Overall, about 80% of all health professionals in Canada in 2000 were female. However, suppose that you picked, at random, one person from each health profession in Canada. Odds are that the doctor, dentist, and paramedic would be men. And the registered nurse, dental hygienist, and physiotherapist would be women. But this mix is changing.
Focus on Nurses
Canada's nurses are getting older and fewer young people are joining the profession. The average age of practicing nurses in 2000 was 43 years. That's up from 41 in 1994. Over this six-year period, the number of RNs employed in nursing aged 50-54 rose 34%.
What's happening? One factor is that RNs graduating from training today are older than before. According to CIHI data, the average age of RNs graduating in the 1950s was 21.7 years. That compares to 26.7 years for those graduating after 1990. Other possible explanations include a drop in the number of RNs being trained in Canada, new RN graduates seeking job opportunities outside of Canada,19and departures
from the profession (24.5% of hospital RNs under age 30 in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario said that they intended to leave the profession within one year on a 1998/99 survey).20Furthermore, if
the number of students who enroll in RN programs changes, so will the number of future graduates.
Of course, students need teachers. What do we know about the nurses who educate future grads? RNs who indicate that teaching students is
their main area of responsibility tend to be older, on average, than those in clinical practice. Their average age in 2000 was nearly 49 years. Meeting the training needs of future students is another consideration in planning for this and other professions.
Aging Nurses
The average age of registered nurses (RNs) working in nursing has risen steadily for several years. The graph below shows how the age distribution of RNs changed between 1994 and 2000.
Source: Registered Nurses Database, CIHI 1994 1997 2000 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% <25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65+ Age Group % of RNs working in nursing
For example, there are more female doctors than ever before. And with increasing numbers of women enrolling in medical school, we will see even more female doctors in the years to come. These trends may have wide-ranging impacts with respect to health services because women tend to have different
practice patterns than their
male colleagues23(for more
information, see the Working
in Health Care chapter).
Full-Time, Part-Time
and Casual Work
Most Canadians who are employed have full-time jobs. That's also true in health care, but part-time work is more common than in other sectors. According to Statistics Canada's Workplace and Employee Survey, 52% of workers in health care have full-time positions, compared with 74% of all Canadians
working outside of health.24
Even within the health sector, however, there are variations. Part-time work is more common in some settings, such as hospitals and other ambulatory health care services (e.g. doctors' and dentists' offices).
Recent job gains have also been distributed differently. Data from the national Workplace and Employee Survey show that the number of full-time permanent employees in health care was up 6.5% between 1998 and 1999. That compares with a 9% increase in employees with other work arrangements (e.g. contract or part-time work).
The Gender Mix by Health Occupation
Almost all dental assistants (98%) and dental hygienists (98%) in Canada in 1996 were women. Denturists (16%) and dentists (22%) were at the opposite end of the spectrum. The chart below shows the gender mix for selected health occupations.
Source: 1996 Census, Statistics Canada
Mostly
WomenDental Assistants
Registered Nurses
Opticians Family Medicine Physicians
Dentists Denturists Chiropractors Pharmacists
Nurse Aides and Orderlies Dental Hygienists and Therapists
Mostly Men
Regional Differences in Nursing Employment Status
The percent of nursing (aides, LPNs, RNs, RPNs) and other* staff working full-time, part-time, and casual hours in 1998 varied across Canada, as results from a survey of a sample of health care employers shows. Quebec respondents reported the highest percent of full-time hours (77.2%) while respondents in the Prairies reported the lowest rate (41.1%). The chart below shows data based on single facilities only. Note: Excludes hours from respondents with unknown employment status.
Source: Kazanjian A, Rahim-Jamal S, MacDonald A, Wood L, Cole C. (2000).
Nursing Workforce Study Volume IV~ Nursing Workforce Deployment: A Survey of Employers. Vancouver: Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, UBC.
*includes: program assistants, child care workers, personal support workers, patient resource visitors, developmental workers, community health representatives, mental health support workers, youth and family counselors, rehabilitation aides, developmental service workers, etc.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% Full-Time Hours Part-Time Hours Casual Hours
B.C./Territories
Prairies
Ontario
Quebec
Atlantic
More detailed information is available for only a few occupational groups, such as registered nurses. RNs can be employed on a permanent or casual basis (casual work usually means that hours are not regularly scheduled and there are fewer or no employee benefits). Some nurses choose regular part-time or casual work. Others do not. A recent study of hospital RNs found that over 40% in British Columbia and over 60% in Alberta who were working on a casual basis were doing so by choice.20
In 2000, CIHI data show that casual employment rates for RNs reached a seven-year low. Across the country, some 34,500 RNs (just under 15%) were employed on a casual basis. This is down from 18% in 1999 but is similar to the 15% recorded in 1994. Similar patterns were seen in most parts of the country. Between 1999 and 2000, casual employment dropped in eight of thirteen jurisdictions. Only British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut saw increases. Figures for the Yukon remained stable.
Along with the growth in the number of permanent positions, there has been an increase in the percentage of RNs working full-time. It was just under 55% in 2000, up from 51% in 1999. The 2000 figures are similar to those last seen six years ago.