New data released on education, job market

• New census data from Statistics Canada sheds light on the way Canadians are getting to work, the challenges immigrants face in the labour market and the right to an education in an official minority language.

Statistics Canada said Wednesday there were 2.8 million fewer commuters in 2021 than in 2016.

The federal agency says COVID-19 altered commuting patterns for Canadian workers with fewer people driving, taking transit, or walking and bicycling in 2021 compared to five years before.

By May 2022, the number of car commuters was back to 2016 levels, but the number of people taking public transit was still lower than it was six years ago.

A million Canadians took transit to work in 2021, which is less than the 1.2 million who took the train or bus in 1996.

Statistics Canada also published a report on how the labour force evolved last year as the overall population ages.

It shows the labour force participation rate has fallen each census year since 2006 because of the aging of the baby boomer generation.

Amid growing health care needs of an aging population and the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of healthcare workers increased by nearly 17 per cent in 2021 over 2016.

The rising demand for health-care workers during the pandemic brought into focus the challenges of ongoing labour shortages. Some advocates and experts tout immigration as a way to address these gaps.

“Given the importance of demographic changes to economic growth, there will be continued focus on the extent to which immigration can mitigate the effects of population aging,” the report said.

The release shows Canada continues to lead the G7 countries for the most educated workforce thanks to its strong college sector and highly educated immigrants.

Just more than 57 per cent of workers aged 25 to 64 have a college or university credential.

Statistics Canada says almost one in four working-age people had a college certificate or diploma or similar credential in 2021, more than any other G7 country.

Almost one-third of the working-age population, or 6.4 million people, reported having a bachelor’s degree or higher in 2021, which is up 4.3 percentage points over 2016.

The agency says recent immigrants make up nearly half of that growth, but immigrants are still more likely to be overqualified for the jobs they have..

The data also shows that nearly one million Canadian children have the constitutional right to education in an official minority language.

The census found that 304,000 children in Quebec have the right to attend regular English public schools and that 593,000 children outside the province have the right to attend regular French public schools.