Average hourly wages in Canada have seen a significant increase over the past years, according to a report from Statistics Canada (StatCan).
The average hourly wage for employees in Canada rose to $35.20 in 2024, marking a five-per-cent increase from pre-pandemic levels in 2019 and an 18.4-per-cent rise since 2006, when comparable data first became available.
During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, average hourly wages grew markedly, rising $1.79 (+5.3 per cent) to $35.30 (in 2024 constant dollars). This was driven by large employment declines in lower-paid occupations, which resulted in a shift in the composition of employment, said StatCan.
Notably, the number of employees in sales and service occupations—which is the broad occupational category with the lowest average wage—declined by 604,000 (-14.3 per cent) from 2019 to 2020.
“As public health restrictions eased in 2021 and 2022, the proportion of employees in lower-paid jobs recovered. In 2022, inflation also reached a 40-year high of 6.8 per cent on an annual average basis, with notable increases recorded in the price of energy (+22.5 per cent), transportation (+10.6 per cent) and food (+8.9 per cent),” according to the StatCan report.
“Together, the two factors contributed to pulling down the inflation-adjusted average wage by 3.7 per cent (-$1.29 to $34.01) from 2020 to 2022. The inflation-adjusted average hourly wage regained ground from 2022 to 2024, rising to $35.20 (+3.4 per cent) alongside...
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