Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction, 2022
Released: 2023-01-13
The conditions under which Canadians work, including work hours, health and safety, wages and benefits, represent an important component of quality of life and well-being. The results of the Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction (SEFJ) offer insights into all these aspects for employees working in federally regulated workplaces, including information on differences by gender.
In Canada, provincial and territorial governments have jurisdiction over most workplaces in terms of establishing employment standards and protecting labour rights. However, some industries, particularly those involving activities that cross provincial and international borders, are federally regulated under the Canada Labour Code.
The 2022 SEFJ provides detailed information on the working conditions experienced by employees who worked in the eight major industries under federal jurisdiction in 2020, which may help inform future changes to the Canada Labour Code. The data exclude smaller federal jurisdiction industries, such as federal government museums and uranium mining. The federal public administration, for which only some parts of the Canada Labour Code apply, is also excluded.
Federally regulated industries covered by the 2022 SEFJ were banks, road transportation, air transportation, telecommunications and broadcasting, postal services and pipelines, maritime transportation, feed, flour, seed and grain and rail transportation.
Most industries under federal jurisdiction are male-dominated and have fewer part-time employees
Most employees under federal jurisdiction were men (64.7%), ranging from more than 8 in 10 (85.8%) in rail transportation to 6 in 10 (59.7%) in telecommunications and broadcasting. At the same time, women represented the majority of employees (53.8%) in banks in 2020.
Consistent with the higher proportion of men—who are generally more likely than women to work full-time—the share of employees working part-time (less than 30 hours per week) was lower among employees under federal jurisdiction. According to results from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the overall rate of part-time work for all employees was 15.0% in 2020. In comparison, around 1 in 10 employees (10.5%) under federal jurisdiction were working part-time, with the highest proportions observed in postal services and pipelines (29.3%) and air transportation (20.1%).
While female employees working for businesses under federal jurisdiction were slightly more likely to work part-time (12.4%) than men (9.5%), their rate of part-time work was lower than among all female employees in 2020 (20.6%, LFS data). Within the federal jurisdiction, the share of women working part-time ranged from 31.6% in postal services and pipelines and 29.2% in air transportation to 6.4% in banks.
Women working in banks less likely to experience harassment than in other industries
Whether due to the actions of colleagues, supervisors or the public, the presence of harassment in the workplace—which includes sexual and non-sexual forms, as well as violence—can have lasting impacts on employee morale and can foster a hostile work environment. Harassment may involve a series of incidents over time or a single, yet severe, experience. Within the federal jurisdiction, 5.6% of employees indicated that they had experienced some form of harassment at their workplace within the previous two years (for more information, see the Note to readers). Rates of harassment were among the highest in rail transportation (11.2%) and air transportation (8.0%).
Female employees working under federal jurisdiction experienced relatively similar rates of harassment (6.5%) compared with men (5.1%). Based on the most recent data for all workers from the General Social Survey, 19% of women and 13% of men experienced harassment at their workplace in 2016, suggesting that federal jurisdiction employees may be at lower risk of exposure to harassment.
Chart 1
Women were more than three times more likely than men to experience harassment in road transportation
Within the federal jurisdiction, the share of women who faced harassment in road transportation (12.0%) was notably higher than men (3.5%). At the same time, women were less likely to experience harassment in banks overall (3.1%). Female employees in business, finance and administration occupations—which accounted for 67.0% of all women working in banks—were less than half as likely to have experienced harassment in the previous two years (5.0%) than female employees working in trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations (12.7%).
More than 8 in 10 women with a full-time permanent job have access to supplemental maternity benefits
Different types of leave can help support workers through challenging life events such as long-term illnesses or the birth of a child. Among employees under federal jurisdiction, 83.0% of women with a full-time permanent job indicated that they had access to maternity leave that was at least partly paid by their employer—that is, through payments or top-ups additional to any maternity benefits received through the Employment Insurance program. This was higher than the overall share for all female employees with a permanent full-time job in 2021 (61.7%), when annual LFS estimates first became available on this topic. Within the federal jurisdiction, the proportion of women who had access to paid maternity leave was notably lower for temporary employees (60.7%).
Male employees under federal jurisdiction more likely to be exposed to unsafe working conditions
Although most employees under federal jurisdiction reported relatively safe working conditions on the job, 7.1% of employees noted that they had been exposed to unsafe conditions in the workplace within the previous two years. Unsafe working conditions refer to situations in which employees are exposed to danger or hazards beyond any normal or regular amount typically involved on the job. The industries under federal jurisdiction which had higher rates of exposure to unsafe working conditions included rail transportation (18.7%), postal services and pipelines (12.2%), and maritime transportation (11.7%).
Across all industries under federal jurisdiction, men (8.4%) were more likely to be exposed to unsafe working conditions than women (4.5%). This pattern is partly explained by women's greater concentration in office-based work environments, such as banks, where fewer employees experience unsafe conditions.
Note to readers
The Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction (SEFJ) was conducted by Statistics Canada in 2022 with the cooperation and support of Employment and Social Development Canada.
For more information on the data source and methodology, see Survey of Employees under Federal Jurisdiction (SEFJ).
Questions in the SEFJ have different reference periods, depending on whether or not the employee was still employed in the same federal jurisdiction business in 2022. Therefore, estimates should be interpreted as being representative of those who were federal jurisdiction employees in 2020, reflecting their circumstances as of 2022 or the last time they were employed in the federal jurisdiction business.
Labour Force Survey (LFS) data provided in the article are for all employees aged 18 and older who are living in the provinces, excluding people who were institutionalized; living in collective dwellings; and living on reserves. More information on the LFS can be found in the Guide to the Labour Force Survey (71-543-G).
This analysis focuses on differences between estimates that are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level.
Gender: The SEFJ collected data on the respondent's sex at birth as well as a three-category gender question (male, female or a space where respondents can describe their gender). Results in this release are based on the gender variable.
Given that the non-binary population is small, a statistical method producing a two-category gender variable (male+, female+) was applied to prevent disclosure of identifiable data.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
- Date modified: