Statistics Canada released detailed analyses of data from the 2006 Census on immigration and citizenship, as well as the composition of Canada's language groups.

Immigration and citizenship

Proportion of foreign-born highest in 75 years

The 2006 Census enumerated 6,186,950 foreign-born people in Canada. They accounted for virtually one in five (19.8%) of the total population, the highest proportion in 75 years.

Between 2001 and 2006, Canada's foreign-born population increased by 13.6%. This was four times higher than the growth rate of 3.3% for the Canadian-born population during the same period.

The census estimated that 1,110,000 immigrants came to Canada between January 1, 2001 and May 16, 2006. These newcomers made up 17.9% of the total foreign-born population, or 3.6% of Canada's total population of 31.2 million.

Recent immigrants born in Asia (including the Middle East) made up the largest proportion (58.3%) of newcomers to Canada. This was virtually unchanged from 59.4% in 2001. In contrast, in 1971, only 12.1% of recent immigrants for this period were born in Asia.

Newcomers born in Europe made up the second largest group (16.1%) of recent immigrants. Europe used to be the main source region of immigrants. In 1971, they accounted for 61.6% of newcomers to Canada.

In addition, an estimated 10.8% of recent immigrants were born in Central and South America and the Caribbean, up slightly from 8.9% in 2001. Another 10.6% of newcomers to Canada in 2006 were born in Africa, also up slightly from 8.3% in 2001.

A majority (70.2%) of the foreign-born population in 2006 reported a mother tongue other than English or French. (Mother tongue is defined as the first language learned at home in childhood and still understood by the individual at the time of the census.) Among the foreign-born who had a non-English, non-French mother tongue, the largest proportion reported Chinese languages (18.6%), followed by Italian (6.6%), Punjabi (5.9%), Spanish (5.8%), German (5.4%), Tagalog (4.8%) and Arabic (4.7%).

The Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver census metropolitan areas (CMAs) were home to 68.9% of the recent immigrants in 2006. In contrast, slightly more than one-quarter (27.1%) of Canada's total population lived in these three CMAs.

Between 2001 and 2006, higher proportions of recent immigrants chose to settle in smaller CMAs. Fully 16.6% of newcomers in 2006 settled in the CMAs of Calgary, Ottawa–Gatineau, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton and London. In 2001, by comparison, 14.3% of newcomers lived in these CMAs.

In 2006, 5.2% of newcomers chose to live in Calgary, 3.2% chose Ottawa–Gatineau, 2.9% chose Edmonton and 2.2% chose Winnipeg.

Within the Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver CMAs, newcomers tended to live in the central municipalities, but an increasing share of newcomers chose the surrounding municipalities.

In the Toronto CMA, 59.8% of its newcomers resided in the city of Toronto. Its surrounding municipalities, such as Mississauga, Brampton and Vaughan, had an increased share of newcomers; 28.8% of recent immigrants in 2006 lived in these surrounding municipalities, up from 21.4% in 2001.

In the Montreal CMA, a majority of newcomers (76.3%) lived in the city of Montreal. Its surrounding municipalities, such as Laval, Longueuil, Brossard, Dollard-des-Ormeaux and Côte-Saint-Luc, saw an increased share of new immigrants; 15.0% of newcomers in 2006 lived in these surrounding municipalities, up from 11.2% in 2001.

In the Vancouver CMA, nearly three-quarters (74.7%) of recent immigrants lived in just four municipalities: the cities of Vancouver, Richmond, Burnaby and Surrey.

The majority (85.1%) of the foreign-born who were eligible for Canadian citizenship in 2006 had become naturalized. The census enumerated 863,100 individuals, or 2.8% of the population, who reported a Canadian citizenship in addition to at least one other citizenship. Four out of every five of these individuals were foreign-born.

Language

For the first time, one Canadian in five was allophone

For the first time, allophones, that is, people whose mother tongue is neither English nor French, represented fully one-fifth of the population of Canada, according to the census. These include Aboriginal languages, which will be featured in the 2006 analytical document on Aboriginal Peoples that will be released on January 15, 2008.

Anglophones—those people who reported English as their mother tongue—still accounted for the majority of Canadians. Although their numbers rose, their share of the population declined. The same was true of francophones, or people who reported French as their mother tongue.

In 2006, allophones represented 20.1% of the population, up from 18.0% in 2001. The proportion of francophones decreased from 22.9% to 22.1%, while the proportion of anglophones in 2006 was 57.8%, down from 59.1% in 2001.

The increase in the share of allophones is mainly related to the number of immigrants who arrived in Canada between 2001 and 2006. During this period, an estimated 1,110,000 newcomers settled here, and four out of five of them were allophone.

In total, the census enumerated 6,293,110 allophones, an increase of 18.0%, or 958,265, from 2001. This increase was three times the growth rate of 5.4% for the population as a whole between 2001 and 2006, and well above the 12.5% gain in allophones during the previous five-year period.

At the same time, the census counted 18,056,000 anglophones, up 3.0%, and 6,892,000 francophones, an increase of only 1.6%. Both increases were slightly higher than the growth rates registered during the previous five years.

Canadians reported more than 200 languages in completing the census question on mother tongue. These include languages long associated with immigration to Canada, such as German, Italian, Ukrainian, Dutch and Polish.

However, between 2001 and 2006, language groups from Asia and the Middle East recorded the largest gains. These language groups include the Chinese languages, Punjabi, Arabic, Urdu, Tagalog and Tamil.

The 2006 Census reaffirmed the position of the Chinese languages as Canada's third most common mother tongue group, behind English and French.

For the first time, more than 1 million people—an estimated 1,034,000—reported one of the Chinese languages as their mother tongue. This was an increase of 18.5%, or 162,000, from 2001. In 2006, they accounted for 3.3% of the total population of Canada, up from 2.9% five years earlier.

Italian remained in fourth place, although its numbers declined, and German fifth. Punjabi solidified its hold on sixth, with a strong 34.4% increase. These were followed by Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog and Portuguese.

The census showed that 9 out of 10 people speak English or French most often at home. Other languages are not spoken at home as often as they are reported as mother tongues.

Just over one-fifth (21.4%) of the population spoke French most often at home at the time of the census, down from 22.0% in 2001. Two-thirds (66.7%) of the population spoke English most often at home in 2006, down from 67.5% in 2001.

Only 11.9% of the population spoke a non-official language most often at home. However, this was up from 10.4% in 2001, mainly the result of the increase in immigration.

In Quebec, 81.8% of the population spoke French most often at home, a decrease from 83.1% in 2001. About 10.6% spoke English most often at home, virtually unchanged from 2001. The remaining 7.6% spoke a language other than English or French most often at home, an increase from 6.5% in 2001. Again, this was mainly the result of immigration.

Mobility and migration

Statistics Canada makes available today several tables containing 2006 Census data on mobility and migration. These tables provide an overview of mobility in Canada between 2001 and 2006 by age, sex, marital status and mother tongue.

A short analysis on mobility and migration can be found in the analytical document The Evolving Linguistic Portrait, 2006 Census, released today. This analysis focuses on, among other things, interprovincial mobility of the main language groups (i.e., anglophones, francophones and allophones).

An in-depth analysis on mobility and migration in Canada will be part of a report to be released in June 2008 in the publication Report on the Demographic Situation in Canada (Catalogue no. 91-209-XWE). This analysis will take into account socio-economic variables such as occupation, education and income. These census variables, to be released in the coming months, will shed significant additional light on the nature of mobility in Canada.

Users interested in the most recent trends in interprovincial migration can refer to the last release of the population estimates, available in The Daily of September 27, 2007 or in Quarterly Demographic Estimates (Catalogue no. 91-002) available from the Publications module of our website.

For more information or to enquire about the concepts, methods, or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-866-767-5611; 613-951-2320; fax: 613-951-2307; demography@statcan.ca), Demography Division.

An estimated 4.4 million Canadians—one out of every seven in the population—reported having a disability in 2006, an increase of over three-quarters of a million people in five years, according to a new report.

The report was based on data from the Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS). Data showed that the number of people who reported a disability increased 21.2% from 3.6 million in 2001, the last time the survey was conducted.

In 2001, 12.4% of the population reported a disability. By 2006, this rate had increased to 14.3%.

The report suggested that one factor in the increase was the aging of the population, but that this played only a partial role. Another factor may have been increased social acceptance of the reporting of disabilities.

The disabilities were reported by the respondents themselves to interviewers. The report suggested that perceptions of disability have changed significantly as society has evolved, and that respondents may be more willing to report them.

Learning disabilities underwent a large increase between 2001 and 2006, not just for children but for adults as well. Among children aged 5 to 14, learning disabilities joined chronic conditions as the most common form of disability.

Problems related to pain, mobility and agility affected the largest number of adults. Nearly 3 million adults aged 15 and over, or 11% of this age group, reported one of these limitations.

For working-age Canadians (i.e., those aged 15 to 64), pain was the most common form of disability, followed closely by mobility and agility limitations. For seniors aged 65 and over, mobility limitations were the most common.

Just over one-third of adults who reported limitations (35.4%) experienced disabilities with mild limitations, while about one-quarter (24.8%) had moderate limitations and 39.8% had severe to very severe limitations. These proportions were roughly the same among school-aged children aged 5 to 14.

Note to readers

This article is the first in a series of data releases from the Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS). It contains survey results on the prevalence, type and severity of disability by age and sex. Further releases on topics such as care received by persons with disabilities, the impact on a family of having a child with a disability and employment barriers are planned for 2008.

PALS is a national survey designed to collect information on adults and children who have a disability, that is, whose everyday activities are limited because of a condition or health problem. Funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada and conducted by Statistics Canada, PALS provides essential information on the prevalence of various disabilities, support for persons with disabilities, their employment profile, their income and their participation in society.

Data on people with disabilities were last collected in 2001, when the previous PALS survey was conducted. The 2006 PALS provides a measure of the change in the numbers and situations of persons with disabilities in the previous five years. As well, some new content has been introduced into the survey to reflect changing technology and emerging policy and program needs.

For the purpose of PALS, persons with disabilities are those who reported difficulties with daily living activities, or who indicated that a physical or mental condition or a health problem reduced the kind or amount of activities that they could do.

The survey sampled approximately 48,000 individuals, of whom about 39,000 were adults and 9,000 children. The population covered by the survey consisted of persons residing in private and some collective households in all provinces and territories. Persons living in institutions and on First Nation reserves were excluded from the survey.

Population growing older, but aging only one factor in disability rate

Population aging is one of the factors that have contributed to the increase in the disability rate since 2001. But it does not explain the entire gain.

Between 2001 and 2006, the median age of the population increased from 37.0 years to 38.3 years. The median is the point at which half of the population is older and half younger.

To control for the impact of population aging on disability rates, comparisons over time were made using the "age-standardized disability rate." This removes the impact of differences in the age structure of populations among areas and over time.

If population aging had not occurred between 2001 and 2006, the disability rate in 2006 would have been 13.5%, instead of 14.3%. Thus, during this period, about 40% of the disability rate increase could be explained by population aging.

However, disability rates increased for nearly all age groups. This suggests that a change in disability profiles, reporting practices or some combination of the two may have been at play.

During this five-year period, the severity of disabilities for adults aged 15 and older increased in a stepped fashion. The largest increase (+26.6%) occurred in the number of people reporting mild disabilities, while the smallest (+16.4%) occurred in the number reporting very severe disabilities.

Children: Slight increase in proportion with disabilities

Among children aged 14 and under, an estimated 202,350 reported a disability of some kind in 2006, or 3.7% of that age group. This proportion was up from 3.3% in 2001.

Among children aged 4 and under with one or more disabilities, 69.8% had a disability related to a chronic health condition. This and developmental delays were the leading types of disabilities for both boys and girls in this age group. The most common chronic conditions reported were asthma or severe allergies, attention deficit disorder (with or without hyperactivity) and autism.

Among children aged 5 to 14, about 69.3% of those with a disability reported a learning disability. Learning disabilities affected 121,080 children aged 5 to 14 in 2006, or 3.2% of all children in this age group.

Chronic health conditions affected 66.6% of children aged 5 to 14 with a disability, while speech disabilities affected 44.8%. An estimated 78,240 school-aged children experienced a speech disability.

About half of all children aged 4 and under reported a single disability in 2006. Slightly more than 40% reported two disabilities, and just less than 9% reported three or more.

For children aged 5 to 14, the likelihood of having several disabilities was much higher. In fact, almost three-quarters of school-aged children with a disability reported having multiple disabilities, while only 26.3% experienced a single disability.

For children aged 5 to 14 with disabilities, the greatest proportion reported having a mild disability (33.5%), followed by moderate (24.1%), severe (23.5%) and very severe (18.9%) disabilities.

Adults: Increases especially important for learning disabilities

Between 2001 and 2006, the disability rate for adults (people aged 15 and older) rose from 14.6% to 16.5%. Rates increased for all types of disabilities, except developmental.

The increase was especially marked for learning disabilities. The number of Canadians aged 15 and over with learning disabilities rose by almost 40% to an estimated 631,000 in 2006.

Problems related to pain, mobility and agility affected the largest number of adults, with almost 3 million people aged 15 and over reporting one of these limitations.

An estimated 1,265,000 adults, or 5.0% of their population, reported they had a hearing disability. Nearly 815,000 (3.2%) had seeing disabilities, while about 480,000 (1.9%) reported a speech disability.

For the working-age population (15 to 64 years), the most common activity limitation was pain and discomfort, affecting three out of every four working-age people (74.4%) who had disabilities. An estimated 1.8 million people in the working-age population, or 8.6% of the total, experienced pain and discomfort-related disabilities. These were much more common for working-age women than for men.

Among seniors aged 65 and over with disabilities, three out of four (76.4%) reported a mobility limitation, ahead of pain as the most common. More than 1.3 million people, or one-third of all seniors, reported a mobility limitation.

Disabilities related to mobility were present in less than 2% of people between the ages of 15 and 24, but affected about 44% of individuals aged 75 and over.

Disability rates increase in all provinces

Disability rates ranged from a low of 10.4% in Quebec to a high of 20.0% in Nova Scotia. Of the remaining provinces, those in the East had higher disability rates, on average, than those in the West. Ontario reported a disability rate (15.5%) slightly higher than the national rate.

Between 2001 and 2006, disability rates increased in all provinces. Population aging explains more of the increases in the Atlantic provinces because their populations are among the oldest in Canada.

For the first time, in 2006, PALS was conducted in Canada's three territories. The Yukon had the highest disability rate of the territories at 13.5%, followed by the Northwest Territories at 8.6% and Nunavut at 6.4%.

As of July 1, 2007, the population's median age was estimated at 39.0 years. In 2002, it was 37.6 years.

Nationally, 13.4% of Canada's population was comprised of seniors aged 65 and over, up from 12.7% in 2002. At the other end of the age scale, the proportion of children aged 14 and under fell from 18.6% to 17.0% during this five-year period.

Even so, Canada is one of the youngest of the 30 developed countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Canada's proportion of seniors ranks in 22nd place, and it is still far behind Japan, which has the OECD's oldest population. One-fifth of Japan's population is aged 65 and over.

As of July 1, 2007, Canada had an estimated 4,423,400 seniors, 100,800 more than on July 1, 2006. (These current estimates are based on the 2001 Census, adjusted for net undercoverage.)

Between July 1, 2007, and July 1, 2008, nearly 300,000 people will turn 65 in Canada, the highest annual level on record. This number should increase for another 20 years, when people born during the peak of the baby-boom generation reach retirement age. At that time, more than half a million will turn 65 each year.

Regionally, Canada's population is older east of Ontario, where all provinces had a median age over 40 and where the proportions of seniors are among the highest in the country. In the West and the North, the population is generally younger.

Newfoundland and Labrador had the highest median age (42.0 years) and the lowest proportion of youth (15.1%) in the country, as of July 1. Saskatchewan still had the highest proportion of seniors (14.9%), but the Eastern provinces are gradually closing the gap.

Because of its strong fertility, the population of Nunavut is very young. The territory has an age structure similar to many developing countries. While seniors accounted for only 3.1% of its population, children aged 14 and under represented one-third (33.2%).

Alberta had the lowest median age among the provinces (35.4 years), as well as the lowest proportion of seniors (10.4%). At 18.7%, its proportion of children aged 14 and under is the third highest among the provinces, behind Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

The provinces and territories are aging at different speeds. The population's median age is increasing faster in the East than in the rest of the country. Newfoundland and Labrador, in fact, is getting older faster than any other jurisdiction of the country. Over the last five years, its median age grew by 3.2 years, more than twice the country's increase of 1.4 years.

Alberta's population is aging at the slowest pace. Over the last five years, its median age rose by only 0.5 years. The province's ageing process was slowed notably by strong inflows of young migrants from other regions in Canada. Between 2002 and 2007, Alberta had a net inflow of 153,900 from other provinces, 43% of its total growth. The median of Alberta's interprovincial in-migrants age was 26.4 years.

Employment within census metropolitan areas, September 20071
	Total employment2	Federal government employment	Federal government employment as a proportion of total employment
	thousands		%
Ottawa–Gatineau	661.3	119.3	18.0
Halifax	211.0	17.0	8.1
Kingston	78.6	4.5	5.7
Victoria	184.9	9.7	5.3
St. John's	98.7	4.9	5.0
Moncton	73.8	3.0	4.1
Québec	399.1	14.3	3.6
Saguenay	71.8	2.4	3.3
Regina	107.9	3.3	3.1
Winnipeg	393.4	11.8	3.0
Greater Sudbury	81.6	2.0	2.5
Edmonton	605.3	13.0	2.1
Saskatoon	137.7	2.5	1.8
Abbotsford	85.6	1.5	1.8
Saint John	67.5	1.0	1.5
Vancouver	1,227.0	17.4	1.4
Sherbrooke	84.6	1.2	1.4
Windsor	159.4	2.1	1.3
Thunder Bay	64.6	0.9	1.3
Montréal	1,940.1	22.6	1.2
London	253.9	2.6	1.0
Hamilton	382.8	2.9	0.8
Guelph	74.5	0.6	0.8
Toronto	2,875.4	21.0	0.7
Calgary	692.6	4.2	0.6
St. Catharines–Niagara	196.4	1.2	0.6
Trois-Rivières	71.3	0.4	0.6
Peterborough	58.3	0.3	0.6
Brantford	51.5	0.3	0.6
Kitchener	248.5	1.0	0.4
Kelowna	85.2	0.4	0.4
Oshawa	181.1	0.3	0.2
Barrie	101.7	0.2	0.2
Total	12,007.1	289.8	2.4
1. Go online to view the census subdivisions that comprise the census metropolitan areas. 2. Data obtained from the Labour Force Survey, based on the 2001 Standard Geographical Classification.

Note: To provide comparability between the Public Sector Employment program and the Labour Force Survey, data for this release are based on the 2001 Standard Geographical Classification census metropolitan definition. Additional CMAs based on the 2006 Standard Geographical Classification (Moncton, Barrie, Guelph, Peterborough, Brantford and Kelowna) are presented here, although they were census agglomerations based on the 2001 Standard Geographical Classification.

The term "federal government" presented in this release includes all organizations controlled by the federal government that are not-for-profit and produce non commercial goods and services on behalf of the government and its citizens. The count of federal government employees includes agencies (for example the Canada Revenue Agency), the Canadian military (regular forces and reservists) and uniformed Royal Canadian Mounted Police members. However, these statistics do not include employees of federal government business enterprises that operate as commercial corporations in the marketplace. The count reflects the last pay period of the month of September.

For a second straight year, Manitoba and Alberta recorded the strongest gains in productivity among the provinces, although in each case the gains were significantly slower than in 2005.

Labour productivity is measured by economic value added—that is, real gross domestic product (GDP) —for each hour worked. It is a key factor in higher economic growth and long-term improvement in the standard of living. For the purposes of this provincial and territorial analysis, productivity measures cover the economy as a whole, not just the business sector.

Manitoba led all provinces in terms of productivity performance in 2006 with a 2.2% increase, mainly the result of a better harvest and a continuing boom in the construction industry.

Alberta was second with a 1.7% increase, the result of continued energy-related growth that boosted output and productivity in sectors such as construction, manufacturing and wholesale and retail trade. In 2005, these two provinces were also ranked first, but in reverse order; labour productivity increased 3.8% in Alberta and 3.0% in Manitoba.

Nationally, labour productivity increased 1.0% in 2006, compared with an increase of 2.2% the year before. Productivity gains in 2006 exceeded the national average in the Northwest Territories and five provinces—Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba and Alberta. Productivity fell only in the two remaining territories and in one province—Saskatchewan, the result of the downturn in key mining sectors and lower crop production.

In 2006, the volume of hours worked grew 1.8%, which, combined with the moderate gain in productivity, raised economic output by 2.8%.

A tight labour market, particularly in Western Canada, led to an increase of 4.0% in Canadian hourly compensation in 2006, a substantial increase for the second consecutive year.

Strongest productivity growth in the West

Productivity increases when a province's total value added from the production of goods and services rises faster than the volume of hours worked. In 2006, productivity growth slowed in most provinces where the growth in the number of hours worked accelerated.

Two goods-producing industries accounted for most of Manitoba's robust productivity growth in 2006—good harvests in the agricultural sector and a strong performance in the mining sector. In 2005, the increase had been due largely to the manufacturing and utilities sectors.

In Alberta, continued impressive GDP growth of 6.6% was accompanied by a strong 4.8% increase in hours worked. However, productivity growth actually slowed in Alberta, largely due to the difficulty in finding qualified workers for the continued development of the oil sands in northern Alberta (which is much more labour-intensive than conventional oil extraction).

In fact, 2006 was a year of record growth in hours worked for a number of industries in Alberta. They increased 7.0% in manufacturing, 7.5% in finance, insurance and real estate, 6.7% in health care and social services and 8.7% in other services.

Alberta's mining and oil and gas extraction industry recorded an increase of 11.5% in hours worked. Since 2000, the volume of hours worked in mining and oil and gas extraction has increased on average by 7.9% per year, with Alberta accounting for about 80% of all jobs created in this sector in Canada.

In British Columbia, labour productivity increased 0.7% in 2006, slightly below the national average. This was mainly the result of productivity gains in construction, wholesale trade and retail trade. The volume of hours worked in British Columbia rose 2.6%, the same pace as in 2005.

In Saskatchewan, productivity declined a substantial 2.1% last year after three years of growth exceeding the national average. It was the only province to post a decline in GDP, while the number of hours worked rose by 1.8%. Production interruptions occurred in several key mining sectors in this province, while crop production declined. However, construction industries continued to register impressive growth in hours worked in 2006.

The Western provinces recorded the strongest growth in hourly compensation for a second consecutive year, due to the tightness of the labour market, particularly in Alberta and British Columbia.

Hourly compensation increased 7.4% in Alberta in 2006, the fastest pace among the provinces, after a record 11.6% gain in 2005. British Columbia was in second place with a 5.7% gain in hourly compensation. The increases in both provinces were much higher than the national average.

Central Canada: Strong loonie, foreign competition hit manufacturers

Productivity increased only 0.7% and 0.8% respectively in Ontario and in Quebec in 2006. In both Central provinces, the growth in the volume of hours worked accelerated, while the increase in economic production slowed slightly.

Economic growth in Central Canada, the nation's manufacturing centre, continued to lag behind the national average, the result of an increasingly competitive global economy and the continuing appreciation of the Canadian dollar.

In particular, manufacturing in Ontario, which accounts for about 20% of its GDP, experienced in 2006 the largest decline of its GDP since the dot-com bubble burst in 2001.

Despite efforts to rationalize labour, productivity fell 2.4% in Ontario's manufacturing sector in 2006, after increasing 3.2% in 2005. On the other hand, in Quebec, productivity rose 2.0% in manufacturing, following a 4.8% gain in 2005.

This difference in the productivity gap between the two provinces is also reflected in their different rates of manufacturing job loss. Since 2001, the number of hours worked in Quebec manufacturing has declined 1.9% a year on average; in Ontario, it has declined only 1.0%.

Strong increases in hours worked in wholesale trade and retail trade in these two provinces have more than offset the loss of jobs in manufacturing. In addition, hourly compensation in both provinces increased at a slower pace than in 2005, and was under the national average for a third consecutive year.

Atlantic region: Slight improvement in productivity

Productivity growth was faster than the national average in 2006 in three of the four Atlantic provinces: Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In all three, economic output increased at a faster pace than the number of hours worked.

In Nova Scotia, labour productivity rose 1.4%, the highest increase in the Atlantic region. It was the only province to experience a decline in hours worked in 2006 (-0.5%).

In New Brunswick, labour productivity was up 1.2%. This was the result of a 3.0% gain in economic output compared to an increase of 1.8% in the number of hours worked.

In Newfoundland and Labrador, labour productivity grew by 1.1% in 2006, following two consecutive years of decline. Its economic output rose 3.3%, while the number of hours worked increased 2.2%.

In Prince Edward Island, productivity edged up 0.7% in 2006 after declining 1.6% in 2005.

A one-time pension fund contribution resulted in an exceptional increase of 25.5% in hourly compensation in Newfoundland and Labrador. Excluding this special payment, the hourly wage rose by only 2.8% in 2006, much less than the national average.

The three other Atlantic provinces also registered a lower growth in hourly compensation than the national average.

Mixed productivity performance in the territories

Labour productivity declined in two of the three northern territories—Yukon and Nunavut—after rising in 2005.

In both cases, productivity declined because increases in the number of hours worked surpassed gains in economic output. These two territories also registered a slight decline in hourly compensation in 2006.

After dropping sharply in 2005, labour productivity rebounded with an increase of 3.9% in the Northwest Territories. This was largely due to continuing substantial increases in investment in non-residential construction.

Annual growth of labour productivity and other related variables for the overall economy, 2006
	Real gross domestic product	All jobs	Average hours worked	Volume of hours worked	Labour productivity	Total compensation	Hourly compensation	Unit labour cost
	%
Canada	2.8	1.8	0.0	1.8	1.0	6.0	4.0	3.2
Newfoundland and Labrador	3.3	0.8	1.4	2.2	1.1	28.3	25.5	24.2
Prince Edward Island	2.6	0.1	1.8	1.9	0.7	2.3	0.4	-0.3
Nova Scotia	0.9	-0.2	-0.3	-0.5	1.4	2.8	3.3	1.9
New Brunswick	3.0	1.3	0.5	1.8	1.2	4.1	2.3	1.0
Quebec	1.7	1.1	-0.3	0.8	0.8	3.4	2.6	1.7
Ontario	2.1	1.5	-0.1	1.4	0.7	4.3	2.9	2.1
Manitoba	3.2	1.2	-0.2	1.0	2.2	4.7	3.6	1.4
Saskatchewan	-0.4	1.3	0.5	1.8	-2.1	6.6	4.8	7.1
Alberta	6.6	4.8	-0.1	4.8	1.7	12.5	7.4	5.6
British Columbia	3.3	2.4	0.2	2.6	0.7	8.4	5.7	4.9
Yukon	2.9	5.8	0.7	6.6	-3.5	6.1	-0.4	3.2
Northwest Territories	2.9	0.3	-1.2	-0.9	3.9	3.3	4.3	0.4
Nunavut	3.4	10.7	-2.8	7.6	-3.9	4.1	-3.3	0.6

Selected labour market components by province and territory, 2006
	Total number of jobs						Annual hours
	Working age population	Ratio job / population	Province of résidence	Net flow of workers	Province of employment	Volume of hours worked	per job	per population aged 15+
	thousands	%	thousands
Canada	26,979	62.1	16,758	...	16,758	29,125,633	1,738	1,080
Newfoundland and Labrador	431	48.3	212	-4	209	383,114	1,872	888
Prince Edward Island	114	59.7	69	-1	68	122,893	1,815	1,073
Nova Scotia	787	57.5	452	0	452	777,996	1,722	989
New Brunswick	631	56.9	360	-1	359	642,088	1,791	1,018
Quebec	6,410	58.0	3,765	-49	3,716	6,226,961	1,698	971
Ontario	10,424	63.6	6,589	43	6,631	11,607,433	1,739	1,113
Manitoba	950	64.3	613	-2	611	1,044,708	1,716	1,100
Saskatchewan	795	63.8	513	-5	508	899,201	1,790	1,131
Alberta	2,738	70.7	1,912	24	1,936	3,553,194	1,813	1,298
British Columbia	3,620	61.0	2,216	-7	2,209	3,761,158	1,709	1,039
Yukon	26	67.0	17	0	17	30,524	1,781	1,207
Northwest Territories	32	81.3	25	1	26	48,823	1,827	1,535
Nunavut	20	63.4	12	1	13	22,314	1,636	1,097
... not applicable Note: The number of jobs is consistent with the System of National Accounts concept. It reflects the province of employment, accounts for individuals that hold more than one job and removes all persons that have a job but were absent or idle and were not paid during their absence. In addition to the sum of the provinces and territories, total Canada includes the Canadian embassy and military personnel that are working outside of the country.

Note to readers

This release reviews annual average estimates of hours worked and labour productivity at the national, provincial and territorial levels for 2006.

Measurement of labour productivity is usually limited to the business sector. However, in this provincial and territorial analysis, productivity measures cover the economy as a whole. Productivity estimates in this report were based on the Fisher chained real gross domestic product at market prices.

Economic performance as measured by labour productivity must be interpreted carefully, since these estimates reflect changes in other inputs (particularly capital) in addition to the growth in economic efficiency. Furthermore, aggregate labour productivity growth is affected by changes in the industrial structure over time.

This update of labour statistics is consistent with the revised provincial and territorial economic accounts that were released in The Daily on November 8, 2007. It also includes revisions to estimates of hours worked for 2001 to 2006 to incorporate revisions to the Survey of Employment, Payroll and Hours since 2001. Data for the Territories were revised back to 1997. The incorporation of these changes has resulted in slight revisions to measures of Canadian productivity for the same period.

Generally speaking, provinces enjoy productivity gains when their total production of goods and services rises faster than the volume of hours worked.