A Breakdown of Business Approval Requirements Across US States

Karen RestouleIf, in the context of the 2015 federal election, Canadian politics grew concentrated on "the middle class and those hoping to join it," the working class appears to be the new and developing focus. It seems like everyone is talking about it lately.Pierre Poilievre, the new leader of the Conservative Party, has spoken early on about "fight[ing] for the working class." The New Democrats have also recommitted to becoming a "credible champion for working-class people." The Trudeau government also recently unveiled inflation-relief measures aimed at low-income and working-class households.Given these political changes, one left-wing economist posed the question, "Will defining "working class" be the 2020s version of defining "middle class?"A new paper (co-authored by Renze Nauta, Sosina Bezu, and myself) published by the Cardus Institute seeks to answer this question. It employs a definition of the working class—specifically, someone who works in a non-management, professional, or technical position that does not typically require post-secondary education—to determine who makes up Canada's working class, what jobs they do, and how they have performed over the last 20 years. Our primary goal is to ensure that the increased political interest in the working class is based on facts rather than nostalgia.

What do we find? Today's working class is more 

likely to be female than male, to be an immigrant or racial minority, to work in the service sector rather than "blue-collar" jobs, and to have more educational experience or qualifications than is generally necessary for their jobs.Let's start with the overall size. While Canada's working class is diminishing (from 42 percent in 2000 to 34 percent today), it remains the majority of workers in the Canadian economy. In 2021, Canada's working-class population was 6.5 million. If they had formed a single voting bloc, they would have won the popular vote in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.For the most of the last two decades, more than half of these working-class Canadians were women. Women (35%) are more likely than males (33%) to work in working-class jobs. The same is true for immigrants and visible minorities. Just under half of visible minorities in Canada's employment work in working-class occupations, compared to 39% of non-visible minorities.The kind of jobs held by working-class Canadians have shifted dramatically. The traditional picture of blue-collar workers on factory assembly lines is no longer accurate. Today, about half of the working class works in sales and service industries like shop clerk, food counter attendant, or personal support worker. This is grown from slightly more than 30% in 1990 and more than doubles the labor market as a whole. As one American policy researcher summarized these tendencies, the modern working class has shifted from "making stuff" to "serving and caring for people."

One of our key results is that, despite the fact that 

we define working class as employment that often do not require post-secondary experience or credentials, 53% of working-class Canadians (excluding full-time students) have post-secondary certificates, diplomas, or degrees. This could be due to individual preferences, international certification concerns, a skills mismatch, or even company discrimination. The end result, however, is a clear case of widespread underemployment, with opportunity costs for both people and the economy as a whole.charges could be pretty high. Consider this: working-class Canadians earn 42 percent less per hour than those in non-working-class jobs. More than 60% of the working class makes less than $800 a week, compared to only 20% of members of the management, professional, or technical classes.These data insights are critical for politicians who seek to represent the working class. Although it is encouraging to see more attention being paid to this underserved category of voters, the political class must meet them where they live and work.This entails abandoning outdated stereotypes of a working class primarily composed of male, blue-collar, often unionized workers in the goods-producing economy and replacing them with a modern picture of a working class primarily composed of women and visible minorities with some post-secondary credentials working in service-sector jobs. Think of a home-care worker rather than a General Motors factory worker.

The policy implications of this transformation 

in our perception of the modern working class are substantial. A female personal support worker's interests, worries, and aspirations will undoubtedly differ from those of a male worker in the manufacturing sector. These distinctions must be taken into consideration in any current working-class agenda. It will need to address actual issues such as health and dental benefits, labor regulations, housing, childcare, and immigration.It is too early to say whether our politics' renewed focus on working-class Canadians will last. That will ultimately rely on whether political parties can translate their political overtures into concrete programs that address the demands of today's working class. Those efforts will need to be guided by facts, not nostalgia sean Speer is the Hub's Editor-at-Large. He is also a university lecturer at the University of Toronto and Carleton University, as well as a think-tank researcher and columnist. He formerly worked as a senior economic adviser for Prime Minister Stephen Harper.Read moreJason Kenney's tenure as leader of the United Conservative Party, and thus as Premier of Alberta, ends this week. Party members will elect his replacement next week, on October 6.Kenney's inevitable, if not immediate, departure from politics after more than a quarter century is an appropriate time to reflect on his accomplishments, lessons, and legacy.I went to Red Deer last week to interview him at the Canada Strong and Free Network's regional conference. Our on-stage discussion occurred in front of approximately 250 conference attendees, as well as journalists from alternative and traditional media outlets.I did not discuss the interview with the premier or his team in beforehand. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, this was the topic I intended to have with Jason Kenney.It was a broad conversation that included immigration and identity, the growth of "woke politics," his government's policy record, the state of Canadian conservatism, and his own impact on Canadian life.