--- canonical_url: "https://csls.ca/research/the-contribution-of-full-time-students-to-the-canadian-unemployment-rate-1976-2017/" title: "The Contribution of Full-time Students to the Canadian Unemployment Rate, 1976-2017" author: name: "CSLS" url: "https://csls.ca/author/cslc/" date_published: "2026-07-02T11:34:09+00:00" date_modified: "2026-07-02T11:34:09+00:00" post_type: "research" summary: "" post_tag: - "Canada" - "full-time students" - "labour force" - "student employment" - "unemployment composition" - "unemployment rate" - "youth unemployment" country_focus: - "Canada" province_region: - "National" research_theme: - "Labour Markets" - "Productivity and Economic Measurement" featured_image: "https://csls.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/old-reports_hero_banner_bg.webp" status: "publish" --- # The Contribution of Full-time Students to the Canadian Unemployment Rate, 1976-2017 Canonical URL: https://csls.ca/research/the-contribution-of-full-time-students-to-the-canadian-unemployment-rate-1976-2017/ # The Contribution of Full-time Students to the Canadian Unemployment Rate, 1976-2017 [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2018-06-1.pdf) Cite this report × Cite this report as: Beard, Richard, Myeongwan Kim, and Andrew Sharpe. 2018. “The Contribution of Full-time Students to the Canadian Unemployment Rate, 1976-2017.” CSLS Research Report 2018-06. Ottawa: Centre for the Study of Living Standards. https://csls.ca/research/the-contribution-of-full-time-students-to-the-canadian-unemployment-rate-1976-2017/ ## Authors: - Richard Beard Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) - Myeongwan Kim Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) - Andrew Sharpe Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) ## Report 2018-06 November 2018 35 pages ## Related research [Measuring the Appropriate Outcomes for Better Decision-Making: A Framework to Guide the Analysis of Health Policy Matthew Calver March 2016 | Report 2016-03 | 132 pages](https://csls.ca/research/measuring-the-appropriate-outcomes-for-better-decision-making-a-framework-to-guide-the-analysis-of-health-policy-2016-03/) [Living Standards Domain of the Canadian Index of Wellbeing Andrew Sharpe, Christopher Ross November 2011 | Report 2011-17 | 124 pages](https://csls.ca/research/living-standards-domain-of-the-canadian-index-of-wellbeing-2011-17/) [Productivity: Key to Economic Success Centre for the Study of Living Standards (CSLS) March 1998 | Report 1998-01 | 99 pages](https://csls.ca/research/productivity-key-to-economic-success/) [Apprenticeship in Canada: A Training System Under Siege? 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Over the past 4 decades, the stock of unemployed full-time students has increased by 87 thousand, from 43 thousand in 1976 to 130 thousand in 2017. As a result, the share of the total unemployment represented by fulltime students has increased from 5.7 percent in 1976 to 10.4 percent in 2016. Full-time students did not participate in a secular decline in the unemployment rate to the extent experienced by the majority in the Canadian labour force from the mid 1990s. This led full-time students to become an increasingly important factor in driving the total unemployment rate in Canada. Our analysis shows that excluding full-time students from the labour force results in a lower Canadian unemployment rate in 2017, 6.0 percent instead of 6.3 percent. The lion’s share of the difference in the unemployment rate is a result of excluding 15 to 19 year olds pursuing full-time studies, a demographic which often face less economic hardship but are nonetheless allotted an identical weighting in the unemployment rate as unemployed adults. Moreover, the contribution of full-time students to the unemployment rate has increased over six fold during the 1976-2017 period. Ce rapport analyse la relation entre les étudiants à temps plein âgés de 15 à 24 ans et le chômage au Canada pour la période 1976-2017. Au cours des quatre dernières décennies, le nombre de chômeurs étudiant à temps plein a augmenté de 87 000, passant de 43 000 en 1976 à 130 000 en 2017. En conséquence, la part des étudiants à temps plein dans le chômage total est passée de 5,7 % en 1976 à 10,4 % en 2016. Les étudiants à temps plein n’ont pas participé au déclin séculaire du taux de chômage observé pour la majorité de la population active canadienne depuis le milieu des années 1990. Les étudiants à temps plein sont ainsi devenus un facteur de plus en plus important du taux de chômage total au Canada. Notre analyse montre qu’en excluant les étudiants à temps plein de la population active, le taux de chômage canadien de 2017 aurait été plus faible, soit 6,0 % au lieu de 6,3 %. La majeure partie de cet écart découle de l’exclusion des jeunes de 15 à 19 ans poursuivant des études à temps plein, un groupe démographique souvent confronté à moins de difficultés économiques, mais qui se voit néanmoins accorder une pondération identique à celle des adultes en chômage dans le calcul du taux de chômage. De plus, la contribution des étudiants à temps plein au taux de chômage a plus que sextuplé au cours de la période 1976-2017. [Download full PDF report](https://csls.ca/pdf/csls2018-06-1.pdf)