High earners and women more likely to work from home in Quebec: statistics

A person types on a laptop on a train in New Jersey, May 18, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Jenny Kane

Working from home is more common among high earners, university graduates, women and residents of Montreal and the Outaouais region, according to the latest study from Quebec's statistics institute, the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ).

Conversely, those least likely to telework are those earning less than $20 an hour, those without a high school diploma, and those working in the Côte-Nord-du-Québec and Abitibi-Témiscamingue regions.

More specifically, in 2022, among those earning at least $50 an hour, 21 per cent teleworked exclusively, 43 per cent worked in hybrid mode, while 36 per cent worked face-to-face.

In contrast, 90 per cent of those earning less than $20 an hour worked face-to-face.

Women work remotely more than men. In 2022, 40 per cent of female workers reported telecommuting, compared to 31 per cent of male workers, notes the ISQ.

In an interview on Tuesday, Luc Cloutier-Villeneuve, labour statistics analyst at ISQ, explained that women are more likely to work in public administration, i.e. jobs where telecommuting is easily applicable, while men are more likely to hold manual or production jobs.

- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Feb. 6, 2024.