Nearly one in three Canadians say demands of work interfere with home and family life

Do you struggle with work-life balance? You are not alone, with nearly one-third (32%) of working Canadians aged 15 to 74 living in the provinces reporting that their work interfered with their home and family life in 2022.

Over one-third of Albertans (37%) reported work intruding on their home life, a rate higher than the rest of Canada, while Quebec (25%) and New Brunswick (23%) had lower rates.

Work life imbalance peaks in early middle age

Balancing work and home or family commitments is an issue for Canadians of all working ages.

Just over one in four Canadians aged 18 to 34 (28%) living in the provinces told us work interfered with their home and family life in 2022.

Canadians aged 35 to 49 (40%) were most likely to report work interfering with home life. This rate fell to 31% for those aged 50 to 64.

Approximately one in six Canadians aged 65 to 74 (17%) reported work interfering with their home and family life.

Over one in four Canadians report struggling with family responsibilities because of job time commitments

More than one-quarter (28%) of Canadians living in the provinces felt that the time demands of their jobs interfered with their family responsibilities in 2022. Residents of Ontario (31%) were more likely to report this, followed by residents of New Brunswick (20%) and Quebec (19%).

Once again, Canadians aged 35 to 49 were most likely to find it difficult to fulfill family responsibilities because of work commitments at 33%, followed by younger adults aged 18 to 34 (26%) and those aged 50 to 64 (26%).

One in three Canadians struggle to manage home tasks because of work-related demands

One-third of Canadians living in the provinces (33%) reported that they were unable to complete personal tasks at home, owing to the demands of their job in 2022. This imbalance was most pronounced in Ontario (36%), followed by Quebec (28%) and New Brunswick (22%).

Once again, Canadians aged 35 to 49 (38%) were mostly likely to feel the greatest strain, followed by those aged 50 to 64 (32%) and 18 to 34 (30%).

Almost two in five Canadian adults alter family activity plans on account of work-related duties

Almost two in five Canadians (38%) living in the provinces reported that work-related obligations forced them to alter family activity plans in 2022. Albertans (45%) were most likely to report this, followed by residents of British Columbia (41%) and Ontario (40%).

Quebec residents (25%) were least likely to report altering family activity plans because of work-related duties.

Just under half of Canadian youth aged 15 to 17 (43%) reported altering family activity plans because of work-related duties. This may partly be attributable to youth working in sectors such as retail trade, and accommodation and food services, where weekend and evening work is often required.

Just over one-third of Canadians aged 18 to 34 (37%) and 50 to 64 (36%) also reported making changes to plans for family activities because of work, suggesting that this is a widespread issue affecting most stages of life.