A new report shows Maritimers are falling behind the rest of Canada when it comes to what we’re paid.
The Fraser Institutes new report shows the pay gap is now about $11,000.
The study examines the history of economic policy the Atlantic region through five distinct eras, not including the COVID-19 pandemic.
It finds that average income in the Maritimes was $11,169 lower than the rest of Canada (excluding Alberta) in 1997 but by 2010, average income was only $7,907 lower.
“It may come as a surprise that from 1997 to 2010, Atlantic Canada was closing the economic gap with the rest of the country, but since 2011, the region has been falling behind again,” said Fred McMahon, resident fellow at the Fraser Institute.
Starting in 2010, that trend reversed, and average income in the Maritimes fell back to $11,034 behind the rest of Canada by 2019.
Among the reasons cited by the study, the region was catching up to the rest of Canada from 1997 to 2010 were significant Employment Insurance reforms and reduced government spending during that period, which left more room for private sector growth.
But since 2010, government spending in the Maritimes has been on the rise again, and the EI reforms of the previous period have been weakened, and as a result, unemployment is increasing faster in Atlantic Canada than elsewhere in the country, and average incomes are falling behind again.
“Government policies matter, and Atlantic Canada’s history is rife with examples of when good policy choices led to economic growth and increased prosperity, and bad policy choices caused the reverse,” McMahon said.
