Canadian salaries will rise an average of 2.8% in 2012, according to survey results released by management consulting firm Hay Group.
Karl Aboud, director of the Hay Group reward consulting practice, noted that when the 5% of companies that are planning zero increases are removed from the pool, the average 2012 increase rises to 3%.
“The message of a 3% adjustment is that organizations are fairly confident, given the higher forecast than the 2.6% of last year,” he said. “So there’s renewed optimism this year over last year.”
But he added: “We’re still not nearly as optimistic as the 4% year of 2008 before the economic downturn.”
In B.C., however, the optimism is tempered further. Hay Group is projecting average salary increases of 2.5% for B.C. – the second lowest projection in the country, after Atlantic Canada.
Aboud said regional variations are connected to the health of various industries. B.C.’s projections, he said, are being dragged down by a less rosy outlook among the province’s forestry sector, government and health-care providers.
Nationally, he said, growth in mining and energy has pushed Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland to lead the country’s 2012 salary growth projections.
The three provinces are projecting salary growth next year of 3.4%, 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively.
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV