Sleepless: Filipinos most likely to do night shifts in Canada

By Carlito Pablo

A government report on how people spent their day in a 24-hour period reveals a noteworthy glance on one facet of the Filipino experience in Canada.

It’s that Filipinos are most likely to work night shifts compared to other segments of the population.

Among racialized groups, landed immigrants, and Canadian-born workers, Filipinos have the highest proportion of those who stay awake in the wee hours in order to earn a living.

Released on March 12, 2026 by Statistics Canada, the report is titled “A Canadian bedtime story”.

The paper report noted that in April 2022, a total of 323,000 people, or 1.7 percent of workers aged 15 to 69, “usually worked a regular night shift”. 

Filipinos are most likely to do night shifts at 4.3 percent, followed by Blacks at 3.3 percent.

Meanwhile, about one in 10 Canadians or 10 percent are asleep by 9 p.m.

Moreover, almost one-third of Canadians or around 30 percent are asleep by 10 p.m., while three in five are asleep at 11 p.m. 

“Younger adults aged 15 to 34 are most likely to still be awake at 11:00 p.m., with almost half awake at that hour,” the report noted.

The report provides a link to a previous study by Statistics Canada that was released on June 13, 2023, and titled “Quality of Employment in Canada: Night work, 2022”.

“Industries where a higher proportion of workers usually work at night include transportation and warehousing, business, building and other support services, and retail trade,” stated the 2023 study that utilized data from a survey in April 2022.

Referencing a 1990 International Labour Organization Night Work Convention, the paper stated that “night work means all work which is performed during a period of no less than seven consecutive hours, including the interval from midnight to 5 a.m.”.

“Night work can be a voluntary adaptation of work hours, but in many cases people work at night due to operational needs in settings such as hospitals and factories,” the 2023 paper stated. 

It also noted risks associated with working graveyard shifts. 

“Working at night may impact workers’ ability to balance their work hours with care and family responsibilities. In addition, night shifts are associated with a higher risk of depression, metabolic syndrome and other health conditions.”

The report also stated that immigrants and some racialized groups were also more likely to work at night. 

“The proportion of workers with a regular night shift was 2.3% for landed immigrants compared with 1.5% for those born in Canada,” the study noted. 

Landed immigrants, as well as Filipino and Black workers, were more likely to work at night.

Among racialized workers aged 15 to 69, Filipinos are most likely to work at night at a proportion of 4.3 percent, followed by Blacks, 3.3 percent; South Asian, 2.5 percent; and Chinese at around 1.6 percent.

The 2023 study also revealed that the prevalence of regular night hours varied by level of education.

It’s that workers aged 25 to 69 with a high school diploma or less were more than twice (2.5 percent) as likely to work at night than those with a bachelor’s degree or higher (0.9 percent).

So where is all this night work happening?

In April 2022, the transportation and warehousing industry had one of the highest proportions of workers who usually worked a regular night shift or night hours at 5.5 percent.

Other industries with relatively high rates of night work include the business, building and other support services industry (4.5 percent), accommodation and food services (2.8 percent), retail trade (2.7 percent) and manufacturing (2.7 percent). 

The 2023 Statistics Canada study also noted that private sector employees (2.1 percent) were more likely to work at night than public sector employees (1.3 percent) and self-employed workers (0.6 percent).

The March 12, 2026 paper recalled that Statistics Canada conducted a 2022 survey on how Canadians spent their day over a 24-hour period.

The data revealed “daily rhythms of life—from sleep to work to leisure”.

Now, talking about the early birds, around one in four Canadians are awake by 6 a.m. The number rises to about one in two by 7 a.m.

“By age group, well over half of adults aged 35 to 64 are awake at 7:00 a.m., while approximately three in five adults aged 15 to 34 or 65 and older are still sleeping.”

As for late risers, around four in five Canadians are awake by 9 a.m.