CNS Canada –– Hourly-wage employees in agriculture and related production were among the lowest earners nationally, according to data from Statistics Canada.

The agency on Thursday released data on wages paid to payroll employees in 2016.

It reported the average hourly wage paid to full-time employees, excluding overtime pay, tips, incentives and performance pay arrangements, was $27.70. However, pay rates varied widely based on occupation and geography.

Among broad occupational groups, hourly wage employees in the agriculture, natural resources and related production group were among the national lowest earners at an average of $22.15.

Harvesting labourers came in sixth among occupations with the lowest average full-time hourly wage in 2016, at $13.10, followed by nursery and greenhouse workers in seventh at $13.25. Bartenders and food and beverage servers came in lowest at $11.50 and $11.85 respectively.

StatsCan also noted some specific occupations within the lowest-earning broad groups were among the 10 per cent of occupations with the highest hourly wages, such as oil and gas well drilling workers and services operators, at $44.35.

Business, finance and administration workers earned an average of $26. This occupational category also registered the highest full-time employment in the country, representing 24.8 per cent of all full-time employment in Canada.

Management positions topped the list of hourly wage earners at $40.25, followed by natural and applied sciences at $33.45.

In the survey, six of seven economic regions in Alberta rated in the nation’s top 10 for the highest average hourly wage.

Alberta also posted high hourly wages relative to other areas in every broad occupational group, except in art, culture, recreation and sport, as well as in sales and service.

The 10 regions with the lowest hourly wages were in the Maritimes and Quebec. — CNS Canada