Here’s an up-to-date look at which Canadians are bringing home the fattest paycheques and who is falling behind.
The data crunchers over at Statistics Canada have just released a report on hourly wages for occupations across the country. We recently reported that the average Canadian income is just over $50k or $50,291.80 to be precise. Canada’s top earners are making more than three times the national average.
The highest paid occupation in Canada right now is Specialist Physician. According to Stats Can, they make $86.75 an hour. Based on a full-time 40-hour workweek, this would translate to an annual salary of $180,440.
The lowest paid jobs (at roughly $13 an hour) would be making just over half the national average at roughly $27,000 for full-time work. Ontario’s coming jump to a $15 an hour minimum wage would work out to $31,200 for a full-time 40-hour work week.
Here are the highest and lowest paid jobs in Canada right now.
The highest paid jobs in Canada (Hourly wage):
- Specialist physicians – $86.75
- Dentists – $72.00
- Petroleum engineers – $62.75
- Engineering managers – $58.30
- University professors and lecturers – $58.10
- Other managers in public administration – $56.25
- Geoscientists and oceanographers – $55.50
- Senior government managers and officials – $55.45
- Commissioned police officers – $54.30
- Chemical engineers – $54.20
Many of the jobs on the lowest paid list include positions that also receive tips – which are not included in the hourly wages listed here. Bartenders and wait staff, particularly at higher-end establishments can have quite high incomes despite having low hourly wages on paper. The greater part of their income comes from gratuities rather than salary.
Similarly, one of the occupation classes Stats Can listed as having the lowest wages was the Sales field. That is because professional sales reps make a large part of their income from commissions, which are also not included in the hourly pay rate.
It is the people working the jobs on the lowest paid list that don’t receive tips or commission that are really the bottom earners.
Canada’s lowest paid jobs:
- Bartenders – $11.50
- Food and beverage servers – $11.85
- Maîtres d’hôtel and hosts/hostesses – $12.85
- Food counter attendants, kitchen helpers and related support occupations – $13.05
- Service station attendants – $13.05
- Harvesting labourers – $13.10
- Nursery and greenhouse workers – $13.25
- Shoe repairers and shoemakers – $13.65
- Hairstylists and barbers – $13.75
- Cashiers – $13.95
Despite the crash in the oil market, Alberta is still home to six of the top ten regions for high wages. Wood Buffalo (Fort Mac) is the town with the top hourly pay rate in the country.
The 10 regions with the highest hourly wages:
- Wood Buffalo–Cold Lake, Alberta – $36.50
- Nunavut – $35.95
- Northwest Territories – $34.20
- Calgary, Alberta – $32.60
- Toronto, Ontario – $30.40
- Edmonton, Alberta – $30.20
- Regina–Moose Mountain, Saskatchewan – $30.00
- Camrose–Drumheller, Alberta – $29.95
- Banff–Jasper–Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca–Grande Prairie–Peace River, Alberta – $29.70
- Red Deer, Alberta – $29.20
The areas with lower than average pay rates tend to be in the Maritimes and Quebec. Edmonston, New Brunswick has the lowest average hourly wage in Canada right now at $19.20.
The 10 regions with the lowest hourly wages:
- Edmundston–Woodstock, New Brunswick – $19.40
- Campbellton–Miramichi, New Brunswick – $21.30
- Prince Edward Island – $21.30
- Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec – $21.70
- Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia – $21.75
- Moncton–Richibucto, New Brunswick – $21.75
- Chaudière-Appalaches, Quebec – $22.00
- North Shore, Nova Scotia – $22.05
- Centre-du-Québec, Quebec – $22.60
- Mauricie, Quebec – $22.70
If you make it to the top, you make more money, of course. Of all occupations, the highest average hourly wage was for management jobs particularly in the mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction field.
The Prime Minister of Canada’s salary is $334,800 a year. Members of Parliament make $167,400 – or almost as much as Specialist Physicians. Cabinet Ministers earn $247,500.
Sources:
Canadian Hourly wages: Statistics Canada – Wages by Occupation
Government salaries: Base Salaries and Extra Compensation for Canadian MPs
