Canadian Mine Wages and Benefits Trends

In the last 12 months we have surveyed mines across Canada, representing 25,000 mine employees. Here are some of the highlights from the survey.

Of the 68 mines responding, 56 were union and 12 were non-union. Fifty mines increased wages by an average of 2.2%, ranging from 1.0% to 4.0%, in the 12 months preceding the survey. Eighteen mines showed no change in wages and no mines in this survey decreased wages.

Forty-six mines reported using some form of incentive bonus plan, and 29 had a plan in place for employee retention. Safety, profit, production, and cost savings are the most commonly cited criteria.

Many mines pay cash bonuses for good safety performance. The most common type is a fixed bonus for achieving an accident-free record for a specified period of time. Some mines penalize workers by reducing other bonuses when lost-time accidents occur. The penalties may be imposed on the individual at fault, on a department, or on the entire mine.

Other mines pay bonuses based on improvement over historical averages, or they may tie the bonus to production as a fixed award per ton of ore produced if no lost-time accidents occur. Some mines pay an attendance bonus. In addition to standard benefit items, some companies offer employee assistance programs, group registered assistance, transportation to the mine, paid or subsidized daycare facilities, travel expenses, supplemental retirement plans, accident and life insurance, stock purchase plans, safety equipment, tool allowance, scholarships for dependent children, education and training.

The full report contains the results of our twenty-fourth annual survey of Canadian mining wages, salaries, benefit plans and employment taxes. Included are wages for hourly employees, as well as salaries for technical, managerial, and administrative personnel.

This report features data from 68 mines representing over 25,000 mine employees:

• Salary summaries for managerial, technical and administrative personnel
• Wage scales listed by job title for hourly workers
• Executive compensation for 245 Canadian and American major, mid-tier and junior mining companies
• Benefit plan and incentive bonus plan descriptions
• Statistical tables for comparing salaries and benchmark wages at surface and underground mines
• Workers compensation tax rate summaries for mining in all provinces and territories

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