---
canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/a-symposium-on-canadian-labour-force-participation-in-the-1990s/"
title: "Canadian Business Economics: A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s"
author:
  name: "shomp"
  url: "https://csls.ca/author/shomp/"
date_published: "2026-08-17T19:42:16+00:00"
date_modified: "2026-08-17T19:45:06+00:00"
post_type: "research"
summary: ""
featured_image: ""
status: "publish"
---

# Canadian Business Economics: A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s

Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/a-symposium-on-canadian-labour-force-participation-in-the-1990s/

# Canadian Business Economics: A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s

[Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/CSLS-CBE-Symposium-Canadian-Labour-Force-Participation-in-the-1990s-1999.pdf)

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Andrew Sharpe, Louis Grignon. Canadian Business Economics: A Symposium on Canadian Labour Force Participation in the 1990s. May 1999 | JS-04 | 87 pages. https://csls.ca/research/a-symposium-on-canadian-labour-force-participation-in-the-1990s/.

## Authors:

-
Andrew Sharpe
Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS)

-
Louis Grignon
Human Resources Development Canada

## JS-04

May 1999 87 pages

## Abstract

## Résumé

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A major development in the Canadian labour market in the 1990s was the decline in labour force participation, with important implications for living standards and for the conduct of macroeconomic policy. This issue of Canadian Business Economics consists of a symposium on that decline. The idea came out of a December 1997 workshop organised by the Canadian Employment Research Forum; the CSLS and Human Resources Development Canada then organised two sessions on declining participation at the 1998 Canadian Economics Association meetings, where these papers were first presented before being refereed and revised. After peaking at 67.5 per cent in 1989, the aggregate participation rate of the population aged 15 and over fell continually to a trough of 64.8 per cent in 1997. The six articles attempt to explain that 2.7 percentage point decline, identifying both structural factors — the levelling of cohort effects in female participation, rising school enrolment, and the growing share of the population aged 65 and over — and cyclical ones.

Le recul de la participation au marché du travail constitue l’un des faits marquants du marché du travail canadien des années 1990, avec des conséquences importantes pour le niveau de vie et la conduite de la politique macroéconomique. Ce numéro de Canadian Business Economics réunit un symposium consacré à ce recul. Après avoir atteint un sommet de 67,5 pour cent en 1989, le taux d’activité global de la population de 15 ans et plus a diminué de façon continue pour atteindre un creux de 64,8 pour cent en 1997. Les six articles cherchent à expliquer cette baisse de 2,7 points de pourcentage et dégagent des facteurs structurels — stabilisation des effets de cohorte chez les femmes, hausse de la fréquentation scolaire, poids croissant des 65 ans et plus — ainsi que des facteurs conjoncturels.

[Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/CSLS-CBE-Symposium-Canadian-Labour-Force-Participation-in-the-1990s-1999.pdf)