• Development of a research methodology that accurately captures a large amount of variable wage data among employers in Saskatchewan.
• Provision of reliable, timely wage information for: 
  • employers to enhance their competitiveness and attract and retain employees
  • students and job seekers to have career information
  • researchers and policy analysts to inform policy development
• Provision of wage information for the most common occupations in Saskatchewan.
• Provision of sub-provincial wage data (defined as Regina, Saskatoon, and the remainder of the province) for comparability.   

Detailed information on the survey methodology can be found in the Saskatchewan Wage Survey Methodology Report, 2009.

Working with employers in 2006, our ministry, the Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board and Service Canada gathered information from provincial employers about wages for all occupations present in their workplaces.

From the 1,096 employers who responded, wage information for 248 occupations could be released.

The wage analysis for these occupations and workplaces provides information on:

• number of employees,
• low and high wages, and
• average wages.

Further breakdowns for each occupation are provided by:

• gender,
• union / non-union, and
• part-time / full-time.

The Saskatchewan Wage Survey results show hourly wages for each occupation with monthly, bi-weekly or other payment forms converted to hourly rates. Employers reported the total wage (including commissions) for the pay period specified in each survey.

Saskatchewan Wage Survey results for each job include:

• the number of employees in an occupation for which wages were reported
• the average (mean) wage for employees doing that job
• the lowest wage for employees doing the job
• the highest wage for employees doing the job
• the lowest wage after the bottom 10% of wages have been eliminated
• the highest wage after the top 10% of wages have been eliminated
• Reliability has been estimated after eliminating responses which could distort the results.

The Saskatchewan Wage Survey is designed according to accepted methodologies for carrying out statistically accurate surveys that yield valid results. The statistical significance of each occupation's wage rate depends on the number of employers and the resulting employees who were surveyed for that occupation. Generally, the wage rate reported for an occupation that includes a high number of employees surveyed is more statistically significant than one for which a smaller number of employees were surveyed.

For the provincial average ("all employees" category only - statistical significance is less for all other categories) a determination was completed of how reliable the listed wage is (in terms of being a true reflection of what that occupation is paid in Saskatchewan) based on a standard calculation of statistical significance. The rating for the vast majority of the listed occupations is considered to be very reliable. For a small number the results were acceptable but not as reliable as for the others. Occupations for which calculated wages fell significantly out of the normal range, and/or for which confidentiality requirements were not met, are not included in the survey.

Further details of the methodology used for the wage survey are available on request.

Survey results are screened to protect the privacy and confidentiality of information from individual employers. To be included in the Wage Survey Results, the following conditions must all be met:

1. Enough different employers must report wages for an occupation so that it is not possible to identify individual employers taking part in the survey;
2. No employer surveyed can employ more than 75% of the total employees in a particular occupation; and
3. No two employers, combined, can employ more than 90% of the total employees in an occupation.

Blank areas in the Wage Survey Results show areas for which privacy concerns could not be adequately addressed or where there were no reported wages for a specific occupation.