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Top DownloadsLabour Costs in New Brunswick
Be in a place where...
• The cost of labour remains stable
• Bilingual workers won’t cost a premium
• Benefits packages won’t break your bank
• Leading American consultant, The Boyd Company,
confirms New Brunswick’s payroll advantages
The KPMG 2008 Competitive Alternatives study positions New Brunswick cities Moncton and Fredericton as extremely competitive on labour costs including wages and employee benefits. Savings on labour are 20% compared to average costs of the G7 countries.
| Annual labour savings (KPMG 2008) | Versus U.S. | Versus G7 average costs | Versus Canada |
| New Brunswick | 3 - 12% | 17 - 23% | 8 - 10% |
Competitive Wages
Consider these facts:
• New Brunswick’s wages are among the most competitive on the continent. 2009 average annual earnings are anywhere from 3 to 40 per cent lower than anywhere else in North America for: Computer Programmers, Electronics Technicians, Machine Tool Operators, Machinists, Mechanical Engineers, Production Supervisors and Systems Analysts.
• Since the number of hours required to be considered overtime in Canada is 44 hours, whereas American companies must pay overtime after only 40 hours, the payroll differential can grow substantially for most production operations.
• Minimum wage is set at $8.25/hr and the overtime rate is $12.38/hr.
Affordable Employee Benefits Cost
Mandated, or legislated, employee benefits (for the Contact Centre industry) in New Brunswick are only 14.5% of payroll - the 3rd lowest in Canada - and below the Canadian average cost of 16.2% of payroll.
| 2008 Fringe Benefit Costs - Mandated % of Payroll (%) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BC | AB | SK | QC | ON | NS | NB | NL | PE | MB | |
| Annual Vacation Pay | 4.00 | 4.00 | 5.77 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 | 4.00 |
| Statutory Holidays | 3.46 | 3.46 | 3.85 | 3.08 | 3.46 | 1.92 | 2.69 | 2.31 | 2.31 | 3.08 |
| Employment Insurance | 2.42 | 2.42 | 2.42 | 2.58 | 2.42 | 2.42 | 2.42 | 2.42 | 2.42 | 2.42 |
| Canada Pension Plan | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 | 4.95 |
| Labour Standards | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.08 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Manpower Training | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Subtotal | 14.83 | 14.83 | 16.99 | 15.69 | 14.83 | 13.29 | 14.06 | 13.68 | 13.68 | 14.45 |
| Workers’ Compensation - Contact Centre (CC) | 0.30 | 0.26 | 0.34 | 0.65 | 0.36 | 0.74 | 0.40 | 1.30 | 0.26 | 0.23 |
| Workers’ Compensation - Manufacturing | 1.56 | 1.32 | 1.69 | 2.14 | 2.26 | 2.65 | 2.05 | 2.75 | 2.15 | 1.60 |
| Total Mandated Rate - CC | 15.13 | 15.09 | 17.33 | 20.60 | 17.14 | 14.03 | 14.46 | 16.98 | 13.94 | 16.83 |
| Total Mandated Rate - Manufacturing | 16.39 | 16.15 | 18.68 | 22.09 | 19.04 | 15.94 | 16.11 | 18.43 | 15.83 | 18.20 |
| Average CC = 16.15% (Telephone answering services or office) Average Manufacturing = 17.69% |
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Sample benefits cost calculation:
$1 million payroll expense, contact centre.
| New Brunswick benefits expense | Average Canadian benefits expense | Average U.S. benefits expense | |
| $145,000 | $162,000 | $400,000 | |
| Annual savings in New Brunswick | N/A | $17,000/yr | $255,000/yr |
As employee benefits can cost as much as 40 percent of total payroll in North America, New Brunswick offers a compelling cost advantage of over 25%.
Read more about New Brunswick’s skilled workforce.
