Canada’s Labour Force Survey (LFS) – The 2015 revisions

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) provides estimates of employment and unemployment, which are among the most timely and important measures of performance of the Canadian economy. With the release of the survey results only 10 days after the completion of data collection, the LFS estimates are the first of the major monthly economic data series to be released. 

Statistics Canada has an established history of applying a standard revision to its LFS estimates following the release of final population estimates from each census. Along with this revision, other changes are introduced at the same time. The purpose of this document is to explain each of these changes. It should be noted that these changes do not involve modifications to the questionnaire nor the content of the survey.

In brief, starting with the release of January LFS data on the 6th of February 2015, estimates will be based on the 2011 Census population counts and sub-provincial estimates will be based on 2011 Census boundaries. Following is a short summary of each change:

• Population rebasing: Up until December 2014, labour force estimates had been based on population data from the 2006 Census. As of January 2015, the estimates have been adjusted to reflect population counts from the 2011 Census adjusted for net undercoverage. These revisions have had some minor impacts on the LFS estimates, while rates of unemployment, employment and labour force participation were essentially unchanged. Given the changes to the estimates were minimal, only revisions back to 2001 were necessary. See Section 2.0 and Appendix I for more details.
• Geographic boundaries: Census metropolitan areas (CMAs), Economic regions (ERs) and Census agglomerations are now based on 2011 Census boundaries rather than 2006 boundaries. No new regions were added, but boundaries were modified for CMAs and ERs. See Section 3.0 and Appendix II for more details.
• Methodological enhancements to imputation: The overall imputation strategy did not change, but the list of variables used to create the imputation groups for donor imputation was reviewed and updated to include industry. At the same time, codesets used for certain age groups and labour force status variables were modified, while the country of birth variable was removed. These changes were implemented historically, starting with January 2008 (See Section 4.0).
• Sample redesign: Starting in January 2015 and ending in June 2015, an updated sample design will be implemented. This redesign defines new strata based on the most recent 2011 Census information, whereas the previous design was based on the 2001 Census. As a result, the sample allocation will also change. See Section 5.0 and Appendix III for more details.
• Industry and occupation classification update: Often, the LFS moves to more recent classification structures for industry and occupation when data are rebased. These updates will take place in January 2016. At that time, the current North American Industry Classification System 2007 (NAICS 2007) will be updated to NAICS 2012 and the National Occupational Classification– Statistics 2006 (NOC-S 2006) will be updated to the NOC 2011.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at  Improvements to the Labour Force Survey (LFS): The 2015 revisions of the Labour Force Survey (LFS).

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