Union status by establishment size¹

To ensure respondent confidentiality, estimates below a certain threshold are suppressed. For Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia suppression is applied to all data below 1,500. The threshold level for Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Saskatchewan is 500, while in Prince Edward Island, estimates under 200 are supressed. For census metropolitan areas (CMAs) and economic regions (ERs), use their respective provincial suppression levels mentioned above. Estimates are based on smaller sample sizes the more detailed the table becomes, which could result in lower data quality.

Job tenure measures the number of consecutive months or years a person has worked for the current (or most recent) employer. The employee may have worked in one or more occupations or in one or more locations or businesses and still be considered to have continuous tenure if the employer has not changed. If a person has worked for the same employer over different periods of time, job tenure measures the most recent period of uninterrupted work. A temporary layoff does not constitute an interruption.

Beginning January 1997, information is collected to allow the classification of paid jobs as either permanent or temporary. This classification is based on the intentions of the employer, and characteristics of the job, rather than the intentions of the employee. If a job that was formerly considered permanent is ending in the near future because of downsizing or closure, it is still regarded as permanent.

Employees who are members of a union and/or covered by a collective agreement as a percentage of all employees.

Beginning January 1997, the number of employees at the location of employment (for example, building or compound) is collected from employees. Responses are recorded according to the following size groups: less than 20, 20 to 99, 100 to 500, more than 500. The concept of location of employment approximates the concept of establishment used by many Statistics Canada business surveys.