Using Canada Occupation Data

Eric Clower

March 12, 2026 20:00

INTRODUCTION

IMPLAN recently released Canada Occupation data in conjunction with the IMPLAN Canada Product. Occupation Data in IMPLAN allows users to see the occupational makeup of the industries involved in their impact analysis. While standard IMPLAN Industry data provides information on the number of jobs and the total compensation paid by an Industry, Occupation Data breaks those totals down into specific job titles, wages, hours, and the core competencies (skills, knowledge, and abilities) required for those roles.

For IMPLAN Canada, this data is based on the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system.

DATA SOURCES

IMPLAN’s Canada Occupation Data is derived from several high-quality sources provided by Statistics Canada and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC):

Census of Population: The primary source for the industry-by-occupation matrix. It provides the count of respondents, wages, salaries, and commissions by industry (up to 4-digit NAICS) and occupation (5-digit NOC).
Provincial and Territorial Economic Accounts (PTEA): The foundation for data on annual average hours worked by industry and province/territory.
Labour Force Survey (LFS): Used to calculate occupational adjustment factors for hours worked, providing granularity at the occupational level.
Occupational and Skills Information System (OaSIS): The source for core competency data. OaSIS maps skills, knowledge, and abilities to the NOC system, allowing IMPLAN to provide detailed profiles for each occupation.

OCCUPATION CLASSIFICATION

The Canada Occupation data uses the National Occupational Classification (NOC) 2021 Version 1.0. The NOC system is a hierarchical structure that classifies occupations based on the type of work performed and the Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities (TEER) required.

IMPLAN provides data at the 5-digit Unit Group level, which includes 516 unique occupations. This is the most granular level of the NOC hierarchy.

NOC Level	Number of Categories
Broad Occupational Category (1-digit)	10
Major Group (2-digit)	45
Sub-Major Group (3-digit)	89
Minor Group (4-digit)	162
Unit Group (5-digit)	516

DATA OVERVIEW

When looking at Canada Occupation Data in IMPLAN, you will find the following metrics:

Occupational Employment: The headcount of employees in a specific occupation within an Industry or Region.
Occupational Wages: The total remuneration paid to employees in that occupation.
Occupational Hours: The total annual hours worked by employees in that occupation.
Core Competencies: Data on the skills, knowledge, and abilities required for each occupation, sourced from the OaSIS database. This includes:
- Abilities - The enduring innate capacities and physical or mental attributes that influence an individual's potential to perform specific tasks.
- Knowledge - The organized bodies of factual information, theoretical concepts, and procedural rules required for successful performance in a functional area.
- Skills - Developed proficiencies and learned capacities acquired through practice or training that enable the efficient execution of occupational duties.
- Personal attributes - The unique set of personality traits, work styles, and values that characterize how an individual approaches their work and interacts with the professional environment.
- Work activities - The specific mental and physical tasks—such as decision-making, creative thinking, and coordinating others—that constitute the daily functional requirements of a job.
- Work context -The structural and environmental conditions of a role, including the levels of autonomy, the impact of errors, and the physical or temporal pressures under which tasks are performed.

HOW TO ACCESS CANADA OCCUPATION DATA

Occupation data for IMPLAN Canada can be explored in two primary ways within IMPLAN Cloud: Region Details and Project Results.

REGIONAL OCCUPATION DATA

Users can use the Region Details to explore the occupational composition of any Canadian Region (National, Provincial, or Economic Region). To access Regional Occupation Data

Select the desired Province or Economic Region from the Regions page.
Click the “View Region Details” button on the bottom of the Region’s tile.

From the Region Details Navigation Bar, select Occupation and a dropdown window will appear. From here you can select and open the: Region Occupation Summary, Region Occupation Averages, Industry Occupation Detail, Industry Occupation Averages, and Core Competencies.

OCCUPATION IMPACT DATA

After running an analysis using the IMPLAN Canada, you can view the occupational impact of your study from the Results screen. The Occupation Impact Data shows the details for the Occupations, Wages, and Core Competencies that accompany a specific impact or contribution including.

The Occupation Impact dashboard includes a single table detailing regional employment and wage impacts by occupation. Use the filters to limit the results to the desired Region, Group, Event, and Industry. The Occupation Aggregation Level Filter can also be used to select a different occupation aggregation level.
The Occupation Impact Averages dashboard includes a single table detailing the average regional employment and wage impacts by occupation. Use the filters to limit the results to the desired Region, Group, Event, and Industry. The Occupation Aggregation Level Filter can also be used to select a different occupation aggregation level.
The Core Competency dashboard includes tables for each core competency category (Ability, Knowledge, Skills, Personal Attributes, Work Activities, Work Context). Use the filters to limit the results to the desired Region, Group, Event, and Industry. The Occupation Aggregation Level Filter can also be used to select a different occupation aggregation level.

IMPLAN Canada Occupation Data Release Notes

Canada Occupation Data Sources and Methods