Quick answer: the Average Salary in Canada is about $1,347 a week (July 2026, SEPH) — roughly $70,000 annualised — but the typical full-time worker earns less: the 2025 full-time median was $1,320 a week, about $68,640 a year (Labour Force Survey). Statistics Canada runs two different measures, and this average Salary in Canada guide never averages them together: SEPH covers all employees including part-timers, while the LFS full-time median describes the typical full-time worker. All figures are gross Canadian dollars, before tax, unless labelled net.
Average Salary in Canada 2026–27 Guide — SEPH, LFS Median and Provincial Pay, by Source
Average salary in Canada in 2026–27 is best read as a range across two surveys, not a single number. SEPH (Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours) reports average weekly earnings for all employees including overtime, seasonally adjusted; the Labour Force Survey (LFS) reports median and average wages for a different population. No 2027-specific average Salary in Canada level exists — no source publishes a 2027 average for Canada as an observed figure. The title's "2026–27" is outlook only; the latest observed averages are July 2026 (SEPH) and 2025 annual (LFS).
The Two Headline Measures — SEPH vs LFS, Never Averaged — Average Salary in Canada
| Measure — Average Salary in Canada | Figure — Average Salary in Canada | What it actually measures |
|---|---|---|
| SEPH average weekly earnings (July 2026) | $1,347.14/week; ≈ $70,051/year annualised | All employees including overtime, seasonally adjusted; includes part-time (average weekly hours only 33.4); excludes self-employed, unincorporated owners and agricultural employees |
| LFS full-time median (2025 annual average) | $1,320/week; ≈ $68,640/year annualised | Typical full-time employee — the better "typical salary" anchor |
| LFS full-time average (2025 annual average) | $1,510/week; ≈ $78,520/year annualised | Full-time mean, about $190/week above the full-time median because high earners pull it up |
| LFS all-employee average / median (2025 annual average) | $69,148/year / $60,320/year | All employees, full- and part-time — understates full-time pay because part-timers are included |
SEPH July 2026 ($1,347.14, up 3.2% year on year; June 2026 revised to $1,343.77, growth 3.4%) was released 24 September 2026 in The Daily, "Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, July 2026" (StatCan table 14-10-0223-01). Its earlier 2026 points were March $1,333.23 (+3.5%) and June $1,343.86 (+3.4%) — trend only, never mixed with July in one table. StatCan itself warns that a change in the SEPH average can reflect wage changes, overtime, hours, or a shift in who is employed — not raises alone.
The LFS median hourly wage was $31.00 in August 2026, against an average hourly wage of $37.02. A December 2025 LFS snapshot gives all employees $1,346.77 a week at 35.1 hours, full-time $1,538.91 at 39.1 hours, and part-time $437.72 at 16.4 hours. Do not compare these employee figures with the older anchor of median total income before tax ($44,400 in 2024, $40,500 after tax) — that covers all income recipients including transfers, a different population.
Mean vs Median, Full-Time vs Part-Time, by Sex — Average Salary in Canada
On the same LFS table for 2025, the full-time mean ($1,510 a week) sits $190 a week above the full-time median ($1,320), and the all-employee mean ($69,148 a year) sits above the all-employee median ($60,320). Full-time is the right "typical salary" anchor: December 2025 full-time workers averaged $1,538.91 a week at 39.1 hours against $437.72 at 16.4 hours for part-time workers. By sex (LFS 2025 annual averages, weekly × 52): men $76,745 a year against women $61,118 — a 20.4% weekly gap, partly because men work more paid hours. On hourly pay the gap is smaller: women earned about 88.1 cents per hour for every dollar men earned (11.9% hourly gap) in 2025.
A StatCan study of employees aged 25–54 found measured factors (industry, occupation, education, part-time work, union coverage) explained 36.6% of the 13.3% hourly wage gap in 2018, leaving 63.4% unexplained — do not present the gap as fully explained. Full-time December 2025: men $1,645.81 a week at 40.0 hours, women $1,412.53 at 38.0 hours. Other December 2025 splits: union coverage $1,428.08 a week against no coverage $1,310.69; permanent employees $1,412.36 against temporary $831.00.
Provinces and Territories (SEPH, July 2026) — Average Salary in Canada
Source: StatCan SEPH table 14-10-0223-01, July 2026, seasonally adjusted, all employees including overtime. Yearly equivalents are ×52 illustrations, not contract salaries. Do not mix June 2026 rows into this table (June: Canada $1,343.86, Alberta $1,361.32, Ontario $1,327.44, Quebec $1,291.91, Nunavut $1,774.49, Northwest Territories $1,726.73, PEI $1,157.25).
| Province / territory (SEPH, July 2026) — Average Salary in Canada | Average weekly | Yearly equivalent (×52) | Year-on-year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nunavut | $1,844.70 | $95,924 | +2.3% |
| Northwest Territories | $1,821.38 | $94,712 | +4.8% |
| Yukon | $1,504.26 | $78,222 | +1.1% |
| Alberta | $1,399.61 | $72,780 | +2.5% |
| Ontario | $1,391.19 | $72,342 | +3.6% |
| British Columbia | $1,356.78 | $70,553 | +4.4% |
| Canada (national) | $1,347.14 | $70,051 | +3.2% |
| Saskatchewan | $1,325.24 | $68,912 | +4.4% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $1,317.98 | $68,535 | +1.7% |
| Quebec | $1,279.96 | $66,558 | +1.9% |
| New Brunswick | $1,261.88 | $65,618 | +5.3% |
| Nova Scotia | $1,228.91 | $63,903 | +5.6% |
| Manitoba | $1,217.11 | $63,290 | +3.1% |
| Prince Edward Island | $1,207.99 | $62,815 | +4.1% |
The territories top the list but have small populations and high costs, notably Nunavut; among provinces Alberta leads and PEI is lowest. Fastest provincial growth in July 2026 was Nova Scotia (+5.6%) and New Brunswick (+5.3%); slowest was Newfoundland and Labrador (+1.7%). A separate LFS full-time median by province (different survey, secondary reporting via a competitor page citing table 14-10-0064-01) gives Alberta $72,781, BC $71,947, Ontario $70,179, national $68,640, Quebec $65,229, Saskatchewan $65,250, Newfoundland and Labrador $64,896, Nova Scotia $61,991, New Brunswick $59,729, Manitoba $58,968 and PEI $58,929 — but its territory rows all show exactly $68,640, the national figure, so those territory rows are not used here.
Highest- and Lowest-Paying Sectors and Occupations — Average Salary in Canada
Labelled by source; SEPH sector averages and LFS occupation averages are not mixed into one ranking. SEPH by sector, July 2026 (via a secondary summary of the StatCan release): highest — mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction $2,556.80 a week; lowest — accommodation and food services $546.34 a week, roughly a 4.7× spread. SEPH sector growth, July 2026 (via a secondary summary): fastest — finance and insurance +9.9%, management of companies and enterprises +9.4%, administrative and support / waste management / remediation +8.5%, arts, entertainment and recreation +7.4%, utilities +4.9%; falling — forestry, logging and support activities −3.1%, real estate and rental and leasing −2.9%.
LFS by occupation group, December 2025 (average weekly wages, all employees): management occupations $2,327.65 a week ($60.00 an hour, 39.0 hours; full-time management $2,365.41), against business, finance and administration except management at $1,324.71 ($36.51 an hour).
The Alberta resource-sector outlier explains much of Alberta's provincial lead: Alberta employees in forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying and oil and gas averaged $134,985 a year in 2025 (median $120,640), against $73,172 for all Alberta employees, while the sector employed 5.9% of Alberta employees against 1.7% nationally — a sector-composition effect, not a general Alberta premium. No single clean SEPH figure was retrieved for retail or other services near the bottom, so none is invented here.
Pay by Education (2020 Census — Dated, Shape Only) — Average Salary in Canada
Source: Statistics Canada 2021 Census, table 98-10-0409-01 — average 2020 employment income of people who worked full year, full time, by highest credential. These are 2020 incomes: they show the shape of the premium, not 2026 pay levels.
| Highest credential (2020, full-year full-time) — Average Salary in Canada | Average employment income | vs high school |
|---|---|---|
| No certificate, diploma or degree | $49,520 | −17% |
| High school diploma | $59,450 | baseline |
| Apprenticeship certificate | $76,500 | +29% |
| College, CEGEP or other non-university diploma | $70,100 | +18% |
| Bachelor's degree | $92,100 | +55% |
| Master's degree | $110,100 | +85% |
| Degree in medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry | $132,200 | +122% |
| Earned doctorate (PhD) | $127,200 | +114% |
Medians for the top two (2020): doctorate $110,000; medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine or optometry $96,000. Field matters more than level alone: among students who finished a bachelor's in 2017, median employment income five years later (2022 dollars, StatCan table 37-10-0115-01) was $93,600 for computer and information sciences and $89,200 for engineering, against $60,100 for social and behavioural sciences and law and $53,000 for humanities. For youth aged 15–29 in 2025, median hourly wage was $19.00 with high school or less, $25.00 with a post-secondary diploma or certificate, and $30.00 with a university degree (Canada-level figures).
What $70,000 Gross Means in Net Pay in Ontario — Independent Estimate — Average Salary in Canada
Model case: single person, Ontario resident, employment income only, no RRSP, no dependants, no other credits or benefits. Federal + Ontario tax + CPP + EI, 2026 rates. This is an independent estimate computed from the brackets below — it is NOT the site's Canada calculator output, and that calculator's figure for $70,000 must be checked live at publish time; if it differs, the average Salary in Canada guide must say the calculator's engine may return a slightly different split, not silently replace this example. Quebec is not modelled (QPP, QPIP, federal abatement and Quebec's own brackets differ materially).
| Line (2026 rates, $70,000 Ontario) — Average Salary in Canada | Amount |
|---|---|
| Gross | $70,000.00 |
| CPP: 5.95% × ($70,000 − $3,500 basic exemption) | −$3,956.75 |
| EI: 1.63% × $68,900 ceiling | −$1,123.07 |
| Federal tax (after credits, see below) | −$7,278.18 |
| Ontario tax + $600 health premium (no surtax) | −$3,855.75 |
| Net | $53,786.25/year ≈ $4,482.19/month (23.2% effective deduction rate) |
Working: CPP base portion 4.95% × $66,500 = $3,291.75 (credit base) and enhanced 1% × $66,500 = $665.00 (income deduction), giving taxable income $70,000 − $665.00 = $69,335. Federal tax before credits: 14% × $58,523 ($8,193.22) + 20.5% × $10,812 ($2,216.46) = $10,409.68; credits at 14% — basic personal amount $16,452 ($2,303.28), Canada employment amount $1,501 ($210.14), CPP base ($460.85), EI ($157.23), total $3,131.50 — leaving federal tax $7,278.18.
(The lowest federal rate was cut to 14% for 2026, from 14.5% blended in 2025.) Ontario tax before credits: 5.05% × $53,891 ($2,721.50) + 9.15% × $15,444 ($1,413.13) = $4,134.63; credits at 5.05% — basic personal amount $12,989 ($655.94), CPP base ($166.23), EI ($56.71), total $878.88 — leaving Ontario tax $3,255.75, no surtax (below $5,818), plus the $600 health premium = $3,855.75.
Cross-check (secondary calculators, not StatCan): an independent Ontario calculator puts $60,000 at $46,947 net and $80,000 at $60,003 net, implying about $53,475 at $70,000 by interpolation — within about $300 of this estimate. Discrepancies flagged, not hidden: the Ontario basic personal amount is given as $12,989 by two 2026 sources and $12,747 by another (about a $12 tax difference); CPP ceilings are given as $74,600/$85,000 by two 2026 sources but about $72,400/$82,200 by one source that appears to carry 2025 ceilings; EI is 1.63% to $68,900 in two 2026 sources against 1.66% to about $64,000 in one source that appears stale. This computation uses the $74,600/$85,000 and 1.63%/$68,900 figures.
Outlook: Nominal Growth Near 3%, Real Growth Near Flat in 2027 — Average Salary in Canada
Observed: SEPH average weekly earnings rose 3.2% year on year in July 2026 (after 3.4% in June and 3.5% in March 2026). LFS average hourly wages rose 2.3% year on year in September 2026 while CPI inflation reached 3.1% — real hourly pay falling in that month. LFS annual-average hourly wage growth against CPI was +4.9% against +2.4% in 2023–24 (real +2.4%) and +3.4% against +2.1% in 2024–25 (real +1.3%); from 2021 to 2025 the average hourly wage rose 20.9% in accommodation and food services and 21.7% in business, building and other support services, against 18.1% construction and 17.8% health care and social assistance, while CPI rose 16.0%.
Jobs context, July 2026 (StatCan): payroll employment +26,100 (+0.1%) in July, the fourth gain in five months, +171,900 (+0.9%) year on year; job vacancies 501,000, vacancy rate 2.8%; unemployment 6.4%, down from 6.9% a year earlier; 2.9 unemployed people per vacancy.
Later LFS (September 2026, via news reports): employment fell in August and September after April–July gains of 181,000; average hourly wages $37.64 in September (+2.3% year on year); participation rate 64.8%, the lowest since December 1997 excluding 2020, attributed largely to population ageing. Minimum-wage context (observed, 1 October 2026): rises of 25–40 cents in Ontario, PEI, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan; Ontario general minimum wage $17.95 an hour. Forecasts, all labelled as such: WCBC 2027 salary-increase survey (756 organisations) — average 2027 base salary increase 3.4% for non-union employees, median 3.2%, salary structures +2.5%, only 0.2% expecting a freeze; Normandin Beaudry (800+ organisations) — 3.1% excluding freezes; Mercer Canada (July 2026 survey) — 3.2%; Randstad Canada 2027 Salary Guide — 3.1–3.3% average, Alberta and BC leading at 3.4%.
The Bank of Canada's October 2026 Monetary Policy Report put CPI inflation at about 3.5% by end-2026 and averaging 3% in 2027, easing to 2% by mid-2028 — against roughly 3.1–3.4% budgeted Average Salary in Canada rises, that implies little or no real wage growth in 2027. Robert Half's 2027 Canada Salary Guide gives a different measure — movement in role salary midpoints for new hires, +1.1% to +1.8% across six specialisations, national average 1.4% (legal roles above average) — and must not be averaged with the employer-budget 3.1–3.4%, because they measure different things.
Bank of Canada Business Outlook Survey Q3 2026: firms expect Average Salary in Canada increases of about 3.4% over the next year, with hiring intentions below historical average for a second quarter. Safe summary: Average Salary in Canada is still rising in nominal terms — about 3% a year on both the observed July 2026 data and employer budgets for 2027 — but with inflation forecast around 3% in 2027, real Average Salary in Canada growth in 2027 looks close to flat, and the gains are concentrated in specialised roles rather than spread evenly.
Related Salary Calculators and Guides — Average Salary in Canada
Frequently Asked Questions — Average Salary in Canada
Sources — Average Salary in Canada
SEPH and provincial figures: CanadaNow — average salary in Canada and Gofar — average salary in Canada 2026, both summarising StatCan SEPH table 14-10-0223-01 (July 2026 release, The Daily, 24 September 2026, cited by title — no direct StatCan Daily URL for the July release was returned in search, so none is guessed here). LFS figures: Expatica — minimum wage and average salary in Canada and Wealthnorth — average salary in Canada, reporting StatCan table 14-10-0064-01, with StatCan daily-table pages at StatCan table page (January 2026), StatCan table page (October 2025) and StatCan table page (November 2025).
Education (2020 Census): StatCan Census analytical document. Net-example cross-checks: Ontario Tax Calculator, Financial Tools tax calculator, LoansCanada — Ontario take-home pay, Tnaado Ontario payroll calculator and Salary calculator Ontario.
Outlook surveys: WCBC 2027 salary increases, Randstad Canada 2027 salaries, Robert Half 2027 Canada Salary Guide, Benefits and Pensions Monitor — 2027 budgets and Canadian HR Reporter — Bank of Canada. Context: Narcity — average salary in Canada and Canada Immigration News — July 2026 payroll employment. July 2026 SEPH sector levels and growth rest on secondary summaries of the StatCan release, labelled as such in the text. No 2027-specific average Salary in Canada figure exists. Figures are planning estimates, not salary guarantees.
Disclaimer: All figures on this page are survey benchmarks for planning only. Actual pay depends on employer, province, experience, occupation, hours and benefits. This Average Salary in Canada guide is not a salary guarantee and does not replace the source surveys or a qualified adviser.