Wages (offered & paid)

Understanding offered and paid wages

What are offered and paid wages

Offered wages are the average hourly wages employers advertise for job vacancies, based on data from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS). These wages reflect what employers are willing to pay to attract workers and are reported for both full-time and part-time positions. 

Paid wages are the hourly wages reported by employed individuals in the Labour Force Survey (LFS). They reflect the actual earnings workers receive in the labour market. 

Together, offered and paid wages provide complementary perspectives: offered wages reflect employer expectations and hiring conditions, while paid wages reflect realized earnings and labour market outcomes. 

What do wages tell us about imbalances? 

On their own, offered and paid wages are indirect indicators of labour market imbalances. However, when analyzed over time and alongside other indicators, they provide important insight into how both employers and workers respond to changing labour market conditions. 

Rising offered wages may signal that employers are facing difficulty filling positions and are increasing compensation to attract candidates. At the same time, increases in paid wages can reflect stronger worker bargaining power, competitive labour markets, or employer efforts to retain staff. 

Differences between offered and paid wages can also be informative. For example, if offered wages are increasing faster than paid wages, it may indicate emerging labour shortages or increased competition for new hires. When interpreted alongside indicators such as vacancy rates, unemployment, and the unemployment-to-vacancy ratio, wages help provide a more complete picture of labour market dynamics and potential imbalances. 

Table notes

• Offered wages are sourced from the Job Vacancy and Wage Survey (JVWS) and reflect employer-reported wages for open positions.
• Paid wages are sourced from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) and reflect wages reported by employed individuals.
• Offered wages are reported quarterly and provided as annual averages for comparability; paid wages are typically reported monthly and are averaged annually by Statistics Canada.
• Offered wages data was not available for Q2 2020 and Q3 2020, and for other select quarters for some jurisdictions due to unreliability of data quality. As a result, averaged offered wage rates for these years account for the available data during that period.
• Wages vary by region, occupation, and industry; additional data beyond wages by region available on the dashboard is provided by Statistics Canada. Users should review detailed breakdowns where available.
• Data on offered wages are available for both provinces and territories, while data on paid wages are available only for provinces. As a result, aggregated totals for Canada reflect the geographies available for each metric.
• Wages should be interpreted alongside other indicators, such as vacancy rates, unemployment, and the unemployment-to-vacancy ratio, to assess labour market conditions and potential imbalances.