Canadian workers can expect average pay increases of 2.7 per cent next year, a slightly higher rate of growth than the actual salary increases handed out in 2009, according to results of the Conference Board's 28th annual Compensation Planning Outlook survey.

Public sector employees can expect higher wage gains than their private-sector counterparts. Increases of 3.2 per cent are anticipated for non-unionized public sector employees, compared to 2.5 per cent for private-sector employees.

For unionized employees, increases of 2.1 per cent are projected - 2.3 per cent in the public sector and two per cent in the private sector.

In 2009, actual increases averaged 2.4 per cent, down sharply from 4.2 per cent in 2008, and one in five employers gave no increases in 2009. In 2010, only 8.3 per cent of employers are expecting overall salary freezes.

Workers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba (3.5 per cent) can expect the highest increases in 2010, while increases in Alberta and the Atlantic provinces are projected to be about the same as the national average. With average increases ranging from 2.4 per cent to 2.6 per cent, organizations in British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec are expecting to pay employees increases below the national average.