What is the average salary in Canada for 2021?

The average salary of an individual in Canada for 2021 is projected to be around 120,000 CAD per year. Salaries can range from 30,200 CAD to 534,000 CAD in 2021 according to a report by salary explorer. The average salary includes housing, transport and additional benefits.

Median salary

The median salary or the middle salary value is 112,000 CAD per year. This indicates that half the population are earning less than this amount while another half is earning more than this amount.

Experience factor in salary

Years of experience is directly proportional to the salary. The more years of experience will get a higher salary. Those with 2 to 5 years of experience earn 32% more than freshers across industries. Those with more than 5 years of experience can earn 36% more than those with less than five years of work experience.

Salaries based on experience can vary across locations and career fields. Those with ten years of experience can expect a 21% increase while those with 15 years of experience can hope to earn 35% more. This also depends on the job title.

Education factor in salary

Salary levels are determined by the level of higher education. Individuals with different levels of education but at the same profession will have a differentiation in their pay levels.

The education-based pay levels are also affected by the location and the career sector. Those with a master’s degree earn 29% more than those with a bachelor’s degree, while those with a PhD earn 23% more than those with a master’s degree even if it is the same job.

What’s in store for 2021?

According to the salary projection survey of employers in Canada for 2021 by Morneau Shepell, a leading provider of technology-enabled HR services, 13% of companies are planning on freezing their wages. Furthermore, for 2021, 46 percent of companies are unsure whether to raise or freeze wages. In Canada, excluding freezes, the highest forecast average wage increases for 2021 are estimated to be 3.0% in the Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services and 2.8% in the Professional, Scientific and Technical Services. Lower than average increases are expected in the Educational Services and Health Care and Social Assistance industries at 1.8%.

Base salary projection by province

National data broken down by province shows an overall actual average base salary increase of 1.9% for 2021.

The survey found that 16 percent of Alberta's employers expect further wage freezes in 2021, while less than 10 percent of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador firms foresee wage freezes.

Base salary projection by industry

Industry data indicates an overall actual average rise from 0.6 percent to 3.0 percent for 2021, including freezes.

According to Anand  Parsan, vice president of Morneau Shepell’s compensation consulting practice, “Management of companies and enterprises” (0.6 per cent) is expected to have the lowest salary increases in 2021, followed closely by “Arts, entertainment and recreation” (0.8 per cent) and Educational services (0.8 per cent). On the other hand, “Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services” (3 per cent) and “Utilities” (2.4 per cent) are expected to have the largest salary increases.

Furthermore, 58 percent of real estate employers do not foresee wage freezes in 2021, while 42 percent of employers in the arts, entertainment and leisure sectors have already committed to freezing wages in 2021.

While there will be a marginal increase in the average salary figures in Canada for 2021, it will not be a dramatic increase after the low figures in 2020 due to the Coronavirus pandemic.