Calculating Your Wage Gap
Calculator Note:
The wage gap based on average hourly earnings as an indicator considers pay for one hour of work. It is the most neutral and lowest wage gap compared with weekly and yearly earnings indicators, and is best used for research because it controls for factors such as differences of hours worked with employees who work full-time, part-time, flex-time, etc.
By comparing for wage rates only, it gives a clearer idea of wages as “value”.
The calculation is meant to provide employers with an indicator of wage gap, and is a measure of wage gap as a whole reflecting on both societal attitudes and contributors to the wage gap (family responsibilities, job clustering, and the under-valuation of traditional female occupations).
In some cases, the Wage Gap may not be evident from doing a direct comparison for hourly wages.
For example: An auto mechanic store with a small or zero wage gap % may still have issues with job clustering which is a contributor to the wage gap if all of their administrative staff are women and all of their mechanics are men.
Therefore, it is important for employers to also Evaluate Gender Composition within the organization by looking at:
- % of women and men in senior management positions
- % of women and men in the top pay classes
- % of women and men in the bottom pay classes
- Types of positions held by women and men
How do you compare?
Wage Gap and Average Hourly Wages (2019)
| Regions | Average Hourly Wage Rate ($) | Wage Gap (%) | |
| Males | Females | ||
| Canada | 29.61 | 26.02 | 12.1% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 28.36 | 24.37 | 14.1% |
| Prince Edward Island | 22.62 | 22.85 |
-1.0% |
| Nova Scotia | 24.98 | 22.52 | 9.8% |
| New Brunswick | 24.50 | 22.46 | 8.3% |
| Quebec | 28.06 | 25.19 | 10.2% |
| Ontario | 29.96 |
26.70 |
10.9% |
Manitoba | 26.59 |
23.80 |
10.5% |
| Saskatchewan | 29.51 | 25.60 | 13.2% |
| Alberta | 33.97 | 28.56 | 15.9% |
| British Columbia | 29.89 | 25.40 | 15.0% |
Source: Statistics Canada. Table 14-10-0064-01. Employee wages by industry, annual.
Common Occupations Held by Women and Men
(New Brunswick, 2015)
Top 10 Most Female-Dominated Occupations*
- Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
- Administrative assistants
- Home support workers, housekeepers and related occupations
- Early childhood educators and assistants
- Elementary and secondary school teacher assistants
- Medical administrative assistants
- Home child care providers
- Other medical technologists and technicians (except dental health)
- Estheticians, electrologists and related occupations
- Executive assistants
Top 10 Most Male-Dominated Occupations*
- Carpenters
- Automotive service technicians, truck and bus mechanics and mechanical repairers
- Heavy equipment operators (except crane)
- Construction millwrights and industrial mechanics
- Contractors and supervisors, heavy equipment operator crews
- Heavy-duty equipment mechanics
- Plumbers
- Chain saw and skidder operators
- Plasterers, drywall installers and finishers and lathers
- Logging machinery operators
*These occupations employ the highest percentage of women to men (highest female to male ratio) and men to women (highest male to female ratio).
- Average Female Employment Income (based on top 10 female dominated occupations): $26, 692
- Five of these ten occupations earned more than the average female income
- 51% of females work in the top 10 female dominated occupations
- Average Male Employment Income (based on top 10 male dominated occupations): $37, 633
- Seven of these ten occupations earned more than the average female income
- 54% of males work in the top 10 male dominated occupations
Source: Source: Statistics Canada, 2016 Census of Population.