The Labour Market Information Council (LMIC) and the Future Skills Centre (FSC) have partnered to create the LMIC Data Hub – a central data repository that hosts labour market information (LMI) from several vetted sources across Canada.
Why does Canada need a Data Hub for LMI?
Canadians need access to high-quality LMI
At LMIC, our mandate is to improve the timeliness, reliability and accessibility of labour market information. The data we curate for the Data Hub is from both public and private-sector sources, and is evaluated by LMIC’s economists for quality, relevance and accuracy.
There are many different LMI data sources in Canada
The Data Hub is a cloud-based data repository that pulls together a variety of data sources and curates them into a common format and structure. It reduces the complexity of accessing LMI data in Canada.
Apps that provide LMI to Canadians need a reliable source of data
Tools like mobile apps, web apps and interactive dashboards need high-quality and reliable data. The Data Hub will be accessible through APIs that will allow partners to build front-end tools that meet the needs of their clients and stakeholders.
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What is the Data Hub?
To navigate the changing world of work, Canadians require better and easier access to meaningful labour market information (LMI). An enormous amount of Canadian LMI exists, but it is spread across multiple sources, often available only in formats that experts can make use of.
To address this systemic challenge, LMIC and the Future Skills Centre (FSC) are launching a cloud-based data repository (Data Hub) that consolidates and curates high-quality LMI data available in Canada.
The LMIC Data Hub is a Google Cloud Platform-based data lake in which information is stored to make it easy to access. However, the Hub is only a back-end for tools, apps, and services which use LMI. Most users will obtain data through front-end tools and user interfaces like websites, apps and dashboards that draw on Data Hub data through APIs.
To make the data in the Data Hub accessible to Canadians, we’re partnering with organizations to develop front-end tools (like apps and web-based services) that use data from the Data Hub. The first of these front-end tools will be launched in late 2022.
What kind of data is in the Data Hub?
Currently, data in LMIC’s Data Hub includes indicators like employment and unemployment rates, employment growth month over month and year over year, labour force participation, average weekly, hourly and annual wages, job posting counts and growth year over year, work requirements and more. LMIC will ingest, curate and make available other labour market data on an ongoing basis.
If you would like to learn more, you can request additional documentation by emailing info@lmic-cimt.ca about the Data Hub and API.
Where does the data come from?
Our data partners currently include Statistics Canada, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Vicinity Jobs. LMIC economists carefully evaluate the quality and relevance of data included in the Data Hub.
Data Hub architecture
The Data Hub is updated through the ingestion of raw data from both private and public sources. The process to clean and organize this information has been developed in such a way that the final indicators are “source agnostic” – meaning that users’ experiences when retrieving data from any of these indicators is always the same, regardless of its original source.
The API returns the calculated values for the LMI indicators across several aggregation levels. A set of parameters and filters are made available so the end-user may narrow down the expected output.
Developing apps and tools that use the Data Hub
In partnership with FSC, the first phase of app and tool development using the LMIC Data Hub is focused on supporting career service organizations to develop tools that use the Data Hub so that they can meet the unique needs of their clients.
If your organization is interested in building a front-end tool that draws on the LMIC Data Hub, please email us at info@lmic-cimt.ca. We will also post calls for Expressions of Interest and Requests for Proposals to our website when they are available. Sign up for the LMIC newsletter here to receive notice of future calls.
Get in touch with us about the Data Hub
If you would like to learn more about LMIC’s Data Hub, please contact info@lmic-cimt.ca. To receive updates, requests for proposals and calls for expression of interest related to the Data Hub please sign up for the LMIC newsletter here.