Wondering which city in Canada offers the greatest potential for jobs
with high incomes? According to a new study released by
Statistics Canada, you should head for the cities with the biggest
populations.
Provinces whose populations are more heavily concentrated in
small cities and rural areas tend to have significantly lower per
capita employment incomes, according to the study.
The study, which analyzed data from the last Census four years ago,
found that across all 10 provinces, per capita employment
incomes increased with the size of cities. Per capita incomes were also
higher in cities compared with rural areas.
As a result, provinces whose populations were relatively concentrated
in smaller cities and rural regions, such as the Atlantic provinces and
Saskatchewan, tended to have lower per capita employment incomes.
For these provinces, the population distribution across cities and
rural regions accounted for at least one-half of their income
disparities from the national level.
For example, earned income per capita in Nova Scotia
was $3,616 below the national level in 2001. Of this
disparity, $2,007 was due to the province's urban-rural
composition, and $1,609 to other factors.
The study found a strong positive relationship between the size of an urban area and employment income per capita.
In 2001, per capita employment income in the three census
metropolitan areas with a population of more than 1.5 million
(Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver) amounted to $18,400. It was just
as high, around $18,500, in large urban areas with populations
between 500,000 and 1,499,999. However, in smaller
centres, income fell systematically.
Per capita employment income in medium-sized cities with populations of
between 100,000 and 499,999 amounted
to $15,800. In small cities, those with populations
of 10,000 to 99,999, employment income was
around $14,100 per person.
Per capita employment incomes were lower still in rural areas. Those
rural areas with connections to cities through commuting flows, the
so-called "urban shadow," had per capita earned incomes of
around $12,200. More remote rural areas beyond the commuting
distance of cities had incomes of $8,600.
The gap in per capita employment income between Canada's largest cities
and its more remote rural areas was larger than the gap across
provinces.
In 2001, the greatest disparity in per capita incomes between
provinces was about $8,000. On the other hand, the biggest gap
across urban and rural areas was just under $10,000.
The Atlantic provinces and Saskatchewan had below-average per capita
incomes in 2001 to a significant extent because their
populations were concentrated in smaller urban and rural areas.
In Newfoundland and Labrador, the urban-rural composition of its
population accounted for about 48% of its income disparity from
the national level. This proportion was even higher in the other
Atlantic provinces.
In Saskatchewan, fully 84% of its income disparity can be
attributed to the concentration of its population in smaller urban and
rural areas.
However, the urban-rural composition of the population was not an important determinant of income disparities for all provinces.
For example, Ontario's relative strength in employment income resulted
mostly from above-average incomes in Toronto, Ottawa and Hamilton
compared to cities of similar size.
On the other hand, the relatively low employment incomes in Quebec and
Manitoba resulted from low incomes in Montreal and Winnipeg.
Here are some links to some of Canada's biggest job sites.
|
Features 
