Section I: Introduction and Overview of the Study

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The Public Service Labour Relations Board is an independent, quasi-judicial statutory tribunal responsible for administering the collective bargaining and grievance adjudication systems in the federal Public and Parliamentary Service. In 2005, the Board established the Compensation Analysis and Research Services (CARS) whose mandate it is to conduct compensation surveys and to make such information available to the employers and bargaining agents that participate in the collective bargaining process in the federal public service and to the general public.

In 2007, during the process of renewing their collective agreement, the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (TBS) asked the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB) to conduct a compensation study for the Health Services (SH) group.

Originally, at the request of the parties (PIPSC and TBS), the study for the SH group was to be based on a methodology developed by the Institut de la Statistique du Québec (ISQ) for its Enquête sur la rémunération globale and was to be conducted, on behalf of the PSLRB by the ISQ and Statistics Canada working as partners. When certain difficulties prevented that partnership from becoming a reality, the PSLRB decided to conduct the study in-house through its Compensation Analysis and Research Services, with the participation of TBS and PIPSC in the various stages of the study process, from developing the tools to presenting the final report.

This study, the second of its kind published by the PSLRB, provides detailed information on total compensation and its components, on salary ranges and on the frequency and characteristics of selected benefits and working conditions that prevail in the Canadian health care sector. Furthermore, while the focus of the study is on total compensation, questions on recruitment and retention initiatives were added to the questionnaire to meet a need expressed by the parties. Practices identified by the respondents are presented in the last section of the report.

Data was collected from health care establishments of various sizes and types in all of Canada’s provinces and territories, including general, paediatric, psychiatric and special‑care hospitals, ambulatory care centres for persons dealing with mental health disorders, alcoholism and drug addictions, and community health care centres. Data was also included from the provincial and territorial departments of health and workers’ compensation boards. The sample is representative of the health care sector in Canada.

Some 448 establishments (over 70 percent) from the study sample agreed to participate in the study, either directly or through central respondent organizations. The reasons given by those establishments who did not participate were either an inability to identify positions that correspond to the benchmark positions or a lack of time and resources.

Data presented in the study has a reference period of December 31, 2007 and the field work to collect the data took place from February to July 2008.

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