Government workers in Quebec earn higher wages and receive more generous benefits than comparable private-sector workers, according to a new study from the Fraser Institute.
Government employees in Quebec earned wages 26.1 per cent higher on average than private-sector workers in 2024, based on data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.
After adjusting for factors including age, gender, education, tenure, type of work, industry and occupation, government employees still earned 2.0 per cent higher wages. When unionization is factored in, the wage premium drops to 0.7 per cent.
Pension and retirement differences
Government workers in Quebec have significantly greater pension coverage than private-sector workers. In 2024, 96.6 per cent of government workers were covered by a registered pension plan, compared to 23.7 per cent of private-sector workers.
Among those with registered pension plans, 95.5 per cent of government workers had defined-benefit pensions, compared to 56.1 per cent of private-sector workers.
Government workers in Quebec also retire earlier than private-sector workers, by an average of 2.8 years.
Leave and job security
Full-time government workers were absent from their jobs for personal reasons an average of 16.7 days in 2024, compared to 10.7 days for private-sector workers.
Job loss rates also differed between sectors. In 2024, 3.1 per cent of private-sector employees in Quebec experienced job loss, compared to 0.4 per cent of government workers.
Fiscal implications
The Quebec government is projecting a deficit exceeding $12 billion this year. Aligning government compensation with the private sector could reduce costs without affecting services, according to Jake Fuss, director of fiscal policy at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the study.
“Closing the compensation gap in Quebec between the government and private sectors would reduce costs and can help ensure the long-term sustainability of government finances,” said Fuss.
The Fraser Institute is a non-partisan public policy research organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Halifax.
