More than half of Canadian workers were frequently exposed to ergonomic risk factors in 2024-2025, while 17 per cent reported doing unpaid work in their free time several times a month, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The Canadian Survey on Working Conditions found that 54.3 per cent of workers faced regular ergonomic risks such as repetitive hand or arm movements. The survey aims to provide a fuller picture of employment quality in Canada, complementing existing labour force data.
Physical risks vary by occupation
Ergonomic risks were the most common physical hazard, affecting workers across multiple sectors. Natural resources, agriculture and related production workers faced the highest exposure rates at 74.9 per cent, followed by trades, transport and equipment operators at 74.5 per cent and manufacturing and utilities workers at 73.2 per cent.
Ambient physical risks, including exposure to high and low temperatures and loud noises, affected 28.1 per cent of workers overall. Manufacturing and utilities workers faced the highest rates at 65 per cent, followed by natural resources and agriculture at 64.9 per cent and trades and transport workers at 64.7 per cent.
Nearly one in five workers, or 17.8 per cent, were frequently exposed to biological and chemical risks. Health care workers faced significantly higher exposure at 46.6 per cent.
Education level linked to risk exposure
Workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher reported the lowest exposure rates across all physical risk categories. This group faced ergonomic risks at 41.9 per cent, ambient risks at 15.1 per cent and biological and chemical risks at 10.4 per cent.
Workers with a high school diploma or less were most likely to face frequent ergonomic risks at 64 per cent and ambient risks at 40.8 per cent.
Men were more likely than women to be exposed to ambient risks at 35.9 per cent compared with 19.5 per cent, and biological and chemical risks at 20.2 per cent versus 15.2 per cent. Exposure to ergonomic risks was similar between men at 54.7 per cent and women at 53.7 per cent.
Health workers face angry clients
Over one-third of health care workers, or 35.2 per cent, frequently dealt with angry or dissatisfied clients, patients or students, more than double the overall rate of 16.1 per cent across all occupations.
Women were more likely than men to deal with angry clients at 20.1 per cent compared with 12.5 per cent. Youth aged 15 to 24 faced the highest exposure at 22.1 per cent, compared with 17 per cent for workers aged 25 to 54 and 8.9 per cent for those aged 55 to 69.
Long hours more common for men
Two-thirds of workers in natural resources, agriculture and related production, or 66.4 per cent, worked more than 10 hours a day at least once a month. One-third of workers in this sector had less than 11 hours of rest between workdays at least once in the previous month.
Men were more likely than women to work night shifts at 22.3 per cent versus 14.5 per cent, and to have workdays exceeding 10 hours at 43.3 per cent compared with 25.1 per cent.
Managers face tight deadlines and unpaid work
Half of workers in management occupations, or 50.2 per cent, frequently worked to tight deadlines, nearly 20 percentage points higher than workers in jobs requiring a high school diploma or less at 31.6 per cent.
Over one-third of managers, or 34.6 per cent, completed unpaid work in their free time several times a month or more to meet work demands. Workers in jobs requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher reported unpaid work at 29.5 per cent, compared with 12.8 per cent for those in jobs requiring a college diploma or apprenticeship and 6 per cent for jobs requiring a high school diploma or less.
Schedule flexibility varies by industry
The majority of Canadian employees, or 58.9 per cent, had schedules set by their employer, while 8.9 per cent could choose between different fixed schedules. Just over one-quarter, or 26.2 per cent, could adapt working hours within limits, and 6.3 per cent determined their hours entirely.
Employees in professional, scientific and technical services were most likely to have flexible schedules at 58.3 per cent. Those in business, building and other support services had the lowest flexibility at 24.2 per cent.
Core-aged parents living with a child under six were about as likely to have flexible schedules at 33.7 per cent as core-aged employees without children at 32.7 per cent.
Support levels differ across groups
Most employees reported frequent support from colleagues at 79.5 per cent and managers at 73.6 per cent. Construction workers reported the highest colleague support at 83.9 per cent, while employees in finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing reported the highest manager support at 80.8 per cent.
Health care and social assistance employees reported the lowest manager support at 66.2 per cent. Transportation and warehousing workers had below-average manager support at 67.9 per cent and the lowest colleague support at 71.4 per cent.
Black employees reported colleague support at 69.4 per cent and manager support at 66.2 per cent, compared with 81.6 per cent and 74 per cent respectively among non-racialized, non-Indigenous employees. Southeast Asian employees reported colleague support at 70.7 per cent, and Arab employees at 72.3 per cent.
Most workers find work meaningful
Over four in five workers, or 81.9 per cent, felt they were doing useful work most of the time or always. Agriculture workers reported the highest rates at 92.3 per cent, followed by construction at 88.5 per cent and health care and social assistance at 87.2 per cent.
Statistics Canada collected the survey data from September 2024 to July 2025 across four collection periods. The survey represents employed people aged 15 to 69 living in the provinces, excluding those on Indigenous reserves, full-time armed forces members and unpaid family workers.
