The data for this variable are reported using the following classification(s) and/or list(s):
- National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2011
- Variant of NOC for highly aggregated data
- Variant for analysis by NOC skill level
- National Occupational Classification for Statistics (NOC-S) 2006
'Occupation' refers to the kind of work performed in a job, a job being all the tasks carried out by a particular worker to complete his or her duties. An occupation is a set of jobs that are sufficiently similar in work performed.
Kind of work is described in terms of tasks, duties and responsibilities, often including factors such as materials processed or used, the industrial processes used, the equipment used, and the products or services provided. Occupations are generally homogeneous with respect to skill type and skill level.
Occupation applies to the contribution of labour to that part of economic activity that is within the production boundary defined for the System of National Accounts.
Note: Though "occupation" applies to jobs, a person can be assigned an occupation classification based on the occupation of a job that he or she currently performs or that he or she performed in the past. Occupation can apply to a person's main job or other jobs. However, for occupation to be collected through a survey, a person must be associated with a job.
'Employed person' refers to a person who, during the reference period: (a) did any work at all at a job or business, that is, paid work in the context of an employer-employee relationship, or self-employment. It also includes persons who did unpaid family work, which is defined as unpaid work contributing directly to the operation of a farm, business or professional practice owned and operated by a related member of the same household; or (b) had a job but were not at work due to factors such as their own illness or disability, personal or family responsibilities, vacation or a labour dispute. This category excludes persons not at work because they were on layoff or between casual jobs, and those who did not then have a job (even if they had a job to start at a future date).