Insights on Canadian Society

Results from the 2016 Census: Housing, income and residential dissimilarity among Indigenous people in Canadian cities

by Thomas Anderson

Release date: December 10, 2019

Residential dissimilarity describes the extent to which one population group lives apart from another in a shared urban space. This study uses data from the 2016 Census to examine the housing, income and residential dissimilarity of the Indigenous population living in private households in the 49 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and census agglomerations (CAs) that were large enough to be divided into census tracts, and provides a short description of neighbourhoods with a large concentration of Indigenous people.

Results from the 2016 Census: Examining the effect of public pension benefits on the low income of senior immigrants

by Wendy Kei, Marc-David L. Seidel, Dennis Ma and Marjan Houshmand

Release date: December 3, 2019

Among immigrants who came to Canada recently, some are seniors over the age of 65. This study examines the factors associated with the low-income rate of senior immigrants, with a focus on access to Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) benefits.

Results from the 2016 Census: Education and labour market successes and challenges for children of immigrant parents

by Martin Turcotte

Release date: November 15, 2019

Based on integrated data from the 2006 and 2016 censuses, this study examines the educational outcomes of a cohort of children with an immigrant background who were aged 13 to 17 in 2006, and the employment earnings of young adults who had immigrant parents. In this study, the outcomes of children of immigrant parents from different regions are compared with those of children of Canadian-born parents.

Does reading proficiency at age 15 affect employment earnings in young adulthood?

by Laura Gibson, Carlos Rodriguez, Sarah Jane Ferguson, John Zhao and Darcy Hango

Release date: October 17, 2019

Previous research has suggested that skills acquired at a young age, such as reading or math skills, may have an impact on the early labour market outcomes of individuals. In this study, tax data linked to the Youth in Transition Survey (YITS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are used to examine the association between background factors at age 15 (including reading proficiency) and employment earnings in young adulthood for a cohort of respondents who were aged 15 in 2000.

Results from the 2016 Census: English–French bilingualism among Canadian children and youth

by Martin Turcotte

Release date: October 3, 2019

This issue of Insights on Canadian Society presents a study on English-French bilingualism based on data from the 2006 and 2016 censuses of population. The article also uses integrated census data from 2006 and 2016. This new dataset provides information about the changing characteristics of respondents who provided information during the 2006 and 2016 censuses.

Upgrading and high school equivalency among the Indigenous population living off reserve

by Vivian O’Donnell and Paula Arriagada

Release date: September 19, 2019

Among people who leave high school prior to completion, many return to schooling as adults. High school equivalency programs (such as a General Educational Development or Adult Basic Education program) gives them the opportunity to go back and complete high school requirements. Using data from the 2017 Aboriginal Peoples Survey, this study examines the factors associated with upgrading and high school equivalency among the Indigenous population living off reserve. It also examines whether high school equivalency or upgrading is associated with better educational and labour market outcomes.

Homeownership, mortgage debt and types of mortgage among Canadian families

by Sharanjit Uppal

Release date: August 8, 2019

A dream of many Canadians is to someday own their own home and most take on debt for that reason. This study uses data from the Survey of Financial Security to examine changes in homeownership rates and factors associated with homeownership, the proportion of families who had paid off the mortgage on their principal residence, and the amount of mortgage debt owed by families who had a mortgage. The study also provides information on the types of mortgage rates on the principal residence (fixed rate, variable rate or a combination of both).

Results from the 2016 Census: Occupations with older workers

by Bertrand Ouellet-Léveillé and Anne Milan

Release date: July 25, 2019

Over the past two decades, the share of the employed population aged 55 and over increased significantly. This study uses Census of Population and Labour Force Survey data to examine the changing age composition of workers within the most prevalent occupations (with at least 10,000 workers), as well as the occupations that are increasing and decreasing in size most rapidly.

Debt and financial distress among Canadian families

by George Marshall

Release date: June 26, 2019

This study uses data from the 2016 Survey of Financial Security to examine financial distress indicators for Canadian families. Three financial distress indicators are examined: the proportion of Canadian families who skipped or delayed a mortgage payment, the proportion who skipped or delayed a non-mortgage payment and the proportion who borrowed money through a payday loan. This paper also examines the factors associated with financial distress among Canadians, with a particular focus on their debt level.

The role of social capital and ethnocultural characteristics in the employment income of immigrants over time

by Rose Evra and Abdolmohammad Kazemipur

Release date: June 19, 2019

This study examines the impact of social capital and ethnocultural characteristics on the evolution of employment income of a cohort of immigrants who arrived in Canada in 2001, based on two linked datasets: the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) and the Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB). The study examines the employment income of this cohort in their first 15 years in Canada (i.e., from 2002 to 2016).

Results from the 2016 Census: Commuting within Canada’s largest cities

by Katherine Savage

Release date: May 29, 2019

Using data from the 1996 and 2016 Census of Population, this study examines the geographic location of jobs, people’s commute and how they have changed over time. The commuting patterns for Canada’s eight largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs)—Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa–Gatineau, Edmonton, Québec and Winnipeg—are compared. 

Results from the 2016 Census: Earnings of immigrants and children of immigrants in official language minority populations

by René Houle

Release date: May 15, 2019

This study uses data from the 2016 Census in order to examine the employment earnings of individuals with an immigrant background (i.e., immigrants and children of immigrants) who are part of official language minorities in Canada. Two groups are examined: those with French as their first official language spoken (FOLS) living in Canada outside Quebec, and those with English as their FOLS living in Quebec. In this study, comparisons are made with groups belonging to the linguistic majority.

Persistence and representation of women in STEM programs

by Katherine Wall

Release date: May 2, 2019

The underrepresentation of women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and computer science) has attracted considerable attention, and many have wondered whether women are more likely than men to quit STEM programs at university. Using data from the Education and Labour Market Longitudinal Platform (ELMLP), this study follows a cohort of students who enrolled in a STEM program in 2010 over a number of years, in order to see the extent to which women and men persist in and eventually graduate from STEM programs.

Debt and assets among senior Canadian families

by Sharanjit Uppal

Release date: April 3, 2019

Using data from the Survey of Financial Security (SFS), this article looks at changes in debt, assets and net worth among senior Canadian families over the period from 1999 to 2016. It also examines changes in the debt-to-income ratio and the debt-to-asset ratio of senior families with debt.

The labour force in Canada and its regions: Projections to 2036

by Laurent Martel

Release date: March 20, 2019

In this study, data from the Demosim microsimulation model are used to assess the labour force participation rate of Canadians in 2036 under various scenarios of population growth and participation rates by age. In addition, the article provides an overview of the ethnocultural characteristics of persons who will be in the labour force in 2036, as well as an overview of regional differences in the characteristics of the labour force that may exist in 2036.

Living alone in Canada

by Jackie Tang, Nora Galbraith and Johnny Truong

Release date: March 6, 2019

This study uses the Census of Population and the 2017 General Social Survey on Family to examine the characteristics of the population living alone in Canada. The demographic, socioeconomic and housing characteristics of persons who live alone are examined, as well as their conjugal history, family relationships, and well-being indicators.

Results from the 2016 Census: Long commutes to work by car

by Tetyana Yaropud, Jason Gilmore and Sébastien LaRochelle-Côté

Release date: February 25, 2019

Commuting is a fact of life for millions of Canadians. Using data from the 2016 Census on place of work and commuting, this study examines the characteristics of those who spend at least 60 minutes travelling to work, with a focus on those who commute by car, truck or van (or “car commuters”).

Results from the 2016 Census: Syrian refugees who resettled in Canada in 2015 and 2016

by René Houle

Release date: February 12, 2019

In this study, data from the 2016 Census are used to examine the sociodemographic profile and employment situation of Syrian refugees who resettled in Canada between January 1, 2015, and May 10, 2016, and who were still living in Canada at the time of the census. Data from the 2016 Longitudinal Immigration Database (IMDB) are also used to examine the income situation in 2016 of refugees who were admitted to Canada in November and December 2015.

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