Canadian women saw their average hourly wages grow 21.3 per cent from 2006 to 2024, outpacing men’s wage growth of 15.9 per cent during the same period, according to Statistics Canada data released Monday.
The federal agency’s updated Quality of Employment report shows employee wages increased $5.47 per hour since 2006 when adjusted for inflation, representing an 18.4 per cent jump. Compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019, wages rose $1.69 per hour or 5.0 per cent, Statistics Canada said.
Indigenous workers face persistent wage gaps
Indigenous employees continue earning less than their non-Indigenous counterparts, the data shows. Among core-aged workers between 25 and 54, First Nations people living off reserve earned $33.37 per hour on average, while Métis living in provinces earned $35.67 per hour. Both groups earned less than non-Indigenous employees’ average of $37.77 per hour.
Inuit living in provinces earned $33.42 per hour on average, according to the report.
However, higher education narrows these disparities. Among employees with bachelor’s degrees or higher, the wage gap disappeared entirely for Métis workers and became smaller for First Nations employees, Statistics Canada found.
Job security concerns vary by ethnicity
West Asian and Arab employees reported higher levels of job insecurity than other groups. In April 2025, 13.8 per cent of West Asian employees and 12.8 per cent of Arab employees agreed they might lose their jobs within six months, compared to 6.9 per cent of non-racialized, non-Indigenous workers.
Both groups also held temporary positions at higher rates, Statistics Canada said. These patterns matched data collected in November 2023.
Public sector offers better benefits
Public sector workers enjoyed greater access to workplace benefits than private sector employees. Statistics Canada found 80.9 per cent of public sector workers had medical or dental coverage through their employer, compared to 62.1 per cent in the private sector.
Paid vacation leave access also favoured public workers, with 81.7 per cent receiving this benefit versus 70.0 per cent of private sector employees. The agency attributed these differences partly to higher unionization rates in government positions.
The data comes from the Labour Force Survey and its supplements, which Statistics Canada uses to track employment quality based on United Nations Economic Commission for Europe standards. The agency launched its Quality of Employment publication in 2022 to monitor changing labour market conditions across multiple indicators.
