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Occupational Group Q&A's |
 Why does Job Futures have only 265 occupational groups when there are thousands of different kinds of jobs in Canada?
The 265 occupational groups in Job Futures cover the entire Canadian labour market, except military occupations.
Analysts at the National Occupational Classification (NOC) study and classify occupations. Very often, these occupations have different titles but similar education/training requirements and work duties/responsibilities. When this happens, the occupations are organized into a group.
Where does the information on the occupational groups come from?
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Economists at Service Canada analyze data about the current world of work (also called labour market conditions) from different sources such as Statistics Canada.
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Based on this analysis as well as consulting with businesses, unions, and other employment organizations, the economists determine how easy or hard it is for a person to find stable employment in an occupational group.
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The economists then analyze key economic factors such as the supply of new workers and demand of employers for employees. They combine this information with their expertise in economic forecasting to predict labour market conditions five years into the future for that occupational group. |
Why do some occupational groups have sub-groups and others don't?
This is due to the fact that some occupational groups have a high number of workers in them and can therefore be broken down into smaller groups. These sub-groups are still large enough to allow economists to forecast labour market conditions for these groups.
One example is Therapy and Assessment Professionals (314). This group is comprised of a number of sub-groups of which Physiotherapists (3142) and Occupational Therapists (3143) are included in Job Futures.
Does specific information about an occupational group apply to everyone in that occupation?
Not necessarily. Job Futures is a national information system that describes occupational outlooks and characteristics averaged across Canada.
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Provincial and local labour markets can also vary. For example, people working in an occupational group in Prince Edward Island may have a different range of earnings than people in the same group in British Columbia. |
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To find out more about regional differences, link to the Provincial or Local Perspectives. You'll find the links below the top navigation bars on each occupational group's Web page. |
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In some cases, some or all working conditions for people in the occupational sub-groups are different, resulting in different outlooks. For example, Job Futures lists the occupational group, Mechanical, Electrical and Electronics Assemblers (948), and two of its sub-groups: Motor Vehicle Assemblers, Inspectors and Testers (9482) and Electronic Assemblers, Fabricators, Inspectors and Testers (9483). As a result of different working conditions, these sub-groups have different Work Prospects ratings. |
Do education/training requirements for an occupational group vary across the country?
It's possible. Although Job Futures cannot provide an exhaustive description of all employment requirements, you'll find information about requirements that are common to an occupational group.
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The education/training requirements are based on the educational levels of persons in the occupational group, as measured in the most recently analyzed national Labour Force Survey (LFS). |
What can I learn from the general employment trends in Work Prospects and Important Facts?
Employment growth
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Rapid employment growth usually means more job openings.
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Employment decline generally means fewer job opportunities. |
Unemployment rate
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A low unemployment rate usually means more job openings.
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An above-average unemployment rate suggests that a new job seeker can expect to have difficulty in finding stable employment.
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A consistently above-average unemployment rate (i.e., over a number of years) indicates that this occupational group has, generally, experienced limited employment opportunities. |
Full-Time/Part-Time Employment
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A low proportion of part-time employment may mean few opportunities for part-time work.
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A high proportion of part-time work may indicate more opportunities for part-time work or that full-time employment is more difficult to find. |
Self-Employment
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A high proportion of self-employment may mean good opportunities for people who want to be their "own boss." |
Earnings
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Above-average earnings usually mean that employers are having difficulty in filling job openings. When this occurs, higher earnings are offered to attract qualified job seekers and may be compensation for higher levels of training. |
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It's important to remember that full-time, full-year earnings do not include other forms of compensation such as retirement benefits, stock options or expense accounts, but do include net self-employment income. |
Age
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A high rate of young workers usually indicates that the group is comprised of entry-level occupations that are open to new entrants.
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A high rate of older workers usually indicates that the group is less likely to be comprised of entry-level occupations. However, deaths and retirements may create employment opportunities for younger job seekers. |
Men/Women
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A low proportion of women in an occupational group may indicate that opportunities exist for women in that group, or that this group has not been attractive to women seeking work. |
What do the occupational Work Prospects ratings mean?
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Good means that opportunities for finding work are relatively strong, chances of employment loss are relatively weak, and earnings are relatively attractive as compared to those of other occupational groups.
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Limited means that new workers and those re-entering the work force will have difficulty finding stable work and/or that earnings are not attractive compared to those in other occupations. For new workers, such as school-leavers (i.e., graduates and drop-outs) and immigrants, "Limited" usually means they have a low probability of finding permanent work and, if they find a job, relatively low earnings. For employed workers, "Limited" will often mean a higher probability of loss of work, a higher probability of experiencing unemployment spells, and lower earnings.
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Fair falls between "Good" and "Limited." For example, jobs may be more difficult to find, the probability of unemployment may be higher, or earnings may be lower than in comparable occupational groups that are rated "Good." Conversely, jobs may be easier to find, unemployment less likely, and earnings higher than in comparable occupational groups that are rated "Limited." |
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Ratings are estimates only. Factors such as technological change and social and political conditions can evolve rapidly, creating new data that can affect labour market conditions. |
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