Work-Life Balance by Region

More and more of us in the workforce are finding it difficult to balance our roles as employee, parent, spouse, and eldercare giver. Trying to balance paid work, family responsibilities, and personal needs takes a toll on all of us - employers, families, and workers. And it shows up as higher absenteeism, reduced employee commitment, declining job satisfaction, lower workplace morale, and reduced satisfaction with family life.

A more competitive labour market, the prospect of labour shortages, and the changing expectations of workers themselves are motivating some employers to take the issue of work-life balance seriously. These employers recognize that allowing employees the flexibility they need to balance their work and personal lives can be a powerful drawing card and can earn them long-term loyalty.

Although work-life balance issues in the Canadian workforce as a whole have been researched, there has been little information on how conditions vary across the country. While we know that social policies, types of employment, and working conditions vary by province, we don’t know how these differences relate to employee and employer attitudes and experiences regarding work-life balance.

Over the next few months, we will add new regional data on work-life balance to this site. The data will be drawn from the groundbreaking research report Where to Work in Canada? An Examination of Regional Differences in Work Life Practices by Professor Linda Duxbury (Sprott School of Business - Carleton University) and Professor Chris Higgins (Richard Ivey School of Business - University of Western Ontario).

This series of select indicators explores regional differences in Canada on issues of work-life balance. These new indicators will help employers, governments, and other policy makers develop human resource, social, and labour market policies that address issues of particular concern in each region. We examine these key areas:

The complete report Where to Work in Canada ? An Examination of Regional Differences in Work Life Practices can be downloaded from the CPRN website by clicking here.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Duxbury and Dr. Higgins
for allowing us to reproduce some of the results
from their report to create these new indicators and
website content.