Normandin Beaudry’s Salary Increase Survey 2018-2019

The eighth edition of our Salary Increase Survey was conducted during the summer of 2018. Some 233 organizations, representing more than 640,000 employees took part in the survey, allowing us to build a reliable, information-rich database. The data collected was analyzed by Normandin Beaudry’s compensation experts. The Survey presents labour market trends as well as salary forecasts for 2019 based on the specific conditions of the Quebec and Canadian labour market.

With its detailed segmented results, the Salary Increase Survey is a key tool for decision-makers, who can then hone in on their reference market and make informed decisions to properly set their salary increase budgets for the coming year.

Following a decline in 2017, Quebec organizations granted salary increases in 2018 more in line with previous years as shown in Figure 1. This marks the third time since 2012 that the increases granted are superior to the previous year’s forecast. The gap is also the widest with an increase of 0.3%, comparatively to 0.2% in 2012 and 0.1% in 2016.

Various economic and political factors, such as the low unemployment rate, rising inflation and new legislation — such as Ontario’s Pay Transparency Act — have been putting pressure on organizations. The combination of these factors leads us to believe that increases in 2019 could reach 3.0%, a level not seen since the financial crisis of 2009.

In Quebec, forecasts for average salary increases are up from last year’s forecasts. With a projected average increase of 2.7% for 2019, Quebec’s forecast increased by 0.3% compared to last year’s survey. Moreover, Quebec’s forecast is the highest in the country, with a Canadian average at 2.5%.

As for increases granted in 2018, Quebec and British Columbia were among the most generous provinces with increases of 2.7%, 0.2% higher than the Canadian average. The provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island were at the bottom of the ranking with increases of 2.4% on average.

As for salary structures, Quebec is leading Canadian provinces with increases granted in 2018 of 2.1% and 2.1% projected for next year, excluding salary structure freezes. The Canadian average was of 1.9% for 2018 and the forecasts for next year are also of 1.9%.

The average gap between salary increases and average salary structure increases has widened slightly as compared to the previous year and now stands at 0.6%. Despite this increase, we find that less than a quarter of the total budget allows organizations to reward the performance of employees and that most of the amount is designated to maintain the positioning of employees within their salary scale.

A quarter of organizations with a salary structure have an automatic progression for employees who have not reached the maximum of their salary range. This automatic progression is not linked to performance and is added to the merit increase budget, if applicable. Over the past year, the average value of the overall increase for employees with automatic progression who have not reached the maximum of their structure was 3.4%.

Read the
FULL REPORT
of Normandin Beaudry’s Salary Increase Survey 2018-2019.

For more information about the survey, contact:

Anna Potvin, M.Sc., CHRP
Senior Consultant, Compensation
apotvin@normandin-beaudry.ca
514-285-1122, extension 624