Indicator 6.3.3 - Employment rate in forest-based communities
core indicator


The employment rate is defined as the percentage of the total population 15 years of age and over that are employed during the week before census day (last census, May 15, 2001). The employment rate is a measure of economic performance.

Employment statistics are one of the most common sources of comparative information in studies of community well-being and resilience. They provide important data about the health of a community and relate directly to economic, human, and social well-being. Variations in the employment rate can result from several factors. For example, the employment rate can increase if jobs are created and decrease when jobs are lost. It can also decrease if population growth outpaces job creation or if large numbers of people retire or leave the labor force. In general, high employment rates indicate thriving communities. In communities with low employment rates, workers may suffer from underemployment by being forced to work in conditions that underutilize their skills and abilities. High levels of unemployment or underemployment can result in other social and health problems at the family and community level.

Across Canada, for non-Aboriginal CSDs, the employment rate in forest-dependent CSDs is 53.9% (Table 6.3e). This is about the same as the rate found in multiresource-dependent rural CSDs (52.3%) and significantly lower than that observed in other single resource dependent CSDs (66.6%). This pattern is consistent across several provinces where other resource-dependent CSDs report significantly higher rates of employment than multiresource-dependent and forest-dependent CSDs. Employment rates in forest-dependent CSDs are particularly low in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Quebec where they vary between 30.5% and 49.9%. In forestdependent CSDs in western Canada, the employment rate varies between 59.9% and 69.4%.

Table 6.3e Average employment rate (%) in non-Aboriginal census subdivisions.

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Region	Multiresource-dependent	Other single resource dependent	Forest-dependent
Canada	52.3a*	66.6b	53.9a
NL	32.0a	35.2a	30.5a
PE	57.4a	58.8a	nd
NS	49.2a	49.8a	48.0a
NB	49.9a/b	52.8a	47.3b
QC	51.0a	61.4b	49.9a
ON	57.4a	68.8b	58.0a
MB	56.8a	69.9b	61.0a/b
SK	57.6a	76.9b	62.1a
AB	60.8a	71.7b	69.4a/b
BC	56.7a	58.9a	59.9a
YT	63.4	nd	nd
NT	54.1a	62.1a	nd
NU	53.8a	49.4a	nd

*Any two percentages in a row that are not followed by the same letter are significantly different (P‹0.05).
nd: Not determined due to insufficient data.

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In Aboriginal CSDs, employment rates are generally lower than in non-Aboriginal CSDs (Table 6.3f). Furthermore, in Atlantic and central Canada, employment rates are consistently lower in forest-dependent than in nonforest-dependent Aboriginal CSDs. In forest-dependent CSDs, the employment rate is highest in the Territories at 53.6% and lowest in the Atlantic region at 29.7%.

Table 6.3f Average employment rate (%) in Aboriginal census subdivisions.

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Region	Nonforest-dependent	Forest-dependent
Canada	42.1	39.6 ns
Atlantic	39.2	29.7*
Central	49.0	42.1*
Prairies	35.0	37.3 ns
BC	44.1	40.6 ns
Territories	52.1	53.6 ns

*Significantly different from the employment rate for nonforest-dependent communities in the same region (P‹0.05).
ns: Not significantly different from the employment rate for nonforest-dependent communities in the same region (P‹0.05).

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