B.C. workers are expected to enjoy the largest salary hikes in Canada next year, according to the actuarial consulting firm Eckler.
Its consultants surveyed more than 500 large companies across a range of sectors and industries to find that workers across Canada can expect wages to rise 3.6 per cent next year, down from 3.8 per cent this year.
In B.C., workers can expect an average 3.9 per cent wage hike, Eckler said in a Monday news release.
"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.
"We are beginning to see a reversion to pre-pandemic norms."
The sector with the highest projected average salary increase is real estate (4.2 per cent). At the other end of the spectrum, health care (2.8 per cent) and education (2.9 per cent) were the sectors where workers can expect the lowest salary increases.
Eckler’s survey found that only 18 per cent of representatives at organizations said they remain undecided about 2025 salary budgets, versus 58 per cent in 2024.
Workers in Canada's territories make considerably more than those in the country's provinces
High living costs due to remoteness in Northern Canada mean that workers in the Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut make more in salary or wages than do counterparts down south, according to Statistics Canada, which tracks data for wages.
It found that in June, Northwest Territories workers made the most in the country, on average, at $1,731.97 per week, including overtime. That was followed by the average $1,649.89 per week made by workers in Nunavut in June and the $1,448.43 per week made by workers in the Yukon in June.
Among provinces, Albertans made the most money on average in June: $1,330.37 per week, including overtime.
Ontario workers came next, with average weekly pay in June totalling $1,284.48. B.C. workers were the third-highest paid among provincial counterparts, earning an average $1,273.82 per week in June, according to Statistics Canada.
Countrywide, the average weekly earnings in June for workers was $1,252.85, while the province where workers earned the least on average per week in June was Prince Edward Island, at $1,062.94, according to the country’s number cruncher.
