The average weekly paycheque of Canadian employees was $888.26 in December 2011, 2.4 per cent higher than it was the same month a year earlier, Statistics Canada says.

Canadians' weekly paycheques are getting bigger but still aren't keeping pace with the increase in the cost of living.

About 250 employees of the Burns Lake mill that was destroyed in an explosion have been given one last extra paycheque by the company before they will have to line up for EI.