In PIAAC, Canadians are divided into three employment status categories: employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force. Among the non-Indigenous population, 76 percent of the population are employed, 4 percent are unemployed, and 19 percent are not in the labour force.37 These labour-force patterns are different from those among the Indigenous populations in Canada, as illustrated by Figure 4.1, which presents proportions of the population aged 16 to 65 by employment status and by Indigenous identification. Among the Indigenous population, 65 percent are employed, 9 percent are unemployed, and 27 percent are not in the labour force.
At the provincial/territorial level, these patterns do not deviate significantly from the overall averages, with the exception of Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
Employment among Indigenous peoples ranges between 55 percent (Nunavut) and 67 percent (Ontario), while the highest unemployment rate is 16 percent (Nunavut), and the largest proportion of Indigenous peoples not in the labour force is 34 percent (Northwest Territories).
37 These percentages of employed, unemployed, and adults not in the labour force obtained from PIAAC are very similar to what was found in the Labour Force Survey in 2012.
Figure 4.1 Proportion of population aged 16 to 65 employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force, Indigenous population and non-Indigenous population, Canada, 2012
65%
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force 27%
9% 65%
19%
4%
76%
Indigenous population Non-Indigenous population
Source: Table 4.1a in Appendix II
In general, employment status tends to be strongly associated with skills proficiency among both Indigenous and non-Indigenous respondents. Employed people are more likely to demonstrate higher proficiency than those who are unemployed or not in the labour force. Figures 4.2 and 4.3 show average score percentiles for literacy and numeracy, respectively, for the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations aged 16 to 65, by employment status. The non-Indigenous population that is employed or is not in the labour force has higher literacy scores compared with those same categories within the
Indigenous population. In numeracy, the non-Indigenous population significantly outperformed the Indigenous population regardless of employment status.
Source: Table 4.1a in Appendix II
Figure 4.2 Literacy – Average scores with 0.95 confidence interval and scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles of population aged 16 to 65, by employment status, Indigenous population and non-Indigenous population, Canada, 2012
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force
Average score
Indigenous Non-Indigenous
Canadian average (general population)
25th percentile 5th percentile
Average and 0.95 CI for average
75th percentile
95th percentile
Source: Table 4.1b in Appendix II
The difference in labour market outcomes, as measured by employment status, between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples can be attributed largely to the gap in educational attainment that exists between them. Figure 4.4 shows proportions of the Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations aged 16 to 65 by educational attainment and employment status. As discussed in Chapter 3, educational attainment is closely correlated with skill levels, and both of these attributes are correlated with employment. Among individuals with comparable levels of educational attainment (see Chapter 3 for a description of the four levels of educational attainment) and skills, differences in employment rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples tend to diminish, although this is not always the case. For instance, Indigenous respondents who reported postsecondary education below a bachelor’s degree were more likely to be unemployed or not in the labour force than their non-Indigenous counterparts. However, among university graduates, there is no difference in employment rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous populations; similarly, there is no difference in employment rates among individuals with high proficiency levels in literacy and numeracy.
Figure 4.3 Numeracy – Average scores with 0.95 confidence interval and scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles of population aged 16 to 65, by employment status, Indigenous population and non-Indigenous population, Canada, 2012
Indigenous Non-Indigenous
50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force
Average score
Canadian average (general population)
25th percentile 5th percentile
Average and 0.95 CI for average
75th percentile
95th percentile
Figure 4.4 Proportion of population aged 16 to 65, by educational attainment and employment status, Indigenous population and non-Indigenous population, Canada, 2012
48 54 66 72 72 82 85 85
11 8
9 5 8 3 5 3
41 39 26 23 20 14 10 12
100 2030 4050 6070 8090 100
Percentage Indigenous Non-Indigenous Indigenous Non-Indigenous Indigenous Non-Indigenous Indigenous Non-IndigenousA B C D
Not in labour force Unemployed Employed
Source: Table 4.1d in Appendix II A – Less than a high-school diploma B – High-school diploma
C – Postsecondary education, below bachelor’s degree D – Postsecondary education, bachelor’s degree or above
In both the non-Indigenous and the Indigenous populations, the skills associated with labour-market status follow a clear pattern: the employed demonstrate the greatest proficiency in literacy and numeracy, and those not in the labour market the lowest, with the unemployed in between.38 This pattern generally continues to hold among Indigenous people at the provincial/territorial level, but there are some exceptions.
Figures 4.5 and 4.6 show average scores of the Indigenous population aged 16 to 65 by employment status for literacy and numeracy, respectively, across the oversampled populations. In Ontario and Saskatchewan, the employed and the unemployed show essentially the same proficiency in both literacy and numeracy.
In Manitoba and British Columbia, on the other hand, employed Indigenous peoples have the highest scores in literacy and numeracy, as expected, but there is fairly little difference between the unemployed and those not in the labour force in both domains. These findings highlight the need for deeper study into the relationship between skills and employment status among Indigenous peoples, particularly at the provincial and territorial level, as the impact of skills is evidently modified by additional factors in some cases.
38 See Statistics Canada, ESDC, & CMEC (2013).
Figure 4.5 Literacy – Average scores of Indigenous population aged 16 to 65, by employment status, Canada and oversampled populations, 2012
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force
277 271 234 273 260 258 213 268
273 245 228 255 245 258 204 204
247 238 220 251 208 222 197 242
100
Yukon Saskatchewan Nunavut Canada
Source: Table 4.1a in Appendix II
Figure 4.6 Numeracy – Average scores of Indigenous population aged 16 to 65, by employment status, Canada and oversampled populations, 2012
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force
Ontario Manitoba Northwest Territories
British Columbia
Yukon Saskatchewan Nunavut Canada
261 260 220 260 246 245 196 255
250 226 204 233 218 235 174 232
227 218 197 235 185 200 175 224
100
Source: Table 4.1b in Appendix II
When we turn to employment status distribution by Indigenous identification, we find a clear difference between Métis, on the one hand, and First Nations and Inuit on the other. Figure 4.7 shows the proportions of each Indigenous population group for respondents aged 16 to 65 by employment status. The employment profile of the Métis population is almost identical to that of the non-Indigenous population shown in Figure 4.1.
Among First Nations and Inuit, however, it is different:
76 percent of non-Indigenous peoples are employed, compared with 56 percent of First Nations and Inuit, while the unemployment rate among the latter two groups is almost three times as high as it is among non-Indigenous Canadians.
Figure 4.7 Proportion of population aged 16 to 65 employed, unemployed, and not in the labour force, by Indigenous identification, Canada, 2012
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force 56%
Source: Table 4.1a in Appendix II
Skill levels by employment status show different outcomes by Indigenous identification. Figures 4.8 and 4.9 demonstrate average scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles, for literacy and numeracy, respectively, for the population aged 16 to 65 by
Indigenous identification and employment status. Among First Nations, literacy and numeracy scores are lower than they are among the non-Indigenous population, with the exception of the unemployed, among whom skill levels are not different between the two populations.
Among Inuit, skill levels are lower in every employment status category, while, among Métis, skill levels are not
statistically different from those of the non-Indigenous population, with one exception: among the employed, Métis scored lower than the non-Indigenous population in numeracy.
At the provincial and territorial level, Métis scored higher in both literacy and numeracy than First Nations or Inuit among the employed except in British Columbia and Yukon, where there is no statistical difference between Métis and First Nations.39
39 See Tables 4.1a and 4.1b in Appendix II.
Source: Table 4.1a in Appendix II
Source: Table 4.1b in Appendix II
Figure 4.8 Literacy – Average scores with 0.95 confidence interval and scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles of population aged 16 to 65, by Indigenous identification and employment status, Canada, 2012
0
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force
Average score
25th percentile 5th percentile
Average and 0.95 CI for average
75th percentile
95th percentile
Figure 4.9 Numeracy – Average scores with 0.95 confidence interval and scores at the 5th, 25th, 75th, and 95th percentiles of population aged 16 to 65, by Indigenous identification and employment status, Canada, 2012
First Nations Registered
Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force Employed Unemployed Not in labour force
Average score
Canadian average (general population)
25th percentile 5th percentile
Average and 0.95 CI for average
75th percentile
95th percentile