Quality of Employment in Canada
Relationships with co-workers, 2016

In 2016, most employees in Canada had colleagues who often or always helped and supported them. However, employees who had a disability, who were in a population group designated as a visible minority, or who worked in business, finance and administration occupations, were somewhat less likely than others to report that they had supportive colleagues.

The relationship between employees and their colleagues is an important dimension of day-to-day life at work, especially in terms of increasing or reducing work-related stress. The degree of help an employee receives from his or her colleagues is the main indicator used to measure the quality of relationships between co-workers. The indicator is the proportion of employees who report that their colleagues or co-workers often or always help and support them.

Historical trends

Statistics Canada data from the General Social Survey (GSS) on the relationship between coworkers are currently available for one year. However, the International Social Survey Program (ISSP)—a survey managed by an international consortium of researchers—includes a question which asks about the quality of relationships between colleagues at the respondent’s workplace. Data are available for Canada in 1997 and 2005. In 1997, 86.2% of employees in Canada reported that relations between colleagues at their work were either good or very good. This proportion edged down to 82.4% in 2005.

According to data from the GSS, in 2016 78.5% of employees in Canada often or always received help and support from their colleagues. While the GSS measure is different from what is examined by the ISSP, data from both surveys suggest that the vast majority of employees in Canada had good relationships with their colleagues in the recent past.

A recent snapshot

GSS data for 2016 indicate that the proportion of employees who often or always received help and support from their colleagues was high in the broad occupational category of natural resources, agriculture and related production occupations (88.1%) and relatively low in business, finance and administration occupations (73.6%).

Among industries, a large majority of employees in agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (87.3%) and in mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction (86.2%) reported having supportive colleagues in 2016. In comparison, the proportions were lower in administrative and support services (68.8%), and in real estate and rental and leasing (70.5%).

In 2016, being in a population group designated as a visible minority and having a disability were also characteristics associated with having less supportive colleagues. Among employees who were visible minority Canadians, 73.0% reported that they had colleagues who often or always helped and supported them, compared with 80.2% for non-visible minorities. There was a similar gap between those who had a disability (73.0%) and those who did not (80.2%). At the same time, there was virtually no difference between Indigenous employees living off-reserve and non-Indigenous employees, or between male and female employees.

In terms of work characteristics, part-time employees differed little from full-time employees in 2016, and there was no notable difference between term and permanent employees.

Along with the proportion of employees with supportive colleagues, two additional measures suggest that most employees in Canada had good relationships with their colleagues. In 2016, 90.2% of employees had at least one good friend at work. Furthermore, only 2.9% of employees in Canada frequently or always had conflicts with their colleagues or co-workers.

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