Study: A geographical profile of employment trends in the core public administration

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This study is the third in a series that has profiled shifts during the past 11 years in what is known as the Core Public Administration (CPA), the 178,000 or so federal public servants employed by the Treasury Board.

The first two studies showed that the CPA is smaller than it used to be and its composition has changed with the times. In 2006, CPA employees were more knowledge-based than they were 11 years earlier. There were also proportionally more women in the CPA, and the average age of employees was increasing.

This third study examined employment trends in the CPA on a geographical basis. The CPA represented 46.7% of total federal general government in 2006.

It found that across Canada, total employment in the CPA declined by 5.6% between 1995 and 2006, from just over 188,000 employees to just under 178,000. Most provinces and territories had fewer employees in the CPA by 2006.

Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia experienced the largest declines, each incurring a loss of more than 2,000 employees during this period. CPA employment rose in only two provinces — Prince Edward Island and Ontario. The number of CPA employees outside Canada stayed practically unchanged.

The increase in the numbers in Ontario can be entirely explained by the rise in CPA employment within the National Capital Region (NCR). It consists of the cities of Ottawa and Gatineau and surrounding urban and rural communities, where many federal institutions are located.

The share of federal employees working in the NCR has been steadily increasing in the 11-year period according to both CPA data and general federal employment data. But the share of CPA employees working in the NCR is consistently higher than for the federal general government.

In March of 2006, 42.6% of the CPA employees were working in the NCR, while the federal general government had only 29.5% of its employees within this area for the same month.

Roughly 7 out of every 10 CPA Ontario workers had a job in the Ontario part of the NCR in 2006. In comparison, about 5 out of every 10 CPA workers in Quebec had a job in the Quebec part of the NCR.

The net increase of 117 CPA employees in Prince Edward Island during this period was mainly due to growth in one federal department.

The study also examined the growing employment in occupational categories referred to as knowledge-based in the regions. These categories are: scientific and professional; computer systems; program and administrative; executive; and administrative and foreign service.

In 2006, knowledge-based workers represented 57.8% of workers in the CPA, up from only 41.1% during the mid-1990s.

All provinces experienced an increase in the number of knowledge-based employees and a decline in less knowledge-based workers from 1995 to 2006.

In 1995, none of the areas in Canada employed a majority of its CPA employees in knowledge-based occupations, other than the NCR. By 2006, they were in the majority in Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

In 1995, 39.8% of CPA employees were aged 45 and older. By 2006, this proportion had climbed to 52.3%. The increase in the proportion of these older CPA workers occurred in all provinces and territories and for employees outside Canada. In 2006, CPA workers aged 45 and older were a majority in all provinces. In addition, the CPA workforce was older than the general workforce.

There were only three regions in which the majority of CPA workers were under the age of 45 in 2006: the NCR, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

The proportion of female CPA workers has increased from 1995 to 2006. In 2006, women outnumbered men within the CPA in Canada as a whole and in most of the provinces. However, CPA employees outside Canada and in British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia continue to be mostly male.

Note: Core Public Administration (CPA) employees represented 46.7% of total federal general government employment in 2006. The CPA excludes the regular members, special constables and civilian members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), regular and reserve force members of the Canadian Force, those classified as "Non-commercial and other" (such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the Library of Parliament) and employees of separate agencies such as the Canada Revenue Agency, all of which have a geographical distribution different from the CPA.

The difference between the CPA and the federal general government is further emphasized by the proportion of employees working outside the National Capital Region (NCR). In March of 2006, 57.4% of the CPA employees were working outside the NCR, while the federal general government had 70.5% of its employees working outside the NCR during the same month.

The study also presents the geographic distribution for the entire federal government. It focuses on CPA data because this source allows analysis by age, sex and occupation.

For a more detailed description of how public sector employment is defined and reconciled with other information sources, refer to the document entitled Reconciliation of Public Sector Employment Estimates from Multiple Information Sources at the following link (1713).

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 1713.

The analytical article "Employment trends in the Core Public Administration: A geographical profile" (11-621-MWE2008066, free) is now available online in the Analysis in Brief series.

The previous two analytical articles about federal employment are "Employment trends in the Federal Public Service" (11-621-MWE2007053, free) and "Female employment in the Core (Federal) Public Administration" (11-621-MWE2007061, free).

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Katarzyna Naczk (613-951-5605), Public Institutions Division.