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Quebec retail salaries up 12 to 39 per cent since 2016: study

Minimum wage increased 33 per cent in that time, but employers are also offering other benefits, an industry study shows.

A cashier serves customers in a supermarket.
A cashier serves customers in a supermarket. Photo by ERIC GAILLARD /REUTERS files

Salaries for retail workers in Quebec went up between 12 and 39 per cent since 2016, according to a report on remuneration in the industry that has 32,000 vacant positions.

The average pay for a cashier was $15.46 in 2022, an increase of 32 per cent compared with six years ago, according to the study by Détail Québec in collaboration with Rémunia.

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The study looked at 16 categories of jobs in retail, based on salary data from 37,676 workers in the industry.

The greatest increase was for sales clerks and those in inventory (39 per cent increase), who had an average pay of $17.96.

In the same period, the minimum wage in the province increased 33 per cent to $14.25 an hour, Détail Québec notes.

The study also showed that the highest salaries are going to jobs in information technology. Managers in digital commerce can make $47.79 an hour on average.

Besides remuneration, the analysis studied benefits and working conditions. Retailers were more likely to offer insurance plans — 82 per cent versus 77 per cent in 2016. And three-quarters of companies now propose a pension plan, with the most common being a voluntary retirement savings plan.

About 40 per cent of retailers put in place a program to encourage employees to refer a friend to fill empty positions, with the average referral bonus being $629, the study said.

Détail Québec said the results refute many prejudices related to retail jobs and show that employers are willing to improve working conditions.

“If we look at the data on the market, retailers have taken the lead by offering much more than the minimum wage as well as attractive working conditions,” said general manager Manuel Champagne.

This report was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.