Canadians earn $3 more on average per week, an increase of 2.3 percentage points compared to last year. These are the findings of a recent study conducted at the beginning of the year by Statistics Canada.
According to the study Payroll employment, earnings and hours, February 2014, weekly wages increased $3 between January and February 2014, according to the report sponsored by Statistics Canada. Apart from agricultural sector professionals who were not included in the study, the pay of Canadian workers has risen in recent years. According to the federal agency, this increase is the result of various factors such as the general increase in wages and even a change in the number of hours worked weekly. Canadian employees worked 32.9 hours on average at the beginning of the year, compared to 32.8 in the same period last year.
+5.5% in construction
However, different fields of activity were not affected uniformly by this increase. Some sectors are doing much better than others and even saw their weekly pay exceed the average of 2.3%. This is particularly the case for construction. Indeed, employees can look forward to a pay increase of 5.5% which has risen by $1,225 per week. In accommodation and food services, compensation increased by 4.1%, compared to 4% in health care and social assistance which climbed $858, or 2.6% in professional, scientific and technical services at $1,306.
However, although they had an increase, the remuneration of workers in administrative services and support remained below the national median. They edged up 1.8 percentage points between January and February. That for professionals in the retail trade grew by 1.7 points, 1.4 percentage points in wholesale and finally 0.1 percentage points in public administration. Conversely, employees in manufacturing say their salary decline by 0.2%, similar to those in educational services who experienced a drop of 1.7% compared to 2013, reaching an average of $977.
Provincial disparities
Although a weekly pay increase was noted in all Canadian provinces, employees were not all in the same boat. In this way, Manitoba and Nova Scotia recorded the highest increases, at 4.4% and 4.2% respectively, for $854 and $822. Next came Alberta at 3.1% more, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick at 2.7 percentage points for each province. Ontario is under the national average, at a 1.9% increase, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador and British Columbia, each of which had a slight increase of 1.8 points. Quebec and Saskatchewan drew up the rear with increases of 1.7% and 1.3% respectively.
Another conclusion highlighted by the study: payroll dropped in February. Canada had 11,900 fewer employees compared to last year in the same period. This drop follows the slight increase already noted in January, with 3,000 fewer workers. Finally, this drop in the number of employees is particularly noticeable in education, retail and in professional, scientific and technical services.