Working hard...or hardly working?

With the increasing focus on managing our aging workforce, and the implications for economic growth as an unprecedented number of people enter retirement now and in the coming years, one might expect that Canadians have been working harder--or at least, longer--to help fill in the gap.

Interestingly, this isn't the case. As a starting point, Canadians worked an average of 1,740 hours in 2014 (this includes jobs of all types), ranging from a low of 1,686 in Quebec to a high of 1,887 in Newfoundland. BC brings up the rear with Quebec, logging an average of 1,695 hours in 2014.

Over the past decade, the average number of hours worked by Canadians has fallen by 3.4% (62 fewer hours per year). The Northwest Territories (-5.4%) and Quebec (-4.8%) have seen the biggest declines--BC registered a below-average 3.1% drop--while the only province or territory to bank an increase was Saskatchewan, at 0.2%.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this metric trends in the coming years, as those in the workforce will undoubtedly be incentivized to work longer--or otherwise, better.

Check our today's viz here.