Earnings

"A dollar a day is very good pay," went the labourer's motto at the time of Confederation. Today, the average worker earns considerably more. By 2001, men were earning an annual average of nearly $38,400 and women $24,700. In terms of 2001 constant dollars, however, Canadian paycheques remained relatively stagnant during the 1990s before increasing notably at the start of the new millennium. In 2001, men earned 11% more and women earned 12% more than they did 10 years earlier.

The hours we work and the occupations we choose largely determine how much we will earn. Predictably, those working full time make substantially more than those working part time ($744 weekly compared with $224 in 2002). Those working as managers or in natural and applied science jobs earned the highest hourly wages in 2002 while sales and service workers earned the lowest.

Canadians make most of their money from their jobs, whether they're working for themselves or for others. In 2001, earnings from employment accounted for three-quarters of Canadian individuals' income, with the rest coming from investment income, government transfers such as employment insurance benefits, and other income such as pensions.