Base wage increases in collective agreements settled in the first six months of 2015 averaged 1.7 per cent, similar to the annual average for 2014, with public sector increases slightly below the private sector. The gap between public and private sector settlements has narrowed this year, but this is more due to wage increases in the private sector declining than because of an increase for public sector workers.
Workers in BC have received the lowest negotiated wage increases of all provinces with an average increase of 1.1 per cent, followed by Ontario and Quebec workers with average base wage increases of 1.5 per cent. In Alberta, base wage increases in collective agreements for the first half of this year averaged just 1.7 per cent, down from the two per cent average of 2014, mostly because of a decline in private sector settlements. Average wage increases for settlements in Nova Scotia and PEI exceeded the national average, but this is based on a small number of agreements.