The wage picture in this country is not a good one, especially in Ontario.
Statistics Canada reports that average earnings of non-farm employees in Canada over the last year rose by a mere 1.0 per cent, below the rate of inflation.
The situation is even worse in Ontario, where wages have lagged so badly they bring down the national average. Compared to the previous year, average earnings for the industrial aggregate in Ontario fell by 1.5 per cent, while in the rest of Canada, earnings rose by 2.75 per cent.
People working for institutions of learning in Ontario fared worse than their counterparts elsewhere. Employees in the school, vocational, college, and university systems in the rest of Canada saw their earnings increase by almost 2.0 per cent from one September to the next. In Ontario, average earnings fell by 7.5 per cent.
Much of that decline was borne by salaried teachers, instructors, and professors, whose average earnings dropped by almost 9.0 per cent.
This article originally appeared in the OCUFA Report. To receive stories like this every week in your inbox, please subscribe.