Statistics Canada: Labour market and income

National Construction Industry Wage Rate Survey

Description: Human Resources Development Canada have commissioned Statistics Canada to produce new statistical information on wages for a maximum of 36 occupations in the construction industry in selected provinces across Canada. The National Construction Industry Wage Rate Survey is a telephone survey of a sample of establishments in New Brunswick (Phase 1) and Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland (Phase 2), Alberta (Phase 3) and Ontario (Phase 4). Data for all phases with the exception of Phase 4, whose collection is presently in progress have been released. The information collected will be used by the clients to establish a fair wage schedule for federal contracts in the construction industry for the above provinces.

This survey is being conducted on a voluntary basis.

Who/what is surveyed: Establishments with 6 or more employees, in the construction industry. Data is collected by occupation and by economic region within each province.

How the data is collected: Computer-assisted telephone interviews

Geographic detail: Geographic detail is dependent on the province. The wage data collected for each occupation may also vary by province. Province is generally divided into a number of economic regions and, if available, data are released by occupation.

Information collected:

- Wages paid for the occupations working on institutional and commercial projects.
- Number of employees currently employed by the establishment for commercial or institutional construction work, excluding owners, contract workers and volunteers
For each selected occupation, up to six from a list of 12 possible occupations:
- union membership of employees
- number of full-time employees currently working in specified occupation
- usual number of hours worked per week by a full-time employee in specified occupation, excluding overtime
- starting journeyman wage or its equivalent for a full-time employee
- usual journeyman wage or its equivalent for a full-time employee
- maximum wage the establishment would be willing to pay full-time workers in specified occupation
- wage most frequently paid to full-time workers in specified occupation by the establishment
- commercial or institutional construction work done by the establishment in Nunavut Territory in the 12 months prior to the survey
- commercial or institutional construction work done by the establishment in the Northwest Territories in the 12 months prior to the survey

Frequency: Occasional

Sample size:
New Brunswick – 573
Newfoundland - 400
Prince Edward Island – 176
Nova Scotia – 825
Manitoba – 1026
Saskatchewan – 1019
Alberta – 3074
Ontario – 7104

Data availability: Data have been released for all provinces surveyed except for Ontario where data collection is presently in progress.

Reference period: Twelve months prior to collection period.

Collection period:
New Brunswick – May 1999
Maritimes, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – June 1999
Alberta - November 1999
Ontario – June 2000

Release dates:
New Brunswick – August 1999
Maritimes, Saskatchewan and Manitoba – September 1999
Alberta – March 2000
Ontario – Fall 2000

Response rates: Vary by province; higher than 70%

What makes the data valuable: Data is used to establish schedules for the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act.
Human Resources Development Canada uses the data to establish fair wage schedules for selected occupations by economic region.

Responsible division: Small Business and Special Surveys