Gig Economy Growing: 870,000 Canadians Have Flexible, Short-Term Work as Main Job

A person uses a cell phone in Ottawa on July 18, 2022. The number of Canadians working through a digital platform or app is on the rise, according to new data from Statistics Canada. The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick

Nearly 900,000 Canadians turned to gig work as their main job in the final three months of 2022, according to a newly released report from Statistics Canada (StatCan).

While Canadians have increasingly turned to gig work to supplement their income amid the rising cost of living, for 871,000 workers it’s become their primary job. StatCan defines gig work as a form of employment that does not guarantee steady work and is characterized by short-term jobs or tasks.

Of the 871,000 Canadians who identified “gig work” as their main job, 624,000 had a main job with no employees, business partners, or a physical building or premises dedicated to their employment activity, the agency said.

Gig workers generally fell into two categories: the 91,000 workers who worked very short hours or operated their business intermittently and the 449,000 workers who usually dedicated more time to their business but did not have a stable client base. StatCan said 84,000 self-employed workers had characteristics of both groups.

An additional 247,000 Canadians were paid employees in their main job but had employment characteristics consistent with the definition of gig work in the fourth quarter of 2022, StatCan found.

“The gig economy has generated both risks and opportunities for workers in Canada,” StatCan analyst Vincent Hardy said in a March 4 research paper. “New technologies have made it easier for Canadians to engage in short paid tasks, projects or jobs that can supplement income and are sometimes pursued as a main activity.”

He pointed out, however, that business relationships that emerge from the gig economy “may generate situations of dependent self-employment: a type of work relationship where workers are self-employed but lack control over important aspects of their work, such as setting prices or organizing their schedule.”

Dependent Self-Employment

Approximately 1 million self-employed workers without employees were dependent on a single business relationship for at least 50 percent of their commercial activity in 2022, StatCan said. A total of 427,000 of the self-employed workers relied on a single main client while 235,000 relied on another company or person subcontracting tasks, projects or clients.

Roughly 588,000 of these workers, despite being self-employed, had little to no control over their schedule, the organization of their work or the supply of essential tools or materials, StatCan said.

Many of these workers are paid as independent contractors which means they lack access to employee benefits, Mr. Hardy pointed out.

“Workers in dependent self-employment often lack some or all of the protections granted to employees under employment standards legislation, as well as regulations pertaining to the workers’ compensation system, paid sick leave and minimum wages,” he said.

“While some self-employed workers are covered by EI benefits or make voluntary contributions to the EI program, in most cases companies who hire contractors are not required to make EI contributions on their behalf.”

Digital Work

Nearly half a million people in 2023 worked through a digital platform or app which also paid them for their work, StatCan said.

Roughly 1.7 percent of working Canadians worked through a digital platform or app to earn income during 2023, with 0.4 percent of the employed population identifying work through apps or a digital platform as their main job.

“The broadest definition of digital platform employment includes platforms that pay workers directly, those that exercise another form of control, and those that simply connect workers with clients and let them arrange the payment by themselves,” StatCan said.

Based on this definition, 3.3 percent of the working population reported engaging in digital platform employment in the 12 months preceding December 2023.

StatCan found digital employment could typically be broken down into three categories: apps or platforms that pay workers directly; apps or platforms that don’t pay workers directly but exercise some control over the work process; and apps or platforms that help workers and clients connect, but do not intervene in the work process.

Mr. Hardy described digital work, dependent self-employment, and gig work as separate yet entwined entities.

“While there is notable overlap between these three forms of work, each can also occur on their own,” he said. “These new developments have created a need to improve understanding and measurement of these three interrelated phenomena.”