Labour Policy

Measuring Labour Markets in Canada and the United States, 2018 finds that compared to most U.S. states, Canadian provinces fare poorly on key labour indicators including private-sector job growth and employment rates. Overall, all 10 Canadian provinces rank in the bottom half of the 60 jurisdictions with British Columbia (35th) and Saskatchewan (41st) the highest ranked Canadian provinces. North Dakota ranked first overall in the study.

Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in British Columbia finds that public-sector employees in B.C.—including municipal, provincial and federal government workers—received 7.5 per cent higher wages on average than comparable workers in the private sector last year, and also enjoyed more generous pensions, earlier retirement, more personal leave and greater job security.

Increasing the Minimum Wage in British Columbia: A Flawed Anti-Poverty Policy finds that despite misperceptions, more than 80 per cent of B.C.’s minimum-wage earners don’t actually live in low-income families. In fact, last year, the majority of minimum-wage earners in the province (55.7 per cent) were teenagers or young adults aged 15 to 24, almost all of whom (77.9 per cent) lived with their parents or other relatives.