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Canada's Changing Labour Force, 2006 Census: The provinces and territories
Mobility in the workforce
Labour mobility highest in North and Alberta
According to data on labour mobility, 562,800 (3.4%) of the total labour force1 moved to a different province or territory between 2001 and 2006.
The North had the highest share of its labour force who had lived in another province or territory five years prior to the census. The most mobile area was the Northwest Territories2, where more than one-fifth (21.5%) of its labour force lived elsewhere in Canada in 2001.
Among the provinces, Alberta had the labour force with the highest share (8.6%) having lived in another province or territory five years earlier. An estimated 160,500 people in Alberta's labour force had moved to the province from other parts of Canada since 2001.
Figure 3 Percentage of total labour force in 2006 that lived in a different province or territory five years ago, 2001 to 2006
Mobility was highest in two industries: mining, oil and gas extraction, and public administration. In the mining, oil and gas industry, a full 8.1% of those employed in the industry, about 17,700 workers, lived in another province or territory five years earlier.
An estimated 51,400 people who also moved were working in a public administration job, 5.5% of its workers.
Notes:
- Percentage of labour force who lived in a different province five years ago (interprovincial movers only, excludes recent immigrants).
- Care should be exercised in comparing estimates in the Northwest Territories from the 2006 Census counts with counts from the 2001 Census. In 2001, the net undercount for the Northwest Territories was estimated at 8.11%, substantially higher than the national level of 2.99%, and almost doubled its 1996 level. The increase in the population between 2001 and 2006 is likely overstated due to improvements in coverage of the Northwest Territories in 2006.
