Average salary expected to rise 3.6% in 2025, survey says

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A new survey said the national average base salary increase in Canada for 2025 is projected to be 3.6%, excluding any planned salary freezes, which is still below 2024’s actual increases of 3.8%.

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Provincewise, B.C. is leading all others with an expected salary increase of 3.9% for next year, while Alberta is second at 3.8% and Ontario is third at 3.7%, according to the third annual Compensation Planning Survey by Eckler’s, an actuarial consulting firm.

New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island are at the bottom at 2.8%.

“As inflationary pressures dissipate, planned salary increases are moderating more slowly, resulting in larger real compensation increases for employees,” said Anand Parsan, national compensation practice leader at Eckler’s, in a statement.

“We are beginning to see a reversion to pre-pandemic norms.”

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The survey also revealed that only 18% of organizations remain undecided about 2025 salary budgets versus 58% in 2024.

“As the labour market continues to rebalance, organizations are shifting their attention towards effectively managing their compensation programs,” said Parsan in a statement.

“How they communicate their total rewards package to employees, how transparent they are with compensation, how effective and equitable are their pay programs.”

The survey results indicate some sectors continue to have limited budgets with healthcare and education expected to freeze compensation in 2025.

The highest projected average salary increase by industry is expected to be in real estate (4.2%), while health care (2.8%) and education (2.9%), even with projected freezes removed, reported the lowest projected salary increases.

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When asked about their top human resources initiatives for 2025, the majority of respondents indicated current job descriptions (56.1%) and salary benchmarking (55.4%) — comparing similar job salaries at other companies — were priorities.

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Eckler’s Compensation Planning Survey was conducted from June to August and collected responses from over 500 Canadian organizations across diverse sectors and industries.

Here’s the top 10 hourly wages of workers in Canada, according to 2023 Statistics Canada data (released Jan. 5):

1. Utilities, $49.41

2. Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas, $47.40

3. Professional, scientific and technical services, $44.24

4. Public administration, $42.61

5. Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing, $40.93

6. Educational services, $38.71

7. Goods-producing sector, $35.50

8. Construction, $35.46

9. Manufacturing, $33.13

10. Services-producing sector, $33.06

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