Employment, by actual hours worked

On average, Canadians are working fewer actual hours a week

• The average number of actual hours that Canadians work has been trending down since 2000. In fact, in 2003, both men and women reported the lowest average hours actually worked at their main job on record (36.5 and 28.8 hours a week, respectively). The slight increase in the proportion of employed people working 15 to 29 hours a week since 2000, as well as higher incidences of workplace absences, has likely influenced this.
• Although the 40-hour work week remained the most common among employed Canadians, a significantly smaller proportion of men and women actually worked the 40-hour work week in 2003 than in 1976 (22% versus 30%). Higher percentages worked either longer or shorter hours.
• While men continue to work more hours on average than women, more women are working longer hours than in the past. The proportion of women actually working 41 hours a week or more increased from 9% in 1976 to 13% in 2003, whereas the proportion working 35 to 39 hours a week decreased 4 percentage points to 17% during this period.

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