Backgrounder

The Changing Face of Canadian Workplaces

Since the adoption of Part III of the Canada Labour Code in 1965, changes within the economy, society and families have had a significant impact on Canadian workplaces.

Employment status and work arrangements have changed.  First, the notion of a "job for life" is in rapid decline.  Today's worker will have on average approximately three careers and eight jobs over a lifetime.  Also, working arrangements and employment relationships are changing, becoming much less standardized and more complex.  Some workers may experience deteriorating working conditions, limited access to non-wage benefits, decreasing job security and imbalanced workloads.  In fact, most of the working population does not work in a traditional employment relationship. Only about 33% of the work force now works standard hours (Monday to Friday, 9 to 5) in a standard job at the employer's workplace.  Moreover, a recent Statistics Canada report noted that only 63% of all working Canadians held a permanent and full-time job, down from 67% of workers in 1989.

Correspondingly, there have been remarkable social and family changes including greater participation of women in the work force, an increase in dual earner families, a rise in the number of lone-parent families, an aging population, changing patterns of immigration, a growth in non-standard work, and new working arrangements.

While the workplace is undergoing a fundamental shift as a result of these changes, existing workplace practices and regulatory models remain largely based on an old industrial model and social pattern of the able-bodied white male principal income earner working for a single employer on a full-time permanent basis.  This model does not reflect or correspond to the realities and complexities of the new work force.

For instance, in 1965, the work force was almost 70% male and only 30% female.  By 2003, almost half of the work force was female (46%).  During this period, the female labour participation rate doubled from 31% to 62%.  In addition, many women in the work force today are mothers of young children; almost 71% of mothers with children under the age of six were in the labour force in 2001, compared to less than 25% in 1965.²

Furthermore, employment among female lone parents has also climbed since the mid '70s.  In 1976, only 44% of female lone parents with children under age six participated in the labour force.  By 2003, the proportion had climbed to 63%.

Lastly, 40 years ago, only one third of couples were dual earners.  Today, both partners work in 7 out of 10 married or common-law couples.

The impact of these changes has been compounded by the fact that a growing number of these workers will be called upon to care for an ailing family member.  In a recent Conference Board of Canada employee survey almost one in four respondents said that they or others in their households provided care or support in some form to an elderly family member or friend.  The proportion of employees who care both for elderly family members and have children at home is now 15%, compared to 9.5% a decade ago.

Some of these changes in the composition of the work force, as well as in family and work structures, are resulting in greater work-family stress.  In 2001, high stress on the job was twice as prevalent as it was 10 years earlier, from 13% to 27%.³

Employees experiencing high work/life conflict have absenteeism rates more than two times those of other employees, from 5.9 days per year to 13.2 days.  The direct costs of absenteeism due to high work-life conflict have been estimated to be in the $3 to $5 billion range per year.⁴  Another recent study estimated that the health care related costs caused by role overload (having too much to do in too little time) amounts to roughly $6 billion per year, while the medical treatment sought by employees burdened by high levels of caregiver strain costs about $5 billion.⁵

Another recent trend is the aging population, and by extension, the aging work force.  Over the next 10 years, the 55 to 64 year age group will increase by more than 50%, reflecting the fact that the baby boomers are entering this age group.  One result of this aging work force is that older workers will assume a more important role in the labour market.  It is forecasted that the population aged 45 to 64 will represent 48% of the working-age population by 2015, compared to 35% today.

Moreover, by 2011, the labour force—as a percentage of total population—is expected to decline due to the increasing number of retiring baby boomers (born between 1945 and 1955).  Fewer younger workers entering the labour market combined with a low older worker participation rate and strong growth in the population 65 years and over will lower the labour force to dependent population ratio.  Canada may therefore need to rely on immigration to fill its employment needs.

These changes in family and work structures, coupled with the rapid evolution of the increasingly global, knowledge-based economy have transformed Canadian workplaces.  This poses tremendous new challenges for employers, employees, unions and governments to ensure that labour standards governing Canadian workplaces reflect the new economic and social realities of the 21^st century.

December 2004

¹ Income Trends in Canada.  Statistics Canada, 2002.

² Unless otherwise stated all statistics are from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey.

³ Duxbury, Linda and Chris Higgins (2001). Work-Life Balance in the New Millennium: Where Are We? Where Do We Need to Go? CPRN Discussion Paper No. W/12.

⁴ Duxbury, Linda and Chris Higgins (2003).  Work-Life Conflict in Canada in the New Millennium: A Status Report. Health Canada.

⁵ Duxbury, Linda, Chris Higgins & Karen Johnson (2004).  Exploring the Link Between Work-Life Conflict and Demands on Canada's Health Care System. Public Health Agency of Canada.