What to know
- Canada’s projected average salary increase for 2027 is 1.4 per cent, according to Robert Half.
- Marketing automation specialists are expected to see the largest increase among the six highlighted roles, at 5.9 per cent.
- Business intelligence developers and litigation support or eDiscovery directors are also projected to see salary gains above five per cent.
- Specialized skills are a major factor in hiring, with 61 per cent of surveyed managers citing them as a reason to stretch salary budgets.
- AI, cybersecurity and other technology-related skills could help make candidates more attractive to employers, while tasks such as data entry face greater automation risks.
Between constant lay-offs and increasing unemployment rates, the job market in 2026 might sometimes feel hopeless, but some roles are still in line for salary increases next year.
The Robert Half 2027 Canada Salary Guide is in, revealing the top jobs that have a chance to get some of the strongest salary raises next year, and the skills that employers seem to be willing to hire and pay extra for.
Specialized skills, AI, and technology are top of the list
According to Robert Half’s Senior Regional Director Mike Shekhtman, the report revealed that employers have now switched their focus from acquiring more employees to keeping candidates that have certain specific skillsets.
“Traditionally, a lot of employers just look at annual salary increases based on merit. That’s not necessarily what’s just happening on aggregate. What we’re just seeing more is that specialized skills and specific skillsets within organizations or functional roles is what is actually demanding and outpacing the aggregate increases that we’re going to see across the country,” Shekhtman told Now Toronto.
As seen in the report, 55 per cent of managers say they are stretching their budgets beyond originally planned to attract talent, with 61 per cent of them citing specialized skills as reasons to pay more.
“AI means different things to different organizations. But when you kind of break it down, it could be AI technology or skillsets that create efficiencies within a department or create efficiencies to drive better processes within an organization, and just making people a little bit more productive in their day to day,” Shekhtman explained.
According to the expert, other technology-related skills are also highly-attractive to employers right now, including cybersecurity, which he said is a premium skill for several organizations.
In contrast, those skills that could be automatized or more easily replaced with other employees, are becoming less in demand, such as data entry.
Top roles for salary gain
Across the most desirable skills highlighted in the report, some specific roles are expected to outpace the projected national average salary gain in 2027, which is 1.4 per cent.
The top roles are:
- Marketing automation specialist, expected to see a 5.9 per cent increase
- Business intelligence developer, with a 5.3 per cent increase
- Litigation support or eDiscovery director at 5.1 per cent
- Finance or accounting controller at 4.1 per cent
- Inventory manager at 3.9 per cent
- HR benefits manager at 2.3 per cent
Shekhtman explains that understanding what skills are attracting employers the most could be important especially for professionals that want to figure out what industries reserve better opportunities, so they can make any necessary shifts.
In addition, understanding these desired skills allows employers to keep evolving and different skillsets that make them more effective at their jobs and attractive to employers.
“I’ve always guided a lot of individuals to also continue their networking… to understand what’s coming down the pipeline in terms of in-demand roles or in-demand skills,” he said.
“It’s really important not to only focus on the roles that you’re looking at, but also your soft skills. I think what’s really crucial in landing a position in today’s day and age… Those are things that AI is not necessarily going to teach you, so you’ve got to be able to to be able to deliver that as an individual.”
