Modest Rise for Canadian Average Wage

Average weekly earnings of payroll employees were $824.00 (£474) in July, up 1.6% from July 2008. This was similar to the 1.8% per annum increase in average weekly earnings between June 2008 and June 2009. However, it was considerably slower than the most recent year-over-year peak of 3.0% in October 2008.

Within Canada’s largest industrial sectors, the fastest pace of growth in average weekly earnings between July 2008 and July 2009 occurred in educational services (6.9%), public administration (4.1%) and health care and social assistance (3.3%).

At the same time, average weekly earnings fell in manufacturing (-5.5%), accommodation and food services (-2.9%), as well as retail trade (-0.4%).

Newfoundland and Labrador experienced the fastest increase (6.0%) in average weekly earnings between July 2008 and July 2009. Manitoba had the second fastest rate of growth (4.3%), followed by Prince Edward Island (4.2%) and Alberta (4.0%). Two provinces had year-over-year earnings growth below the national average: Ontario (1.1%) and Quebec (0.7%).

Canadian Average Weekly Earnings By Province
July 2009

Province	Average Weekly Earnings $ (£)
Newfoundland and Labrador	805 (£463)
Prince Edward Island	699 (£402)
Nova Scotia	734 (£422)
New Brunswick	754 (£434)
Quebec	775 (£446)
Ontario	845 (£486)
Manitoba	780 (£449)
Saskatchewan	804 (£462)
Alberta	943 (£542)
British Columbia	799 (£460)

Canadian Average Weekly Earnings By Industry
July 2009

Industry	Average Weekly Earnings $ (£)
Forestry & logging	781 (£450)
Mining, oil & gas	1602 (£611)
Utilities	1500 (£864)
Construction	1060 (£610)
Manufacturing	908 (£523)
Wholesale trade	995 (£573)
Retail trade	479 (£276)
Transportation & warehousing	875 (£504)
Information & cultural industries	1058 (£609)
Finance & insurance	1030 (£593)
Real estate, rental & leasing	774 (£446)
Professional, scientific & technical services	1099 (£633)
Management of companies & enterprises	1163 (£670)
Health care & social assistance	771 (£444)
Arts, entertainment & recreation	537 (£309)
Accommodation & food services	326(£188)
Educational services	903 (£520)
Public administration	1083 (£623)

exchange rate £1 = $1.737
Data from Statistics Canada