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•	Policy Overview
•	Transportation in Canada Annual Reports
•	Table of Contents
•	Report Highlights
•	1. Introduction
•	2. Transportation and the Canadian Economy
•	3. Government Spending on Transportation
•	4. Transportation and Safety
•	5. Transportation - Energy and Environment
•	6. Transportation and Regional Economies
•	7. Transportation and Employment
•	8. Transportation and Trade
•	9. Transportation and Tourism
•	10. Transportation Infrastructure
•	11. Structure of the Transportation Industry
•	12. Freight Transportation
•	13. Passenger Transportation
•	14. Price, Productivity and Financial Performance in the Transportation Sector
•	Minister of Transport
•	Addendum

Transport Canada

7 TRANSPORTATION AND
EMPLOYMENT

Average Salaries

Overview

In 1999, average weekly earnings across all modes, including overtime, was $734Note 23. This was a small increase (0.7 per cent) over 1998, but equal to the 0.7 per cent increase in the economy as a whole.Note 24

Railway employees continue to enjoy the highest average weekly earnings, at $1,005 per week. In contrast, public transit and trucking employees averaged $644 and $669, respectively. If compared with 1998, very little change in average weekly salaries occurred during 1999 in any of the modes.

Employees in the rail industry enjoyed the largest increase (30 per cent) in average weekly earnings between 1990 and 1999. Wages in the air sector had the smallest increase over the same period, at 14 per cent. Average transportation wages in all sectors have increased by 21 per cent since 1990, the same as the economy as a whole.Note 25

Figure 7-1 shows average weekly earnings, by mode, for 1990 and 1999.

Average weekly earnings for transport-related jobs in 1999 were highest in British Columbia, at $837, followed by Alberta and Manitoba. Workers in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan, at $636 and $641, respectively, had the lowest average weekly incomes. If compared with 1990, workers in Alberta enjoyed the largest percentage increase in average weekly earnings over the last decade (32 per cent), followed by Ontario and Nova Scotia. Average weekly earnings in Quebec increased by 15.4 per cent between 1990 and 1999.

Table 7-16Note 26 shows the regional distribution of average weekly earnings in the transportation sector for the period 1990 to 1999.

Rail

Average annual compensation in the rail sector has increased by 38 per cent from 1990 to 1999.Note 27 Historically, employees directly involved in providing rail transport services have had a significantly higher average compensation than the rail industry average. This differential has been increasing over time; in 1990 it was nine per cent, compared with 12 per cent in 1998.

With the exception of equipment maintenance workers (since 1995),Note 28 Class I railway employees earn significantly higher salaries than their Class II counterparts. This is particularly evident in the case of the transport services workers. In 1998, Class I workers averaged $16,000 more per year than their Class II peers.

In current dollars, average annual compensation in the rail industry increased by four per cent in 1998 and an additional two per cent in 1999.

Table 7-17, shows average annual compensation in the rail industry in the various job categories for the period 1990 to 1999.

Truck

Average weekly earnings, by region, in the trucking industry vary considerably across the country. In 1999, the lowest average weekly earnings were in the Atlantic Region and Saskatchewan, with Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland close to 30 per cent below the national average of $669 per week. The highest average weekly earnings were in British Columbia, 20 per cent above the national average. At $688, average weekly earnings in Ontario were almost representative of the national average.

During 1999, average weekly earnings actually decreased in six provinces, leading to an overall decrease in the national average. The largest decline was in New Brunswick (6.9 per cent), followed by Saskatchewan (six per cent) and Ontario (four per cent). Alberta and Nova Scotia both enjoyed substantive increases of 5.7 and 4.3 per cent, respectively.Note 29

Table 7-18 shows the regional distribution of average weekly earnings in trucking in Canada.

Bus

The average annual salary of employees of largeNote 30 scheduled intercity bus operators was $32,716 in 1998. This was a 6.7 per cent decrease from the average salary reported in 1990 (current dollars). The most significant decrease occurred during 1996, when average salaries dropped by 4.6 per cent from 1995 levels. Average salaries decreased by 3.4 per cent in 1997 and a further 1.5 per cent in 1998.

LargeNote 31 school bus operators reported an average annual salary of $14,784 in 1998, a 21 per cent decrease from 1990. Average salaries increased by 8.6 per cent in 1998, following a 12 per cent decline in 1997. Quebec had the highest average salary for this industry, at $15,582, or 5.4 per cent higher than the national industry average. The average salary in western Canada was $12,368, more than 16 per cent below the Canadian average.

LargeNote 32 charter and other passenger bus companies reported an average annual salary of $20,779 in 1998. The average salary in Ontario, $18,751, was ten per cent lower than the industry average, while in Quebec and western Canada the average salary was ten and six per cent higher, respectively.

Urban transit companies reported an average annual salary of $53,826 in 1998. Urban transit workers in British Columbia and the Territories enjoyed the highest average annual salaries, $60,054, followed closely by workers in Quebec. Salaries in Atlantic Canada were considerably lower than the national average.

Historical comparisons are made difficult by the apparent erratic fluctuations in the average annual salaries reported for the intercity, school and charter bus sectors. These fluctuations can be explained by a number of factors alluded to earlier in the chapter.

Table 7-19 shows the average annual salary in the various sectors of the bus industry.

Marine

Annual labour costs per employee have increased by ten per cent since 1990. For-hire carrier compensation increased by 14 per cent, while that of government carriers increased by seven per cent over the same period. All the increases came at the expense of non-vessel crew members.

Table 7-20 shows the annual labour costs per employee for Canadian-based marine carriers.

Air

Average salaries and wages paid to Level I-III air carrier employees increased by 17 per cent between 1990 and 1998. Although labour costs had been steadily increasing until 1997, a slight decrease (0.3 per cent) was noted in 1998. Pilots and copilots and other flight personnel had their average salaries and wages decrease by 2.4 and 1.2 per cent, respectively. Conversely, management and administration employees enjoyed a 4.1 per cent increase. Average annual salaries and wages of other carrier personnel remained stable.

Average annual salaries and wages paid to Level IV air carrier employees increased by 37 per cent between 1990 and 1998. Preliminary data for 1998 indicates a very slight decrease (0.1 per cent) for this sector compared with 1997.Note 33 Average salaries and wages paid to Level IV air carrier employees in 1998 were ten per cent lower than those paid to their Level I-III counterparts.

Table 7-21 shows the labour cost of Levels I-V Canadian air carriers.