Mean hours worked per week by physicians in Canada, 1987–2021*
| Group | Total no. of physicians | 1987–1991 | 1997–2001 | 2007–2011 | 2017–2021 | Change from 1987–1991 to 2017–2021, h (%) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of physicians | Hours per week, mean (95% CI) | No. of physicians | Hours per week, mean (95% CI) | No. of physicians | Hours per week, mean (95% CI) | No. of physicians | Hours per week, mean (95% CI) | |||
| All physicians | 10 800 | 1769 | 52.8 (51.9–53.6) | 2419 | 50.4 (49.7–51.2) | 3187 | 47.5 (46.9–48.2) | 3425 | 45.9 (45.3–46.5) | −6.9 (−13.0)¶ |
| Sex | ||||||||||
| Male | 7105 | 1399 | 55.2 (54.3–56.2) | 1687 | 53.2 (52.3–54.2) | 2106 | 49.7 (48.9–50.5) | 1913 | 47.7 (46.9–48.5) | −7.5 (−13.6)¶ |
| Female | 3695 | 370 | 44.7 (43.0–46.5) | 732 | 44.7 (43.4–46.0) | 1081 | 43.5 (42.4–44.6) | 1512 | 43.7 (42.8–44.6) | −1.0 (−2.3) |
| Marital status | ||||||||||
| Married | 9205 | 1667 | 53.1 (52.2–54.0) | 2150 | 50.9 (50.1–51.7) | 2638 | 47.8 (47.1–48.6) | 2750 | 45.7 (45.0–46.4) | −7.4 (−14.0)¶ |
| Not married | 1595 | 102 | 49.1 (45.7–52.6) | 269 | 47.4 (45.2–49.6) | 549 | 46.1 (44.6–47.6) | 675 | 46.9 (45.4–48.4) | −2.2 (−4.6) |
| Marital status by sex | ||||||||||
| Married male | 6299 | 1323 | 55.4 (54.4–56.4) | 1541 | 53.8 (52.8–54.8) | 1833 | 50.0 (49.1–50.9) | 1602 | 47.5 (46.6–48.4) | −7.8 (−14.8)¶ |
| Not married male | 806 | 76 | 53.6 (49.9–57.2) | 146 | 48.6 (45.5–51.8) | 273 | 48.1 (46.0–50.2) | 311 | 48.5 (46.3–50.7) | −5.1 (−9.5) |
| Married female | 2906 | 344 | 45.5 (43.7–47.3) | 609 | 44.5 (43.0–45.9) | 805 | 43.3 (41.9–44.6) | 1148 | 43.2 (42.2–44.3) | −2.3 (−5.0) |
| Not married female | 763 | NAS | – | 123 | 45.9 (42.9–48.9) | 276 | 44.2 (42.1–46.3) | 364 | 45.3 (43.3–47.3) | – |
| Physician type | ||||||||||
| Family physician | 6301 | 1011 | 53.0 (51.8–54.2) | 1431 | 49.8 (48.8–50.7) | 1796 | 47.7 (45.8–47.5) | 2063 | 45.1 (44.3–45.9) | −7.9 (−14.9)¶ |
| Other specialist | 4999 | 758 | 52.5 (51.2–53.7) | 988 | 51.4 (50.0–52.7) | 1391 | 48.5 (47.5–49.5) | 1362 | 47.2 (46.2–48.2) | −5.3 (−10.1)¶ |
| Employment† | ||||||||||
| Full-time | 9930 | 1657 | 55.1 (54.3–55.9) | 2218 | 53 (52.3–53.8) | 2930 | 49.8 (49.2–50.5) | 3125 | 48.1 (47.5–48.8) | −7.0 (−12.6)¶ |
| Part-time | 870 | 112 | 22.9 (20.8–25.1) | 201 | 22.2 (20.6–23.8) | 257 | 22.9 (21.3–24.5) | 300 | 22.5 (21.0–24.0) | −0.4 (−1.8) |
| Location‡ | ||||||||||
| Urban | 9288 | NA | – | 1987 | 50.4 (49.6–51.3) | 2663 | 47.5 (46.8–48.2) | 2869 | 45.8 (46.8–48.2) | – |
| Rural | 1512 | NA | – | 432 | 50.4 (48.4–52.4) | 524 | 47.5 (45.8–49.3) | 556 | 46.9 (45.2–48.6) | – |
| Incorporation status | ||||||||||
| Incorporated | 3689 | 323 | 54.5 (52.4–56.5) | 379 | 53.4 (51.4–55.5) | 1205 | 50.1 (49.0–51.1) | 1782 | 47.3 (46.4–48.1) | −7.2 (−13.2)¶ |
| Not incorporated | 7111 | 1446 | 52.4 (51.5–53.4) | 2040 | 49.9 (49.1–50.7) | 1982 | 46.2 (45.3–47.1) | 1643 | 44.5 (43.6–45.4) | −7.9 (−15.1)¶ |
| ≤ 45 yr | 5488 | 1099 | 53.9 (52.8–55.0) | 1334 | 51.4 (50.4–52.4) | 1409 | 47.7 (46.7–48.7) | 1646 | 47.0 (46.1–47.9) | −6.9 (−12.8)¶ |
| > 45 yr | 5312 | 670 | 50.9 (49.5–52.4) | 1085 | 49.1 (47.9–50.3) | 1778 | 47.4 (46.5–48.3) | 1779 | 44.8 (43.9–45.7) | −6.1 (−12.1)¶ |
| Young children | ||||||||||
| Child ≤ 5 yr | 2307 | 450 | 53.2 (51.4–54.9) | 583 | 49.2 (47.6–50.8) | 617 | 47.7 (46.2–49.2) | 657 | 45.1 (43.6–46.5) | −8.1 (−15.3)¶ |
| No child ≤ 5 yr | 8493 | 1319 | 52.6 (51.7–53.6) | 1836 | 50.8 (49.9–51.7) | 2570 | 47.5 (46.7–48.2) | 2768 | 46.1 (45.4–46.8) | −6.5 (−12.4)¶ |
| Region | ||||||||||
| Manitoba and Saskatchewan | 1567 | 274 | 61.0 (58.4–63.6) | 299 | 53.8 (51.3–56.2) | 472 | 50.7 (48.9–52.5) | 522 | 44.8 (43.1–46.5) | −16.2 (−26.5)¶ |
| Atlantic§ | 1896 | 355 | 58.1 (56.0–60.3) | 419 | 54.2 (52.4–56.1) | 596 | 49.9 (48.3–51.5) | 526 | 48.5 (46.7–50.3) | −9.6 (−16.6)¶ |
| British Columbia | 1252 | 162 | 55.8 (52.8–58.9) | 257 | 51.2 (48.6–53.8) | 424 | 46.9 (45.1–48.6) | 409 | 42.7 (41.0–44.3) | −13.1 (−23.6)¶ |
| Alberta | 892 | 195 | 54.2 (51.4–57.0) | 151 | 52.1 (48.9–55.4) | 235 | 49.4 (46.6–52.2) | 311 | 46.2 (44.0–48.3) | −8.0 (−14.8)¶ |
| Ontario | 3249 | 451 | 52.1 (50.5–53.8) | 774 | 51.3 (49.9–52.7) | 942 | 46.5 (45.2–47.7) | 1082 | 46.6 (45.5–47.7) | −5.5 (−10.6)¶ |
| Quebec | 1944 | 332 | 48.2 (46.7–49.7) | 519 | 46.9 (45.5–48.4) | 518 | 47.4 (45.9–49.0) | 575 | 46.2 (44.7–47.7) | −2.0 (−4.2) |
Note: CI = confidence interval; NA = not available, data not collected; NAS = not available, sample size is below Statistics Canada’s minimum observation release restriction.
↵* Means and 95% CIs were calculated using survey weights; the number of physicians are unweighted counts.
↵† Full-time employment is defined as working 30 hours per week or more. Part-time employement is defined as working less than 30 hours per week.
↵‡ Rural or urban location in the Labour Force Survey follows the Canadian census definition.
↵§ Atlantic region includes Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
↵¶ p < 0.001.