Number of earners of economic family

Status: This standard was approved as a recommended standard on July 31, 2026.

Definition

Number of earners refers to employment income recipients in an economic family. An earner is a person aged 15 years or over who received wages, salaries and commissions from paid employment or net self-employment income from farm or non-farm unincorporated business and/or professional practice during the reference period.

Economic family refers to a group of two or more persons who live in the same household and are related to each other through biological, couple, adoptive or foster relationships.

Examples of an economic family include two co-resident census families who are related to one another, co-resident siblings who are not members of a census family, or a niece or nephew living with their aunt or uncle.

All members of a given census family belong to the same economic family, as well as any other household members who are related to at least one member of the census family. In households with no census families present, all related persons in the household form an economic family.

Classifications

• Classification of number of earners July 31, 2026 to current

Relation to previous version

• Number of earners of economic family July 31, 2026 to current

  The definitions of the concept "number of earners" and of the statistical unit "economic family" have been modified. The classification has been modified by adding category definitions.

• Number of earners of economic family September 11, 2013 to July 30, 2026

  This was the recommended standard from September 11, 2013 to July 30, 2026.