A look at the most overworked provinces in Canada

First at Five: Overworked and Overwhelmed? First at Five looks at the most overworked provinces.

A new study says a pair of Maritime provinces are among the most overworked in Canada.

The study, conducted by Preszler injury lawyers in Alberta compiled data over the course of 2023 from Statistics Canada to determine the working hours for each Canadian province. Topping the list is Newfoundland and Labrador, averaging 38.18 working hours a week.

Falling just behind in second place is Prince Edward Island with the average worker clocking 37.36 hours a week. Third place is New Brunswick with a weekly average of 36.87 hours working across all job sectors.

Nova Scotia found itself in sixth place with an average work week of 36.06 hours.

In all three Maritime provinces, natural resources, agriculture and related production are the most overworked sectors, averaging close to 50 hours a week.

Megan Paul is a camp counsellor and teacher in Saint John, and admits to feeling overworked on the average day.

“I don't get to enjoy my weekends the way I would like to because I feel like I get burnt out,” Paul says. “Then I have to relax on the weekends when I could be spending time with my friends if I had a better work-life management.”

Others who work long hours don’t mind it.

“It’s a pretty good job,” one taxi driver told CTV Atlantic. “We work too many hours sometimes on the weekend, like more than 12 hours sometimes, but it’s a pretty good job.”

Dalhousie University psychology professor Dr. Simon Sherry says since the pandemic he has seen more cases of people being overworked or feeling burnt out. He says the pressure, stress, and demands of the modern workplace have greatly impacted people’s mental health, and says overworking can be difficult to manage.

“If you're highly agreeable and a people pleaser or if you're very perfectionistic, with the highest standards, these are traits that have been shown to set people up to end up in a place of burnout or overwork,” says Sherry.

He notes ways employers can mitigate the risk of burnout.

“If people have a sense that the work is rewarding and fulfilling, they tend to burn out less often,” says Sherry. “So a smart organization will design its workforce to give people a healthy sense of control and a sense that their work is rewarding.”

Sherry also points out technology has contributed to the recent increase in people feeling overworked or burnt out. He says many people feel the need to be “on” 24/7 because the boundary between work and personal life has collapsed with work-related calls or emails more often than not at our fingertips.