When you say "represented by unions", do you mean the unionization rate or the coverage rate?
In terms of unionization rate, in 2016 Canada was at 28.4% [1]. By comparison, the US peak was 34.8% in 1954 [2] . (It is now 10.7% [3], which is slightly higher than 10%, not less than.)
While the "~" can justify a rounding to the nearest 10% instead of 5%, that ended up hiding a difference of 6.5%, or 1/5th of the total unionized population. From what I can tell, the current rate of around 28% corresponds to the US unionization rate in about 1970 [3], and not its peak in 1954.
The US peak of 34.8% is closer to the Canadian peak of 37.9% in 1984 than it is to 30%, and corresponds to the Canadian unionization rate in 1991 [1].
The coverage rate for both countries is of course higher. For 2017 in Canada it was 30.4% [5] and in US is was 11.9% [3].
In terms of unionization rate, in 2016 Canada was at 28.4% [1]. By comparison, the US peak was 34.8% in 1954 [2] . (It is now 10.7% [3], which is slightly higher than 10%, not less than.)
While the "~" can justify a rounding to the nearest 10% instead of 5%, that ended up hiding a difference of 6.5%, or 1/5th of the total unionized population. From what I can tell, the current rate of around 28% corresponds to the US unionization rate in about 1970 [3], and not its peak in 1954.
The US peak of 34.8% is closer to the Canadian peak of 37.9% in 1984 than it is to 30%, and corresponds to the Canadian unionization rate in 1991 [1].
The coverage rate for both countries is of course higher. For 2017 in Canada it was 30.4% [5] and in US is was 11.9% [3].
[1] "http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170908/cg-a003-eng....
[2] "At their peak in 1954, 34.8% of all U.S. wage and salary workers belonged to unions" - http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/02/20/for-american... .
[3] http://unionstats.gsu.edu/All-Wage-and-Salary-Workers.htm . The BLS gives the same unionization numbers for 2017 (but no coverage numbers) at https://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm .
[4] http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/170908/cg-a003-eng....
[5] https://www.statista.com/statistics/442980/canada-union-cove...