Compensation Guide

ECO Canada’s Compensation Guide 2020 edition is a detailed handbook with salary benchmarking data to help build and nurture your team.

The guide contains detailed breakdowns across industries, occupations, and areas of focus as well as housing regional data for benchmarking compensation, no matter where you’re located.

With over 140 pages of information, it’s a comprehensive look at salaries for Canadian environmental workers.

Get a sneak peek at the data to see how you can leverage this great tool.

Employers and environmental workers were surveyed in early 2020.

Employer Survey* – salaries and benefits for the top two environmental occupations in the organization and environmental human resource trends.

Worker Survey – respondent’s salary and benefits, along with characteristics of their employer organization.

*The survey was targeted at employers who identified their organization as environmental or recognized that they employ a relatively large number of environmental workers.

Workers were classified as environmental if they contributed to the protection, preservation or sustainability of the environment and were required to have environmental knowledge, skills and/or training.

A total of 3,246 participants completed the survey, including 1,249 employers and 1,997 environmental workers, representing 8,095 environmental jobs (or incidents) in full-time, part-time, contract, intern, student, and seasonal positions.

The number of participants that responded to each specific question varied. In some cases, multiple questions have been combined for the purpose of calculating averages and percentiles.

Both employers and workers were asked to provide salary ranges for the reported occupation(s). Employers provided this information for up to three levels of experience or tenure where applicable—for a maximum of six jobs or “incidents” per employer respondent.

The survey was conducted using mixed methods that combined online and telephone data collection. Both the online and telephone versions of the survey were administered in English and French. The survey was launched on February 19 and remained open until March 16, 2020.

The sample size has been presented as the combined number of reported incidents across both surveys.

Due to the cross-sectoral nature of the environmental workforce, salary information is provided by:

• 11 Occupational Groups
• 7 Regions
• 15 Industries
• 13 Environmental Focus Areas
• Type and Size of Organization
• Experience Level

• How representative is the salary data?
  The number of incidents for salary by category sections are based on the responses from the employer and worker surveys. Where possible, sample sizes have been provided, however, occupations, industries and focus areas are not evenly distributed. To support benchmarking practices, median salaries have been reported rather than average salaries. When the sample size was too small to report, the number of incidents have been removed from the salary tables.

• Which Regions are Represented?
  • British Columbia
  • Alberta
  • Saskatchewan and Manitoba
  • Ontario
  • Quebec
  • Atlantic Canada
  • Canadian Territories

• What are the 13 Environmental Focus Areas?
  • Air Quality Protection
  • Water Quality Protection
  • Site Assessment, Remediation and Reclamation
  • Waste Management
  • Environmental Health and Safety
  • Energy
  • Natural Resources Management
  • Fisheries and Wildlife Management
  • Policy and Legislation
  • Sustainability
  • Research and Development
  • Education and Training
  • Communications and Public Awareness

• Can I request customized research for segments of the workforce that are relevant to my organization?
  ECO Canada will review individual requests on a case-by-case basis. Depending on the criteria outlined in the request, we will determine whether sufficient data are available.

• Is it possible to receive salary information for a specific job title?
  ECO Canada is able to provide customized data for specific job titles, occupations and sub-sectors. Requests for these data will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine whether sufficient incidents have been reported for these specific workforce segments.

• Does this data take COVID into account?
  The data was gathered from February to March 2020 (before the COVID shutdown) and fluctuations were generally observed in the last six months, we have seen environmental salary levels have normalized or returned to pre-COVID levels.
  Also, economic theory and macroeconomic data indicate that wages do not decline until a downturn has been plaguing an economy for a considerable length of time (years). The idea is that wages are “sticky” – employees are not willing to take pay cuts until all their other options have been exhausted, and employers are hesitant to lower wages for fear that they will lose workers. That said, incomes may fall for individuals employed on an hourly basis if their hours have been cut due to the downturn. But more recent trends indicate that to whatever extent they have been impacted, they appear to have been resolved.

• Does this data take COVID into account?
  The data was gathered from February to March 2020 (before the COVID shutdown) and fluctuations were generally observed in the last six months, we have seen environmental salary levels have normalized or returned to pre-COVID levels.
  Also, economic theory and macroeconomic data indicate that wages do not decline until a downturn has been plaguing an economy for a considerable length of time (years). The idea is that wages are “sticky” – employees are not willing to take pay cuts until all their other options have been exhausted, and employers are hesitant to lower wages for fear that they will lose workers. That said, incomes may fall for individuals employed on an hourly basis if their hours have been cut due to the downturn. But more recent trends indicate that to whatever extent they have been impacted, they appear to have been resolved.

• When will the next compensation guide become available?
  ECO Canada endeavours to publish compensation guides annually. Data collection begins in January each year. If you wish to contribute salary information about your employment position or positions offered by your organization, please contact research@eco.ca to complete the survey.

• What are the 11 Occupational Groups?
  • Scientists
  • Engineers
  • Engineering Technologists and Technicians
  • Environmental Specialists
  • Environmental Generalists
  • Business and Operations Occupations
  • Planning and Design Occupations
  • Foresters and Forest Operators
  • Parks, Enforcement and Wildlife Conservation Occupations
  • Energy Occupations
  • Research and Education Occupations

• Which Industries are Represented?
  • Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (except Environmental Consulting)
  • Environmental Consulting
  • Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
  • Public Administration
  • Manufacturing
  • Construction
  • Mining and Oil & Gas Extraction
  • Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services
  • Educational Services
  • Utilities
  • Wholesale Trade and Retail Trade
  • Transportation and Warehousing
  • Health Care and Social Assistance
  • Finance and Insurance, Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
  • Other Services, except Public Administration

• Why are some salaries presented so low for the 25th percentile?
  Compensation data include full-time, part-time, intern and seasonal positions. Salaries have been presented as the combined number of reported incidents for the type of employment. When salaries appear to be low, many of the positions surveyed are likely to be limited-term employment positions.

• How old is this data?
  The data was gathered from February to March 2020.

• Is this data Canadian?
  Yes, the participants are Canadian employers and environmental workers in Canada.

• Is this data specific to the environmental sector?
  Yes, the data is referring to the environmental sector.

• Are workforce insights and employment trends gathered from survey responses?
  The employment trends presented in the compensation guide are based on responses from the employer survey. Workforce insights are a part of ECO Canada’s labour market information studies that estimate the labour demand for Canada’s environmental workforce. ECO Canada releases labour outlook reports annually. To learn more about Canada’s environmental labour force, visit our Research Catalogue and download the latest reports.

• Does ECO Canada produce research and resources for environmental employment opportunities?
  ECO Canada offers certification and training programs and hosts career development opportunities including virtual events and workshops. Research is ongoing at the organization and reports are routinely published to provide timely, relevant and credible information and insights on Canada’s environmental workforce. Visit www.eco.ca for more information or contact research@eco.ca for direct inquiries about labour market information and occupational standards.

• The compensation guide is not relevant to my organization.
  ECO Canada is open to feedback and constantly evolving to meet the needs of our audience. Please provide your comments to research@eco.ca to strengthen future research and support of environmental employment in Canada. Additionally, customized salary data are available upon request.

• Have an idea or interested in customized research?
  Submit your thoughts to research@eco.ca to speak with a research coordinator.

• Can I get a refund?
  No there will be no refunds issued. You can look at the Compensation Guide sample before purchase here.