Feel like you're making less money? Star analysis finds workers with these jobs are making less than they were a decade ago

If you're an educator, nurse practitioner, or government administration worker, chances are you've been bearing the brunt of higher costs more than other professionals in Canada. The Star calculated “real” wage growth over the last decade for several Canadian industries using Statistics Canada data which shows how much average hourly wages have changed after taking into account the effect of inflation.

The results show that four out of 18 employment sectors saw declines in real wages, after factoring in reduced purchasing power due to inflation, while two sectors stagnated. Educational services, which include workers at school boards, private and public schools, led the group with a five per cent slump in average real wages since 2013.

Public administration came second, with wages declining 2.5 per cent over the same period. This was followed by jobs in forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas, which saw average real wages fall by 1.6 per cent, and health care and social assistance, sliding 1.5 per cent. Average real wages for jobs in transportation and warehousing as well as utilities experienced close to zero growth.

Recent record breaking inflation rates have been particularly hard on those whose pay did not keep up. In June 2022, the annual inflation rate hit 8.1 per cent, its largest yearly change since January 1983, according to Statistics Canada. It’s left workers in those industries scrambling to cover basic needs like food and shelter, union representatives say.

“Just recently, I received an email from one of my members who is a home care nurse and relies on a food bank to feed her family,” said Erin Ariss, president of the Ontario Nurses’ Association. “She's a single mother, and she is making around $30 an hour," Ariss added. "In this day and age, that is unacceptable.” Michelle Campbell, 53, an educational assistant who works at Phoebe Gilman Public School in East Gwillimbury, Ont., has been in her field since 2005.

She still remembers when she could afford trips to the nail salon or order a side of guacamole with her meals. But as time passed, she had to give up more and more of those 'luxuries' just to make ends meet. Eventually, she found herself working three jobs to afford a small townhouse in Barrie, which she was forced to sell in 2018.

“You feel like a failure,” Campbell said, “for my generation — I'm generation X — there were certain expectations that I think we had out of life. Not being able to meet those social expectations is a little bit hard on the ego.” Campbell’s current salary went up to $43,000 . , especially in the public sector, the Statistics Canada data revealed.

Extending the same real wage analysis to 20 years, educational services and health care and social assistance saw mere increases of 9.4 and 10.3 per cent, respectively. This “reflects the greater power of the government to set pay in those sectors, given it is usually the only or main employer,” said Stephen Brown, deputy chief North America economist at Capital Economics.

He explained that many of the unions in those sectors have not yet negotiated new deals that account for the rise in inflation between 2021 and 2023. But, “even if pay in those sectors rose by 5 per cent — roughly the average increase in recent union deals — real wage growth would have lagged behind other sectors,” he added.

In response to a request for comment, Isha Chaudhuri, senior communications adviser and press secretary at the office of Education Minister Stephen Lecce, said the provincial government has been working with education unions to increase wages every year. “To date, our government has supported the hiring of over 7,500 net new education staff including 3,500 additional education assistants, supported by $27.6 billion in public education funding this school year — the highest in Ontario history,” Chaudhuri added.

Anna Miller, senior communications adviser at Ontario Ministry of Health, replied, “hospitals are independent corporations responsible for their own day to day operations including the management of staff and staff salaries.”.