Job Bank and the Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS)

The Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS) is a set of models used by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to develop labour market projections with the objective of identifying occupations that may face labour shortage or labour surplus conditions at the national level over a 10-year period. These projections are based in part on the most recent data for key indicators such as:

• Annual employment numbers
• Production data (e.g. Gross Domestic Product)
• Median age of workers and median retirement age

On Job Bank, these projections are combined with other sources of information to provide an assessment of job prospects and future trends for most occupations in Canada. More specifically, the latest projections based on the COPS model are integrated in Job profiles as a detailed analysis of labour market conditions (surplus, balance or shortage) for specific occupations over the next 10 years.