In a ranking of employment incomes in the largest 141 metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States, only two Canadian cities rank in the top half, with most Canadian metro areas ranking near the bottom, according to a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.
Ben Eisen
“Canadians in our largest urban centres are generally earning less employment income than people living in comparable American cities,” said Ben Eisen, Fraser Institute senior fellow and co-author of Comparing Median Employment Income in Large Canadian and American Metropolitan Areas.
“Employment incomes are generally higher in US metropolitan areas—big and small—than they are in Canadian cities.”
The study compares median employment income—wages, salaries and commissions from paid and self-employment income (net) before taxes and government transfers—in the 141 largest metropolitan areas in Canada and the United States.
“Out of the 14 Canadian CMAs included in the study, only two rank in the top half, while the bottom ten per cent of the rankings includes a significant number of Canadian metropolitan areas—lagging far behind their American counterparts,” said the report.
“The highest-ranking Canadian metro area is Ottawa-Gatineau (52 out of 141), at $45,500, followed closely by Edmonton (53) at $45,470, then Calgary (72) at $43,870. The lowest ranking Canadian CMAs are St. Catharines-Niagara (138) at $31,540, London (135) at $36,180, and lastly Montreal (134) at $36,660.”
It said Canada’s largest cities, including Montreal (134th), Toronto (127th), and Vancouver (131st), which represent a significant portion (35.9 per cent) of the country’s population, rank among the lowest employment incomes in all 141 cities in the analysis.
Mario Toneguzzi
Mario Toneguzzi is Managing Editor of Canada’s Podcast. He has more than 40 years of experience as a daily newspaper writer, columnist, and editor. He was named in 2021 as one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the World by PR News – the only Canadian to make the list)
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