Definitions

Median Household Income
Low Income Households
The labour force
Total Persons in Private Households
Visible Minorities

1. Median Household Income.
   
   • A household "refers to a person or a group of persons (other than foreign residents), who occupy the same dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada. It may consist of a family group (census family) with or without other non-family persons, of two or more families sharing a dwelling, of a group of unrelated persons, or of one person living alone. Household members who are temporarily absent on Census Day (e.g. temporary residents elsewhere) are considered as part of their usual household. For census purposes, every person is a member of one and only one household."
      
     -Statistics Canada. 1996 Census Dictionary. Ottawa: Ministry of Industry, 1997, p. 139.
      
     
   • "The median income of a specified group of households is that amount which divides their income size distribution in two halves, i.e. the incomes of the first half of the households are below the median, while those of the second half are above the median."
      
     -Statistics Canada. 1996 Census Dictionary. Ottawa: Ministry of Industry, 1997, p. 144.

   

2. Low Income Households are those with incomes below the Statistics Canada "Low Income Cutoff (LICO)" amount. The LICO "cutoffs" are based on Canadian household expenditure surveys (conducted every two years) which have determined that the average Canadian household spends 34.7% of its income on the basic necessities of food, shelter and clothing. Under the LICO definition of poverty, a household which is poor is one that must spend 54.7% (an additional 20%) or more of the average household's income on these basics (Ross, Shillington & Lochhead, 1994).
    
   While the percentage of household income spent on basic needs is a useful measure of relative deprivation, this measure must be taken in context. It cannot be taken to mean that, for example, a four-person household which has an income of $100,000 and which voluntarily spends 60% of its income on food, shelter and clothing is living in poverty. In order to provide a useful measure, a minimum dollar value is established by calculating 54.7% of the average household income, in each of various household sizes, and for each year, taking inflation into account. The Low Income Cutoff Amounts are available for the following years: 1994-1997
    
   

3. The labour force refers to "all persons 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents, who were either employed or unemployed during the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to Census Day."
    
   
   • The unemployment rate "refers to the unemployed labour force expressed as a percentage of the total labour force in the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to Census Day." Unemployed persons refers to "persons 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents, who, during the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to Census Day, were without paid work and were available for work and either:
      
     (a) had actively looked for work in the past four weeks; or
     (b) were on temporary lay-off and expected to return to their job; or
     (c) had definite arrangements to start a new job in four weeks or less
      
     
   • The participation rate refers to "the total labour force in the week (Sunday to Saturday) prior to Census Day, expressed as a percentage of the population 15 years of age and over, excluding institutional residents."
      
     
   -Statistics Canada. 1996 Census Dictionary. Ottawa: Ministry of Industry, 1997, p. 60, 63-64.

   

4. Total Persons in Private Households "refers to a person or a group of persons (other than foreign residents), who occupy the same dwelling and do not have a usual place of residence elsewhere in Canada. It may consist of a family group (census family) with or without other non-family persons, of two or more families sharing a dwelling, of a group of unrelated persons, or of one person living alone. Household members who are temporarily absent on Census Day (e.g. temporary residents elsewhere) are considered as part of their usual household. For census purposes, every person is a member of one and only one household."
    
   
   • Family Persons refers to "household members who belong to a census family. They, in turn, are further classified as follows:
      
     
     1. Spouses refers to persons of opposite sex who are legally married to each other and living in the same dwelling.
     2. Common-law partners are two persons of opposite sex who are not legally married to each other but live together as husband and wife in the same dwelling.
     3. Lone parent refers to a mother or a father, with no spouse or common law partner present, living in a dwelling with one or more never married sons and / or daughters.
     4. Never-married sons and / or daughters refers to blood, step or adopted sons and daughters who have never married (regardless of age) and are living in the same dwelling as their parent(s). Sons and daughters who are currently or were previously married, or who are living common-law, are not considered to be members of their parent(s)' census family even if they are living in the same dwelling. In addition, those never-married sons and daughters who do not live in the same dwelling as their parent(s) are not considered members of their parent(s) census family."
         
        
   • Non-family persons refers to "household members who do not belong to a census family. They may be related to ... the household reference person, ... or unrelated. A person living alone is always a non-family person."
   
    
   -Statistics Canada. 1996 Census Dictionary. Ottawa: Ministry of Industry, 1997, pp. 120-121, 139.
   
5. Visible Minorities refers to "persons (other than Aboriginal Persons), who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour."
    
   -Statistics Canada. 1996 Census Dictionary. Ottawa: Ministry of Industry, 1997, p.97.