New data from Statistics Canada has revealed how much Canadians earn on average per week, along with average earnings across each province and territory. The findings, which use data from the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH), show that the average weekly earnings in Canada reached $1,333 in March 2026, up by 3.5 per cent compared to March 2025. This follows a 2.8 per cent year-over-year increase recorded in February.
Provincial Breakdown of Average Weekly Earnings
The StatCan data also revealed the average earnings in March 2026 for each province. At the top of the list for earnings is Nunavut, where residents earned an average of $1,874.95 per week — an increase of 7.8 per cent year-over-year. This is followed by Northwest Territories ($1,741.07), Yukon ($1,520.39), Alberta ($1,371.07), Ontario ($1,368.71), British Columbia ($1,348.36), Newfoundland and Labrador ($1,290.53), Saskatchewan ($1,288.82), Quebec ($1,283.60), New Brunswick ($1,231.77), Manitoba ($1,214.49), and Nova Scotia ($1,210.83).
At the bottom of the list is Prince Edward Island, where residents earned an average of $1,177.97 per week in March 2026 — an increase of 7.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2025, but nearly $700 less than Nunavut’s average.
Wage Growth Across Provinces
All provinces recorded wage increases between March 2025 and March 2026. Nunavut’s wages increased the most, by 7.8 per cent, while Newfoundland and Labrador saw the smallest increase, at 1.2 per cent. StatCan noted that, “Growth in average weekly earnings can reflect a range of factors, including changes in wages, composition of employment, hours worked and base-year effects.”
In March, Canadians worked an average of 33.4 hours per week, remaining relatively unchanged month-over-month while declining 0.3 per cent year over year.
Inflation and Consumer Pressures
But despite these increased average wages, Canadians continue to feel the pinch. Canada’s annual inflation rate rose to 2.8 per cent in April, Statistics Canada said earlier this month, up from an increase of 2.4 per cent in March. Much of the increase was attributed to higher gas prices, which were driven in part by the conflict in Iran.
This comes as documents recently obtained by National Post show that Canadian trucking and delivery companies have passed increased fuel costs on to customers, which economists say ultimately raises consumer prices.
Meanwhile, a recent TD survey revealed that more than one in three Canadians (35 per cent) plan to spend less this summer, with 44 per cent citing fuel costs as the reason they’ll be cutting back on travel. The survey also found that Canadians are adapting to cost pressures through practices like redeeming loyalty points (66 per cent) and choosing lower-cost options like second-hand or DIY (36 per cent).
