Precarious or gig work

The definition of the gig work component of this indicator is as follows:

Proportion of the employed population whose main job consists of short-term tasks, projects, or jobs, with no assurance of steady employment.

A definition for precarious work is under development and will be added at a later date.

Gig work is measured by the supplement to the Labour Force Survey (LFS) in the fourth quarter of 2022. Tax data can also be used to identify gig workers.

In the supplement to the Labour Force Survey, gig workers are employed people who:

• accept short-term tasks, projects or jobs,
• are paid per unit of work delivered (e.g., for a single task, project, or short contract),
• have no assurance of steady employment, and
• must make specific efforts on their own to obtain each project, task or job.

Questions posed to respondents that may be used to identify gig work include:

• Is (respondent name's/this person's/your) main job permanent?
• In what way is (respondent name's/this person's/your) main job not permanent?
• What is the main reason why (respondent name/this person/you) (are/is) self-employed in (his/her/their/your) (main/other) job?
• Does/do (respondent name/this person/you) have any partners or co-owners in (his/her/their/your) (main/side) business?
• Excluding [his/her/their/your] main job or business, [has/have] [Respondent's name/this person/you] earned any money by freelancing, doing a paid gig, or completing a short-term job or task during the last 12 months?
• Was this freelancing, paid gig, or short-term task or job one of the jobs (respondent's name/this person/you) had last week, or something else entirely?

• Labour Force Survey (LFS)
• Data on gig work will be available in 2023, based on the fourth quarter 2022 LFS supplement. The following tables provide monthly data on employment by class of worker and on employee job permanency:
  • Table 14-10-0027-01 – Employment by class of worker, annual (x 1,000)
  • Table 14-10-0072-01 – Job permanency (permanent and temporary) by industry, annual (x 1,000)

• Defining and measuring the gig economy using survey data (Labour Statistics: Research Papers, March 4, 2024)
• Labour Force Survey, December 2022 (The Daily, January 6, 2023)
• Measuring the Gig Economy in Canada Using Administrative Data (Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, December 16, 2019)

• Taxes and the platform economy – Gig economy (Canada Revenue Agency)
• Do you work in the gig economy? Here's what you need to know (Canada Revenue Agency, March 23, 2022)