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Canada’s tech worker wages way behind their U.S. counterparts: study

Tech employee in Canada makes $83,700 per year compared with $122,600 for workers in the U.S.
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A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto, Monday, Oct. 9, 2023 in this photo illustration. A new study from Toronto Metropolitan University says Canadian tech workers are paid on average 46 per cent less than their U.S. counterparts. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

A new study from Toronto Metropolitan University says US. tech workers are paid 46 per cent more on average than their Canadian counterparts.

The research from the university’s The Dais public policy institute found a typical tech employee in Canada makes $83,700 per year compared with $122,600 for workers in the U.S. sector.

The study says at least 10 per cent of the wage gap is attributable to a larger share of tech workers in Canada being part-time or not working the full year than in the U.S.

When only full-time, full-year workers are studied, the research says the gap amounted to $34,800,reducing the overall pay gap by 10 per cent.

In addition to Canadian tech workers lagging behind on salaries, the study found the average U.S. tech workers’ equity holdings were valued at twice that of a Canadian tech worker.

The study also looked at gender gaps, finding the typical male tech worker in Canada makes $86,600 annually compared with $74,000 for the typical female tech worker in the country.

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