Employment Profile in Canada

This interactive report presents a comprehensive overview of Canada’s employment landscape over the past decade. It covers multiple trends, including the number of employees working in the public sector, the private sector, as well as those who are self-employed.

More details are available for the private sector trends, as series are broken down by size of business. The self-employed is also further decomposed into employers and individuals working on their own, with information on their incorporation status.

Additionally, users can view most of these data series based on specific sectors or provinces.

Key takeaways of the report:

Employment distribution in 2023

• Most employees in Canada work in the private sector for small and mid-sized enterprises (SMEs) (38% of all people working).
• Some provinces have higher shares of employees working for SMEs than the national average, such as Prince Edward Island (42%), Quebec (41%), Manitoba (41%), and British Columbia (41%). Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario, on the contrary, have lower shares, both sitting at 36%.

Private employment trends by province, 2013-2023

• In 2023, private sector employment continued its upward trend, driven by gains in medium-size and large businesses.
• Since 2013, small businesses in most provinces recorded only small gains in employment, except in Newfoundland and Labrador, where there was a drop in small business employment.
• Since 2013, employment in mid-size businesses has increased in all provinces, even surpassing that of large businesses in Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia.

Private employment trends by sector, 2013-2023

• Agriculture, construction, health care and education, and personal services are industries where more private sector employees work for small and medium-sized businesses.
• Employment in small and medium-size firms in construction, information, arts and recreation, finance, insurance and real estate, professional services, health, and education has been on an upward trend since 2013.

Self-employment trends, 2013-2023

• Between 2013 and 2023, the number of self-employed decreased, mainly driven by unincorporated (both employers and on own), despite a significant increase between 2013 and 2019.
• Most provinces recorded a drop in the number of self-employed individuals. Only Prince Edward Island and Alberta saw virtually no change, while Ontario and British Columbia recorded an increase.