Canadians a bit less happy, but satisfied with their jobs: survey

OTTAWA: Canadians are less likely to find a good balance between work and family, but are mostly satisfied with their jobs, according to a survey in Canada released Tuesday.

In the eight years to 2016, the number of Canadians who reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their work-life balance fell by 10 percentage points to 68 percent, according to the Statistics Canada study.

This downward trend, said the government statistical agency, “may have implications for the well-being of Canadians.”

Women were slightly less likely than men to be satisfied with their work-life balance — 66 percent versus 70 percent, respectively.

Just over one in five Canadians said they “always or often had difficulties fulfilling family responsibilities because of the amount of time they spent on their job.”

Happy or not with their work-life balance, however, Canadians are overwhelmingly satisfied (84 percent) with their jobs.

For others, a bad “work environment” or “too low” pay were the two top reasons cited for having soured their work experience.

Another part of the survey that looked at new technologies found that most Canadians viewed being virtually connected as positive and that technology improved life.

Recently CBC News conducted a survey to capture attitudes of people of Canada on discrimination, and it was found that Canadians have conflicted thoughts about immigrants when it comes to their roles in society and the workforce.

Statistics Canada figures indicate there were 6.8 million foreign-born residents in Canada as of 2011. That represents 20.6 per cent of the population, giving Canada the highest proportion of foreign-born residents in the G8 group of industrialized nations. Although Australia, which is not in the G8, has an even higher rate at 26.8 per cent.

Canada “is a welcoming place for all ethnicities,” according to 75 per cent of respondents to the CBC News survey.

However, responses became more divided when questions turned to specifics, such as the economy.

Across the country, 79 per cent of respondents said they would be comfortable both employing or working for someone of a different ethnic background.

A much smaller group — 55 per cent — “agreed” or “strongly agreed” that immigrants are “very important to building a stable Canadian economic future.”

But the survey also found that 30 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that “immigrants take jobs from Canadians.”