A by-the-numbers look at flexible work arrangements in Canada

OTTAWA – The Liberal government is looking at bringing in new rules that would allow federally regulated employees to request changes to how and where do their jobs. Here are a few figures from a federal discussion paper released last month as part of consultations on the proposal:

883,000: Approximate number of federally regulated workers who would be captured by any flexible work rules enacted by the federal government.

11,450: Approximate number of employers in federally regulated industries.

58: Percentage of Canadian employees who reported feeling overloaded in a Canadian Mental Health Association survey.

400,000: Approximate number of indigenous youth who will be old enough to enter the workforce in the coming decade.

36: Percentage of Canadian employees in a 2012 Statistics Canada survey who had flexible work hours to care for a family member.

16: Percentage of women in the 2015 Statistics Canada labour force survey who reported working part-time to care for a child or for family responsibilities.

3: Percentage of men in the same survey who reported working part-time for similar reasons.

60: Percentage of employers in the 2008 federal jurisdiction workplace survey who said they did not provide bereavement leave in the event of the death of an immediate family member.

(Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, “Flexible Work Arrangements: A discussion paper”)