Fri Jan 27, 11:11 PM

Alberta's weekly wages highest in Canada

CTVNews.ca Staff
A pickup truck passes a mining shovel at an oil sands mine near Fort McMurray, Alta. The province had the highest weekly earnings in Canada in November, StatsCan says.(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh)
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Alberta workers had the highest weekly earnings in the country in November, while Ontario showed the weakest wage growth in the last year, Statistics Canada says.

The average weekly non-farm wage in Alberta was $1,052.53 in November, up five per cent from the same time last year.

During the same period, Ontario's wages grew a mere 0.5 per cent to $898.63, according to data released Thursday.

Newfoundland and Labrador showed the strongest growth in wages, up 5.7 per cent to $898.95.

Higher wages in Alberta are attributed to the lucrative oil and gas industry, as well as labour shortages prior to 2007.

Meanwhile, Canada's average weekly wage was $883.96 in November, virtually unchanged from October, but up 2.2 per cent from November 2010's average of $865.05.

Average weekly wage increases in the last year for Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and British Columbia were 5.1 per cent to $904.42, 4.6 per cent to $803.99 and 3.2 per cent to $849.99 respectively.

Prince Edward Island had the lowest overall pay at $740.84, up 1.6 per cent during the same time period.

Year-over-year wage growth beat the national average in four of the country's largest industrial sectors: administrative and support services; retail trade; professional, scientific and technical services and manufacturing.

Non-farm employment increased by 12,300 from October to November, with retail, construction, manufacturing, mining, health care and social assistance showing the most gains.

The number of workers increased 1.7 per cent, or 247,700 since November 2010, StatsCan said.

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