Quality of employment among First Nations people living off reserve and Métis

In an ever-changing labour market, indicators of quality of employment can play a vital role in identifying key areas to improve working conditions, employee well-being and sustainable economic growth.

A new study titled “Quality of employment among First Nations people living off reserve and Métis, 2022” explores multiple dimensions of Quality of Employment in Canada among Indigenous workers, taking a comprehensive approach to assess job quality beyond income, including aspects related to job security, skills development and work–life balance. It reveals that within the provinces, First Nations people living off reserve and Métis, compared with their non-Indigenous counterparts, face challenges within the labour market, including lower average hourly earnings and higher levels of involuntary part-time work. Differences in several indicators of quality of employment were also evident between men and women, although the pay gap between the genders was less pronounced among First Nations people and Métis than non-Indigenous people.

Indigenous people earn significantly less per hour than non-Indigenous people

First Nations people ($28.78) and Métis ($30.38) earned significantly less per hour than non-Indigenous people ($32.58) in 2022. The Indigenous population is younger on average, and larger shares were employed in sales and services occupations—jobs that tend to have lower wages.

When the hourly earnings disparity between employed Indigenous and non-Indigenous people was examined after adjusting for sex, age and, primarily, level of education, the gap between the two groups was no longer significantly different.

Although Indigenous people ($29.62 per hour) earned about 9% less than non-Indigenous people ($32.58 per hour) in 2022, the pay gap between Indigenous men and women ($3.03) was smaller than among non-Indigenous men and women ($4.69).

Indigenous male managers more likely to be in middle management occupations in trades, transportation, production and utilities than their non-Indigenous counterparts

First Nations people (5.8%) and Métis (7.6%) were less likely to be in managerial positions compared with non-Indigenous people (9.4%) in 2022.

However, Indigenous male managers (53.8%) were more likely than their non-Indigenous counterparts (39.2%) to be in middle management occupations in trades, transportation, production and utilities.

When examining specialized middle management occupations, including managers in health care, administration and education, and middle management occupations in retail and wholesale trade and customer services, Indigenous female managers were twice as likely to work in these jobs compared with their male counterparts (Table 1).

Conversely, Indigenous men were nine times more likely to work in middle management occupations in trades, transportation, production and utilities than Indigenous women.

Indigenous men work on average six hours more per week than Indigenous women

First Nations people (36.5 hours), Métis (37.0 hours) and non-Indigenous people (36.6 hours) reported similar average weekly work hours in 2022.

Indigenous men worked on average six hours more per week than Indigenous women in 2022, while non-Indigenous men worked five hours more per week than their female counterparts.

Indigenous people more likely to have involuntary part-time work than non-Indigenous people

Involuntary part-time work was more prevalent among Indigenous people (23.9%)than non-Indigenous people (18.6%) in 2022. Indigenous men (31.3%) were more likely to involuntarily work part-time than Indigenous women (20.8%).

The rate of short-tenure jobs—an indicator of job stability—was also higher among First Nations people living off reserve (24.3%) compared with non-Indigenous people (19.1%) in 2022.

Indigenous people more likely to experience discrimination at work than non-Indigenous people

Indigenous people face poorer work conditions relating to discrimination. In 2016, First Nations people (16.9%^E) (^E=use with caution) were about twice as likely to have experienced unfair treatment and discrimination at work as non-Indigenous people (8.2%).

Note to readers

This release is based on a 12-month average estimates of the Labour Force Survey (LFS), from January to December 2022. The LFS gathers information on employment, unemployment, participation rates, hours worked, job type, wages, in addition to various demographic characteristics of the workforce. The LFS supplement collects additional information on targeted concepts related to the state of the labour force, including working from home and quality of employment (e.g., intentions to leave job, reservation wage, willingness to move, career prospects, teleworking, scheduling, work and family responsibilities, work–life balance, stress, well-being, support at work, job autonomy, job satisfaction, training and upskilling, benefits, and others).

The target population are those aged 18 to 64 years living in the provinces of Canada. The data in this report refer to First Nations people living off reserve, Métis and Inuit in the provinces. The LFS is not conducted on reserve, uses a different methodology to survey the territories and does not include some remote communities.

Definitions

Involuntary part-time work is when individuals work part-time hours (less than 30 hours per week), but would prefer to work full-time if given the opportunity.

Specialized middle management occupations (based on the National Occupational Classification 2016) includes administrative services managers and managers in financial and business services; communication (except broadcasting); engineering, architecture, science and information systems; health care; public administration; education, social and community services; public protection services; and art, culture, recreation and sport.

Short-tenure jobs refers to positions of employment held for less than 12 months.

For more information on Statistics Canada’s Statistical Framework on Quality of Employment, please see the Quality of Employment in Canada page.

In addition to the LFS, supplemental indicators from the 2016 General Social Survey (Cycle 30) on Canadians at Work and Home provides data on discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and the LFS supplement on workplace flexibility, work from home and training.

Products

The study “Quality of employment among First Nations people living off reserve and Métis, 2022” is now available.

Contact information

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).

NT6