Average Salary in Canada 2026: $1,347 a Week in July (StatCan)

Average Salary in Canada 2026: $1,347 a Week in July (StatCan)

As of September 25, 2026.

Statistics Canada released July 2026 payroll earnings on 24 September 2026. Average weekly earnings for all employees in Canada, including overtime, were CAD $1,347.14, up 3.2% from a year earlier. That is the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) figure, seasonally adjusted, from table 14-10-0223-01. The median is lower: the Labour Force Survey put the median hourly wage at $31.00 in August 2026. Neither number is a promise of what you will earn. This guide uses those releases, then explains how salary numbers show up in immigration files.

TL;DR

Canada's average weekly earnings in July 2026 were CAD $1,347.14, up 3.2% year over year | Alberta ($1,399.61) and Ontario ($1,391.19) led the provinces | Nunavut was highest overall at $1,844.70 | The median hourly wage was $31.00 in August 2026, against an average of $37.02 | Multiply $1,347.14 by 52 and you get about $70,051, but that is a rough annualization of a weekly all-employee average, not a full-time contract salary | Job Bank prevailing wages, not this average, are what officers use for many work permit and job-offer questions

What is the average salary in Canada in 2026?

Short answer: The latest Statistics Canada payroll number is CAD $1,347.14 a week in July 2026, including overtime, for all employees, seasonally adjusted. The agency rounded the year-over-year story to $1,347, up 3.2%, after a 3.4% rise in June. Month over month, weekly earnings were little changed. Average weekly hours worked were 33.4, up 0.3% from a year earlier. The source is The Daily, Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, July 2026, released 24 September 2026, citing table 14-10-0223-01. June was revised to $1,343.77.

SEPH counts employees who received pay and benefits from an employer. It excludes the self-employed, owners of unincorporated businesses, and agricultural employees. Earnings are gross taxable payroll before deductions. A change in the average can come from wage changes, overtime, hours, or a shift in who is employed, not only from raises. Pay also varies by industry: in July, mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction averaged $2,556.80 a week and accommodation and food services $546.34. Statistics Canada will publish August figures on October 29, 2026.

What is the difference between average and median salary?

Short answer: The SEPH number above is an average (mean) of weekly earnings. High earners pull it up. A median (the middle worker) is usually lower. The Labour Force Survey shows the gap: in August 2026 the median hourly wage for all employees was $31.00, while the average was $37.02. For full-time employees the median was $33.50 an hour, or $1,312.00 a week. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) does not grade your Express Entry profile on the national average. Job offers are compared with occupation-specific wages, often using Job Bank prevailing wage for the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code and region.

These Labour Force Survey wages are not seasonally adjusted and come from table 14-10-0063-01. Average hourly wages were up 2.0% from a year earlier, according to the August 2026 Labour Force Survey. By province, the median hourly wage was $31.62 in Ontario (average $37.92), $31.43 in Alberta (average $37.76) and $33.22 in British Columbia (average $39.07).

If you are using salary to decide where to settle, compare the weekly figure with cost of living in that city. A higher average in Alberta does not automatically mean more leftover money than in Quebec after rent.

What is the average weekly pay by province and territory?

Short answer: In July 2026, Alberta led the provinces at CAD $1,399.61 a week, then Ontario at $1,391.19, then British Columbia at $1,356.78. Prince Edward Island was the lowest province at $1,207.99. Among territories, Nunavut was highest at $1,844.70. All figures are SEPH average weekly earnings including overtime, from the same Daily release.

Nova Scotia had the largest provincial year-over-year increase (+5.6%), followed by New Brunswick (+5.3%). Every province and territory in this table was up from July 2025.

How should you turn weekly earnings into an annual number?

Short answer: A common shortcut is weekly earnings times 52. For the Canada figure that is about CAD $70,051. Treat that as an illustration, not your offer letter. SEPH averages include part-time employees and overtime. Average hours were 33.4 a week, which is not a 40-hour full-time contract. A full-time job in your NOC can sit well above or below that annualized average. The Labour Force Survey's full-time median of $1,312.00 a week works out to about $68,224 a year on the same shortcut.

If an employer quotes an hourly wage, multiply by the hours in the contract, not by 33.4. If you need the number for a settlement budget, use the provincial row, then subtract rent and tax using a local cost of living check.

How does salary show up in a Canadian immigration application?

Short answer: IRCC does not ask "is your wage equal to the national average." It asks whether the job and the wage match the program rules. For many work permits, that means the prevailing wage for the NOC and region, plus a genuine job. Express Entry stopped giving CRS points for job offers on March 25, 2025, but an offer can still count toward Federal Skilled Trades or Federal Skilled Worker eligibility and some provincial nominee streams. High-wage streams and some provincial nominee program (PNP) grids also use wage cut-offs that are not the SEPH Canada average.

For a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) compares the offered wage with a provincial threshold equal to the provincial median hourly wage plus 20%. For LMIAs received from July 17, 2026, that threshold is $36.92 an hour in Ontario, $38.40 in British Columbia and $37.50 in Alberta. At or above it, the job goes through the high-wage stream. Below it, the low-wage stream applies. Every province and territory is on ESDC's high-wage or low-wage position page.

Use this article to understand the labour market you are walking into. Use Job Bank and the offer letter for the number that goes on the form. For Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) points, run the CRS calculator. For the permit itself, start at work permits. An LMIA file, when one is required, lives or dies on the offered wage versus the prevailing wage, not versus $1,347 a week. To see which work permit or permanent residence routes fit your job and wage, start with the free assessment.

What else did StatCan say about jobs in July 2026?

Short answer: Payroll employment rose by 26,100 (+0.1%) in July. There were 501,000 job vacancies, a seventh month of little change. The job vacancy rate was 2.8%. There were 2.9 unemployed people per vacancy. Retail trade, accommodation and food services, and professional, scientific and technical services added payroll jobs. Public administration and wholesale trade declined. Those details are in the same Daily release.

Vacancies were up year over year in accommodation and food services, manufacturing, administrative and support services, and mining and oil and gas. They were down in retail trade and in real estate and rental and leasing. Alberta's vacancies rose to 73,100, the highest level since September 2024. Manitoba had the lowest unemployment-to-vacancy ratio (1.9) and Newfoundland and Labrador the highest (5.8). None of that replaces an occupation-specific wage lookup.

How do you look up the prevailing wage for your NOC?

Short answer: Go to Job Bank, look up the NOC, pick the region, and read the prevailing wage band. That is the figure employers and officers use. For an LMIA, ESDC defines the prevailing wage as the higher of the Job Bank median wage for the job and area, or the wage the employer already pays staff in the same job and location. The SEPH Canada average is a background statistic. It will not save an offer that sits under the Job Bank prevailing wage for that occupation.

If you are comparing cities, pair the provincial weekly earnings row with rent. Ontario's $1,391.19 a week is not take-home pay in Toronto. Run the numbers through cost of living before you treat a provincial average as a raise.

What questions do people ask about average salary in Canada?

Short answer: They want one number. StatCan's latest payroll average is $1,347.14 a week in July 2026. Your job will not pay that number unless it happens to.

What is the average salary in Canada right now?

CAD $1,347.14 a week in July 2026, SEPH, including overtime, all employees, seasonally adjusted, released 24 September 2026.

What is the average salary in Ontario in 2026?

CAD $1,391.19 a week in July 2026, same survey and release. The Labour Force Survey put Ontario's median hourly wage at $31.62 in August 2026.

What is the median wage in Canada in 2026?

$31.00 an hour for all employees in August 2026, and $33.50 an hour for full-time employees, from the Labour Force Survey (not seasonally adjusted).

Is that a yearly salary of $70,000?

Roughly. $1,347.14 times 52 is about $70,051. That annualization is a shortcut. It includes part-time workers and overtime and uses 33.4 average hours.

A Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC) can tell you whether an offer wage meets the program, not whether it matches the national average. Book a consultation if the offer is the immigration document.

Sources

• Statistics Canada, The Daily: Payroll employment, earnings and hours, and job vacancies, July 2026 (released 24 September 2026)
• Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0223-01, Employment and average weekly earnings
• Statistics Canada, The Daily: Labour Force Survey, August 2026 (released 4 September 2026)
• Statistics Canada, Table 14-10-0063-01, Employee wages by industry, monthly
• Employment and Social Development Canada, Hire a temporary foreign worker in a high-wage or low-wage position
• Employment and Social Development Canada, Program requirements for low-wage positions
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, Work in Canada