Canadian employers expect salaries to rise by an average of 2.8 percent in 2015, according to Morneau Shepell's annual compensation survey. The figure is up slightly from the 2.6 percent increase expected for 2014. The average includes expected salary freezes and excludes promotional or special salary adjustments.

“Employers are relatively optimistic about the coming year,” said Michel Dubé, a principal in Morneau Shepell’s compensation consulting practice. “Those expecting a significant increase in revenue, operating budgets and staffing outnumber those expecting decreases by four to one. Despite this optimism, employers are still cautious about the salary increases, which likely reflects reduced competitive pressures in an environment of relatively high unemployment and low inflation.”

Respondents in the mining and oil and gas sector expect the greatest salary increases for 2015 at 3.4 percent on average, down from last year's expected salary increases of 3.9 percent.

Professional, scientific and technical services will also be higher than the national norms, at 3.0 percent on average, reflecting increased competition for talent in this sector.

Lower than average increases are expected in wholesale and retail trade, where average salary increases of 2.4 percent are expected.

Morneau Shepell provides human resources consulting and outsourcing services. The survey was conducted mid-June and the end of July 2014, with input from organizations employing 800,000 people in Canada.