Canadian businesses increase average wages to attract more workers due to the severe labor shortages, Canadian employers offer higher wages to employees to attract more workers. In 2022, average wages increased by 3.4 percent to hit $1,173.90 weekly. With the labor market in Canada being so competitive, foreign nationals have a unique chance to seize this opportunity and gain permanent residency through the numerous economic immigration programs.
According to the latest update from Statistics Canada, job vacancies stayed high in December, with overall job vacancies at 848,800. While the number of job vacancies in transportation, warehousing, finance, and insurance declined, healthcare and social assistance experienced a surge in open positions.
Canadian businesses increase average wages in the following sectors:
- Industries that produce products and services
- Health care and social assistance
- Finance and insurance
- Construction
Payroll Employment in Goods and Service producing sectors:
In December, the services-producing sector increased payroll employment by 72,400 (+0.5%). Payroll employment in the goods sector increased by 13,600 (+0.4%),
Health care and social assistance payroll employment increase:
Health care and social assistance payroll employment increased by 26,500 (+1.2%) in December. This was the fourth consecutive month of increase.
Seven provinces increase in payroll employment in this industry in December 2022, with Quebec (+8,800; +1.7%), Ontario (+5,600; +0.7%), British Columbia (+4,600; +1.5%), and Alberta (+3,800; +1.6%) taking the lead. There was a small decline in Newfoundland and Labrador (-100; -0.3%).
General medical and surgical hospitals have seen the biggest rise (+6,900; +1.2%), followed by outpatient care centers (+3,700; +2.3%), and individual and family services (+3,100; +1.7%). These three industries made up about 40% of total payroll employment in the sector.
Payroll employment in the finance and insurance sector:
With continued month-over-month growth in the industry, payroll employment in the finance and insurance sector increased by 13,800 (+1.7%) in December, capping off 2022. Payroll employment in the industry increased on a yearly basis by 59,000 (+7.6%) in December. Gains from month to month were centered in Ontario (+6,700; +1.7%) and Quebec (+4,800; +2.8%) in December.
On a national level, payroll employment increased in 7 out of the 11 industries in the sector in December, with insurance carriers (+4,100; +2.6%), agencies, brokerages, and other insurance-related businesses (+2,400; +2.5%), and intermediation and brokerage of securities and commodity contracts (+2,100; 4.0%) leading the way.
Increases construction payroll employment:
Construction payroll employment rose for the fourth straight month in December (+11,500; +1.0%), bringing the year-to-date increases to 40,600 (+3.6%) since September. Alberta (+2,500; +1.4%) and Ontario (+4,800; +1.2%) registered the biggest monthly gains in construction in December.
Highway, street, and bridge construction (+2,700; +4.9%), foundation, structure, and building contractors (+2,600; +1.9%), and building machinery contractors (+2,100; +0.7%) all led to the sector’s monthly gains nationally. The only sector to experience a month-over-month decline in December was residential building construction (-2,400; -1.4%), which coincided with a 2.1% decline in residential building investments during the same month.
Average wages increased by 3.4%
Average weekly wages increased by 3.4% to $1,174 in December on an annual basis, which is less than the 4.0% growth recorded in November. The largest proportional increase in average weekly earnings was reported in the:
- Newfoundland and Labrador (+6.7%, to $1,177),
- New Brunswick (+4.6%, to $1,078) and
- Quebec (+4.5%, to $1,130).
Job vacancies up in health care and social assistance
In December, there were 149,800 job vacancies in the health care and social assistance sectors, an increase of 18,200 (+13.8%) that more than recorded for the drop in November (-19,400; -12.8%).
Since the start of the pandemic, job openings in the sector have more than doubled, accounted 17.7% of all vacancies in December, up from 13.6% in February 2020. From February 2020 to December 2022, payroll employment in social assistance and health care increased as well, but at a much slower rate. As a consequence, the sector’s job vacancy rate increased from 3.5% in February 2020 to 6.2% in December, which was the third-highest of all sectors.
5 top sectors for job vacancies
Job vacancies held steady in 14 sectors in December, including 5 sectors that together accounted for nearly half (49.0%) of all vacancies in the month: accommodation and food services (108,800 job vacancies); retail trade (100,200); construction (77,400); manufacturing (71,700); and professional, scientific, and technical services (58,100).
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