The public sector has been an important provider of good jobs in recent decades, offering good wages and non-wage benefits, and stable employment. Although many people think that the public sector has ballooned in recent decades, public sector jobs grew by only 10 per cent between 1976 and 1996, while Canada's population grew by 27 per cent. Private sector jobs grew by 45 per cent and the number of self-employed grew by 83 per cent over the same period.
Unionization greatly minimizes the job quality gap between public and private sector workers.
Nearly 85 per cent of public sector workers have employer-sponsored pension plans, compared to less than half of private sector workers. Sixteen per cent of public sector workers worked part-time in 1995, compared to 22 per cent of private sector workers. Average annual earnings for people in professional occupations are slightly higher among the self-employed and slightly lower in the private sector, compared to professionals in the public sector. Average annual earnings of self-employed blue collar and clerical workers are more than 40 per cent lower, and those in the private sector are approximately 25 per cent lower than people in the same occupational groups in the public sector. Unless otherwise stated, these and all following statistics are for 1995.