AI Analysis: Employment and average weekly earnings (including overtime) for all employees by province and territory, monthly, seasonally adjusted

Executive Summary

Canada's labour market grew substantially over the 25-year period from January 2001 to January 2026, with total employment rising 42% from approximately 12.9 million to 18.3 million workers across 27 NAICS industry categories. The dataset reveals stark contrasts between industries in both workforce size and compensation, with resource-intensive sectors like Mining and Utilities commanding the highest weekly earnings (~$1,808 and ~$1,667 respectively) while large employers like Accommodation and Food Services pay as little as $373 per week. The single most significant disruption across the entire period was the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which caused a sharp but temporary employment decline before a robust recovery resumed the long-term upward trend.

Key Findings

• Total Canadian employment grew by 42% over 25 years, rising from ~12.9 million persons in January 2001 to ~18.3 million in January 2026, based on seasonally adjusted monthly data.
• The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 was the most dramatic disruption in the dataset, producing the largest month-over-month employment swings on record, though no individual data point exceeded a z-score of 2.5 due to the prolonged nature of the shock.
• Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction is the highest-paying sector at an average of $1,808/week, approximately 4.8 times more than the lowest-paying sector, Accommodation and Food Services, at just $373/week.
• Employment data is highly right-skewed, with a mean of ~2.4 million persons but a median of only ~833,000, and a standard deviation of ~4.3 million — reflecting the outsized influence of large provinces like Ontario and Quebec.
• Average weekly earnings across Canada ranged from $256 to $2,565, with a mean of $1,021 and a median of $977, indicating a relatively balanced and near-normal distribution of wages across regions and time periods.
• The smallest industries by employment — Forestry, logging and support (~45,000 persons) and Management of companies and enterprises (~107,000 persons) — contrast sharply with the Industrial Aggregate total of ~15.5 million, illustrating the wide structural variation across sectors.
• Industries with the highest employment do not necessarily offer the highest wages; large workforce sectors like Trade and Retail rank low in earnings, while small but capital-intensive sectors like Mining and Utilities rank at the top.