Number of earners of economic family

Status: This was the recommended standard from September 11, 2013 to July 30, 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 and salaries, net income from a non-farm unincorporated business and/or professional practice, and/or net farm self-employment income during the reference year.

Economic family refers to a group of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling and are related to each other by blood, marriage, common-law or adoption. A couple may be of opposite or same sex. Foster children are included.

By definition, all persons who are members of a census family are also members of an economic family. Examples of the broader concept of economic family include the following: two co-resident census families who are related to one another are considered one economic family; co-resident siblings who are not members of a census family are considered as one economic family; and, nieces or nephews living with aunts or uncles are considered one economic family.

Classifications

• Classification of number of earners September 11, 2013 to July 30, 2026

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.