Canadian faculty members are losing the wage race with their American counterparts. In 1995, full-time university teachers in Canada earned about 4 per cent less than all full-time teachers in the United States. By 1999, the difference in average salary had increased to 10 per cent.

The gap varies by rank, with full professors and assistant professors worse off than associates. Between 1995 and 1999 the wage difference for full professors widened by 7.4 percentage points. In 1999, the average Canadian full professor was 54 years old and earned 19.4 per cent or $18,106 less than a full professor in the U.S.

Assistant professors are in the early stages of a teaching career, and on average are 40 years old in Canada. They earned 12.2 per cent less than assistant professors in the U.S. in 1995 and 15.7 per cent less in 1999. Although associate professors are not as "badly off" compared to the other ranks, the 9.2 per cent wage gap in 1999 is six percentage points higher than in 1995.

In the coming decade a significant number of university teachers will retire. More than half of full-time Canadian faculty members are 50 years old or older, with nearly one-third over the age of 55. In addition, a larger faculty body will be needed to meet the anticipated growth in the number of students entering universities over the next 15 years.

As universities face the challenges of replacing and expanding their current faculty cohort, they will encounter difficulties in competition with their better funded and better paying American counterparts.