Raises are expected for Canadian employees in 2015. That’s the news from a couple of different reports released over the past week or so.

The Morneau Shepell survey out last week says that employers in Canada are expecting staff’s salaries to increase by 2.8% next year.

Higher than average wage gains are expected in several industries. Workers in mining and oil and gas should see average raises of 3.4%. Professional, scientific and technical services can also expect above average salary increases at about 3.0%, according to the Morneau Shepell survey.

Salary increases are driven by competition for workers, so regions and sectors where employees are most in demand receive the greatest pay boosts. Consequently Alberta and Saskatchewan, provinces facing labour shortage situations, are seeing salaries rise the fastest.

Similarly, a study by consulting firm Mercer, released on Monday, also said the energy sector would see the greatest salary increases in 2015, particularly in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Mercer’s 2014/2015 Canada Compensation Planning Survey, includes salary data ad expectations contributed by nearly 700 companies employing two million non-unionized workers from across the country.

The average base salary increase for Canadians is expected to be 3% next year. However, workers in the energy sector are more likely to see a 3.7% wage hike in 2015. Salaries in that field apparently went up by slightly more than that, 3.9% this year.

Both the Morneau Shepell and the Mercer survey predict the lowest wage increases to be seen in the consumer goods and retail/wholesale industries. Salaries are still expected to go up for workers in these sectors, but at 2.6%, a lower rate than the national average.

Alberta and Saskatchewan’s booming energy sector is driving the greatest wage gains in the West. Saskatchewan ranks a close second to Alberta for 2015 with a provincial average salary increase of of 3.1%. At 2.8%, Quebec and Atlantic Canada are forecast to have the lowest wage increases next year.

See also:

The university degrees that lead to the highest starting salaries
10 jobs that can pay from over $60,000 to over $100,000 without a degree
10 surprisingly high-paying jobs

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Peter Harris
– Peter Harris on Twitter

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