© Copyright 2006 Rogers Publishing Ltd. The following article first appeared in the October 2005 edition of BENEFITS CANADA magazine.
Fact Check: Paying up
 
What salary increase will you get?
 
By Anna Sharratt

It’s that time of year again for employers: time to think about 2006 staff salary increases. And consultants are weighing in on what those increases might be. The final tally—employees should expect an average increase of 3.3%. But some sectors—like oil and gas—could see larger salary hikes.

Average projected salary increase for 2006:
3.2%(Morneau Sobeco); 3.4% (Mercer Human Resource Consulting);
3.3%(Watson Wyatt Worldwide); 3.4% (Hewitt Associates)
• Average projected salary increase for executives: 3.6%

Lowest projected salary increase in paper or wood product manufacturing sector: 2.6%

Highest average projected salary increase for employees in mining, oil and gas sectors: 4.6%
• In pharmaceutical /biotechnology sectors: 3.7%

City with highest projected salary increase: Calgary
Region with lowest: Southwestern Ontario

Percentage of employers who say they will increase pay based on performance: 47.5%

Percentage who plan to consider performance-based rewards for 2006: 16.8%

Percentage of employers considering non-monetary rewards: 10.7%

Sources: Morneau Sobeco’s 2006 Compensation Trends and Projections Survey(data collected from 300 companies across Canada between June 2005 and August 2005); Mercer Human Resource Consulting’s 2006 Compensation Planning Survey (384 companies across Canada); Watson Wyatt Worldwide’s 2005 Annual Canadian Salary Survey(422 organizations across Canada); Hewitt Associates’ 2005 Salary Increase Survey.