B. Industrial
Classifications and Work Opportunities
An industry is defined by the kind of production processes (goods
or service) of an organization. The North American Industry Classification
System (NAICS) was developed by the statistical agencies of Canada,
Mexico and the United States. Prompted by the North American Free Trade
Agreement, it is designed to provide common definitions of the industrial
structure of the three countries and a common statistical framework
to facilitate the analysis of the three economies. NAICS displays the
codes and titles of the sectors, subsectors, industry groups and industries
of NAICS Canada. Comparable sectors, subsectors, industry groups and
industries carry the same code in NAICS Canada, NAICS United States
and NAICS Mexico.
NAICS Canada consists of 20 sectors, 99 subsectors, 321 industry groups,
734 industries and 921 national industries. See Appendix E for a list
of the major groups in the classifications system.
Industries are divided into two groups, those that produce goods and
those that provide services, as illustrated in Table 4, Industry Groupings.
Service-producing industries can be further divided into three distinct
categories:
Producer services include transportation, storage and communications;
wholesale trade; finance, insurance and real estate; and business
services.
Consumer services refer to services directed toward meeting
the needs of consumers, such as retail trade; accommodation, food
and beverage service industries; and other service industries.
Government or non-market services include education; government;
and health and social services.
