A new examination of wages in Canada, before taxes and deductions, shows a notable divide between the growth in wages between those in full-time employment and those in part-time positions.
The Statistics Canada report, Research to Insights: Wages in Canada, 1981 to 2024, says during the time period being studied, median real hourly wages grew by 20 per cent. Most of this growth occurred after 2003. Notably, median real hourly wages in full time jobs that involve at least 30 work hours a week, grew by 24 per cent. Wage growth in part time jobs, meanwhile, increased by just six per cent – they say most of this growth occurred prior to 1998.
In the first half of the study period, meanwhile, wages for young, full-time employees, those between 25 and 34, grew roughly 20 per cent less than those of their counterparts between ages 45 and 54. This reversed in the second half of the study – between 1998 and 2024 men and women between 25 and 34 saw their median wages grow five per cent faster than their older colleagues between the ages of 45 and 54.
The report also looks at gender wage gaps among the different cohorts and at wage differences among the provinces (real hourly wages in full-time jobs grew faster in the oil-producing provinces than in other provinces).
The report also briefly mentions defined benefit pension (DB) plans, noting that the percentage of men covered by DB plans fell from 47.8 per cent in 1981 to 21.5 per cent in 2022. The percentage of women covered by DB plans fell three per cent, dropping from 33 per cent in 1981 to 30 per cent in 2022.
