This study analyzes employment and wages in the Canadian furniture industry. The report is finely segregated by geographical regions, industry
segments, and employment categories. A separate chapter analyzes unions in the furniture industry.
As of 2001 the average furniture industry production employee earned $15.64 per hour compared to $18.58 per worker in manufacturing in general.
Thus there is an 18.8 percent gap between the pay for production workers in furniture and for production workers in manufacturing generally. In 1991,
however, the gap was actually much wider at 37.1 percent, so a noticeable relative improvement in furniture production wage rates has occurred.
Within the furniture industry, average hourly earnings in the household segment always lagged behind those of the office and the "other"
furniture segments. However, production wages in the household furniture segment are less volatile than in the office furniture segment. In spite of
the industryfs slowdown in the early 90s, production wages for residential furniture workers never declined (in current dollar terms) during the
past ten years, but all other furniture wages dropped in 1993/94.
Company size is also an important factor influencing wages. Wages for skilled workers in large companies (more than 100 employees) are between 20
percent and 40 percent higher than for skilled workers of smaller companies (10 employees or less). The difference is most pronounced in the
upholstered household furniture, and in the bedspring and mattress industries. On the other hand, the variances are minor in the office and
institutional furniture industries.
When analyzing provincial differences, one cannot simply compare average wages. This would lead to distorted and misleading conclusions as there
are important regional variations in industry structure. For instance, Ontario has a relatively large office furniture segment and British Columbia
has a relatively large institutional furniture segment. As these segments are known for their high pay rates, average wages in furniture in Ontario
and BC reflect this upward bias.
Keeping the provincial differences of the industry structure in mind, wages in the furniture industry ? And in each of its segments ? Are
considerably higher in Ontario. They are below average in Quebec, Manitoba and Alberta. British Columbia and the rest of the country are very close to
the national average of the wage scale.
Working conditions in the Canadian furniture industry do not differ much from conditions in other industries, nor are there major differences among
the various furniture segments. Today, between 11 and 13 statutory holidays are common throughout Canada. Also, 3 weeks of vacation is standard in all
Canadian manufacturing industries, for workers with up to five years seniority. Workers with 20 years of seniority or more may expect paid vacations
of up to 5 weeks.
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