Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS)
Occupation Data
The 2022 COPS exercise was developed using the 2016 version of the National Occupational Classification (NOC). The 2016 NOC has 500 occupations. However, many of these occupations are small in terms of employment. Such occupations were combined into broader groupings according to the specific tasks of each occupation. By grouping small occupations with similar tasks together, 293 occupational groupings were obtained. Although NOC already has a more recent version (2021), the model’s input data were only available in the 2016 version of the NOC at the time of the development of the projections.
Users can access projection results for the total number of job openings by occupation, including those attributable to expansion demand (employment growth) or replacement demand (mostly retirements). On the supply side, users can access projection results for the total number of people seeking work in the occupation, including job seekers coming from the school system or immigration (the main sources of new labour market entrants).
The latest projections were developed in 2022 and cover the 2022 to 2031 period. Click here to find a summary of the main results. For additional information, please visit the National Occupational Classification website or the occupational definition used by COPS.
Summary
Recent Labour Market Conditions
Projections of Job Openings
- Employment Projections
- Employment Change (Expansion Demand) Projections
- Retirement Projections
- Retirement Rate Projections
- Emigration and In-Service Mortality Projections
- Total Job Openings Projections
Projections of Job Seekers
- School Leavers Projections
- New Immigrants Projections
- Projections of Other Job Seekers (occupational mobility, net re-entries, working students, etc.)
- Total Job Seekers Projections
Outlook
Files Structure and Definition
Sources: Employment and Social Development Canada - COPS 2022 Projections; and Statistics Canada - unpublished data, Labour Force Survey.
Statistics Canada information is used with the permission of Statistics Canada. Users are forbidden to copy the data and redisseminate them, in an original or modified form, for commercial purposes, without permission from Statistics Canada. Information on the availability of the wide range of data from Statistics Canada can be obtained from Statistics Canada's Regional Offices, its World Wide Web site at www.statcan.gc.ca, and its toll-free access number 1-800-263-1136.