September 2025
Spotlight on data and research
Tracking yearly shifts in residency status among Canada’s work and study permit holders
The yearly stock of work and study permit holders is jointly determined by new inflows, transitions to permanent residency, and permit extensions. This article examines how transition to permanent residency and permit extensions affected the stock of work and study permit holders in recent years, using year-end stock data from 2018 to 2022.
The findings show that 64% to 79% of work and study permit holders retained their non-permanent resident (NPR) status in the year following the reference year, while 12% to 20% did not extend their permits and 4% to 10% became permanent residents. By the third year, 36% to 38% still held NPR status, 23% to 33% had not extended their permits and 31% to 40% had obtained permanent residency.
Geography of teleworkable jobs in the Greater Toronto Area
Work from home (WFH) was widely adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although exclusive WFH is not as prevalent as it once was, hybrid work arrangements are more common now than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. In light of this, some underused office buildings have been converted for residential use in several large cities across Canada. Amid the current housing shortage, these conversions could potentially increase the housing supply at lower cost than new builds. This article uses innovative mapping methods to assess how WFH jobs are distributed across Canada’s largest city.
The Greater Toronto Area has a large concentration of jobs that are amenable to WFH. For example, there are well over 50,000 jobs in the financial district and downtown core that are potentially teleworkable. In addition, there are many jobs within moderate proximity to the city centre, from High Park in the west to East Danforth and south of Eglinton Avenue, and in North York, which in principle could be done from home.
Insights
Immigrant nurses in Canada: Alignment between intentions and employment outcomes
Immigration has played a vital role in addressing labour shortages in Canada’s healthcare sector. This article jointly conducted by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and Statistics Canada, examines how closely the career intentions of recent immigrants who aspired to work as nurses align with their actual employment outcomes.
The study found that among applicants admitted from 2010 to 2020 at ages 18 to 54 who intended to work as nurses, 63% were employed in nursing occupations in 2021. In contrast, 25% were either working in lower-skilled health or non-health occupations or were not employed. Having Canadian work experience before admission strongly predicted whether nurses ended up working in the jobs they intended to: 81% of immigrants with Canadian work experience secured nursing jobs, compared with 53% of those without such experience.
Among immigrants aged 18 to 54 who were admitted from 2010 to 2020 and worked as nurses in 2021, 65% did not intend to enter the nursing profession at admission.
Research articles
The long-run evolution of Canadian business entry and exit
Canada’s economy has undergone a profound transformation since the 1980s, marked by a significant decline in firm entry and exit rates. This study examines Canadian firm evolution using comprehensive business data through 2021, with comparisons to the United States, Canada’s primary trade partner.
This study found that between 1980 and 2021, Canada’s firm entry and exit rates fell by approximately half, declining more sharply than in the U.S. before 2000 and stabilizing in the late 2010s at 12-13%, levels similar to the US. A cross-country comparison shows that the U.S. was more severely affected by the 2009 recession, while Canada faced greater impact from COVID-19.
This comprehensive look at entry and exit rates over the study period documents declining business dynamism from changes in the firm population.
How long do Canadians with and without disabilities stay with their employer? A novel analysis by disability type
While people with disabilities tend to have lower employment rates than those without disabilities, they tend to stay longer with the same employer. This study linked the Canadian Survey on Disability with tax data to provide nationally representative statistics on job tenure for employees with and without disabilities.
Employees with disabilities differ from employees without disabilities in characteristics that predict job tenure, such as age. By adjusting for differences in characteristics, the study finds that overall, employees with disabilities have a job tenure that is in line with what is expected given age, gender, and sector of employment. However, job tenure is lower than expected for employees with certain disability types, for employees with non-episodic disabilities, and for employees with severe or very severe disabilities (as opposed to mild or moderate disabilities).
Related publications
Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series
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