Quality of Employment in Canada, summer 2025 update

Today, Statistics Canada is releasing an update to its Quality of Employment in Canada publication. Articles entitled "Average earnings, 2024," "Employees with low pay, 2024," and "Training participation, 2024," have been updated with recent data from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), including additional insights on quality of employment for racialized groups and Indigenous people. This release also includes new articles entitled "Perceived job security, 2025," "Paid leave entitlement, 2024," and "Medical or dental benefits coverage, 2024." Results are based on information collected in the LFS and in the LFS supplements.

Average hourly wages grew faster among women than men from 2006 to 2024

After adjusting for inflation, the average hourly wage of employees in 2024 was up $1.69 (+5.0%) compared with its 2019 pre-COVID-19 pandemic level, and it was up $5.47 (+18.4%) compared with its 2006 level, the earliest year of available comparable data. From 2006 to 2024, average hourly wages grew faster among women (+21.3%) than men (+15.9%).

Chart 1: Average usual hourly wage, employees aged 15 years and older, Canada, 2006 to 2024

In 2024, among core-aged employees (aged 25 to 54 years), First Nations people living off reserve ($33.37), Métis living in the provinces ($35.67) and Inuit living in the provinces ($33.42) all had average hourly wages below that of their non-Indigenous counterparts ($37.77). However, higher education can narrow the wage gap. For example, among people with a bachelor's degree or higher, the wage gap with non-Indigenous employees disappeared for Métis living in the provinces and it was narrower for First Nations people living off reserve.

Rates of perceived job insecurity higher among West Asian and Arab employees than among non-racialized, non-Indigenous employees

Higher proportions of West Asian (13.8%) and Arab (12.8%) employees in April 2025 agreed or strongly agreed that they might lose their job in the next six months compared with their non-racialized, non-Indigenous counterparts (6.9%). Both West Asian and Arab employees were also more likely to have a temporary job. These differences are consistent with those observed in November 2023, the last time this information was collected.

Public sector employees more likely to have access to medical or dental coverage and paid leave

In 2024, 80.9% of public sector employees reported having workplace medical or dental care coverage, compared with 62.1% of private sector employees. Further, 81.7% of public sector employees indicated that they had access to paid vacation leave, compared with 70.0% of private sector employees. The unionization rate was substantially higher among public sector employees, which may have contributed to the higher rate of access to these benefits in the public sector.