Statistics Canada Reports Decades-Long Wage Trends by Job Type, Age, and Gender
From 1981 to 2024, median real hourly wages in Canada increased by 20%, with most of the growth occurring after 2003, according to Statistics Canada in a presentation released on June 9, 2025.
Statistics Canada data show that wage changes varied by job type, age, and gender over the four-decade period. These differences provide insight into how earnings have changed for different groups in the workforce.
Statistics Canada reports that median real hourly wages in full-time jobs—defined as positions with at least 30 hours of work per week—increased by 24% from 1981 to 2024. In comparison, the median real hourly wage in part-time jobs rose by 6% during the same period. Between 1981 and 1998, median real hourly wage growth for men and women aged 25 to 34 in full-time employment was about 20 percentage points lower than for those aged 45 to 54. From 1998 to 2024, the pattern reversed, with wage growth for younger full-time workers (ages 25 to 34) about 5 percentage points higher than for those aged 45 to 54, according to Statistics Canada.
The agency states that women experienced faster wage growth than men in all age groups, narrowing the gender wage gap. In 1981, the median hourly wage of women aged 25 to 54 in full-time jobs was 75% of the median wage for men in the same group. By 2024, this figure had risen to 90%. Among women aged 25 to 34, the median wage was 78 cents for every dollar earned by men in 1981, increasing to 96 cents in 2024. For women aged 45 to 54, the median wage increased from 71 cents per dollar in 1981 to 83 cents in 2024. Statistics Canada attributes these changes to longer job tenure and higher educational attainment among women, as well as an increase in the number of women in higher-paying occupations.
From 2022 to 2024, Statistics Canada states that average real hourly wages in full-time jobs considered highly exposed to artificial intelligence grew by 3% to 4%. The agency notes that this rate was similar whether the jobs were seen as likely to benefit from AI or to be partly replaced by it.
All figures from this report refer to real hourly wages before taxes and deductions, and are adjusted for inflation using the all-items Consumer Price Index. Further information is available in the Statistics Canada presentation, “Research to Insights: Wages in Canada, 1981 to 2024.”