.

The difference in sense of belonging between immigrants in Alberta and Ontario was attributable to the sociodemographic composition of Alberta's immigrant population (characteristics such as years since landing, population group, age group and education), perceptions of discrimination and differences in structural conditions (unemployment rates, median income and size of the immigrant population) between Alberta and Ontario. These factors did not explain the difference between immigrants in Ontario and British Columbia.

What is contributing to inflation in the Canadian economy?

Annual consumer inflation in 2022 rose to a 40-year high of 6.8%. Rising prices have affected many Canadians' ability to meet day-to-day expenses.

This issue of Economic and Social Reports includes three articles—"Import prices and inflation in Canada," "Inflationary pressures, wages and profits" and "Markups and inflation: Evidence from firm-level data"—that look at different potential drivers of inflation. Read more in the Daily release entitled "Insights on inflation in Canada."

Products

The June 2023 issue of Economic and Social Reports, Vol. 3, no. 6 (Catalogue number36280001) is now available. This issue contains the articles "Labour market imbalances: Evidence from the Canadian Economic Tracker," "Import prices and inflation in Canada," "Immigrants' sense of belonging to Canada by province of residence," "Markups and inflation: Evidence from firm-level data" and "Inflationary pressures, wages and profits."

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).