Changing Jobs for Higher Pay in Canada: What 5.6% vs. 3.0% Means

Last verified: October 9, 2026

Changing jobs for higher pay still carried a clear advantage in Canada in September 2026. Workers who changed employers had a median year-over-year increase of 5.6% in annual base pay, compared with 3.0% for workers who stayed with the same employer, according to the latest ADP Canada Pay Insights report.

The difference was even wider when overtime, bonuses and other extra pay were included. Median gross pay rose 9.9% for job-changers and 4.4% for job-stayers.

Those figures do not mean every Canadian can get a 5.6% raise by accepting a new job. They describe the median change among two large groups of workers over 12 months. Still, they put a useful number on the pay advantage that can come with moving to a new employer.

The base-pay gap can add up to thousands of dollars

ADP’s base-pay measures are the cleaner numbers to use when comparing a current salary with a new offer. Applying the September medians to three salaries shows how the 2.6 percentage-point gap translates into dollars.

For a worker earning $70,000, the illustration produces a $1,820 annual difference before tax, or about $152 a month. These are PaycheckGuru calculations using the ADP medians. They are examples, not estimates of what a particular employer will offer.

The new data also helps put other labour-market numbers in context. Statistics Canada reported that the average offered wage for Canadian job vacancies reached $28.55 an hour in the second quarter of 2026. Our job-vacancy analysis explains why a higher posted wage does not necessarily mean workers in every occupation are seeing the same increase.

Why the 9.9% gross-pay figure needs more caution

Base pay is the salary or regular wage attached to the job. Gross pay can also include overtime, bonuses and other additional earnings. A job-changer may earn more gross pay because the new role has a higher salary, but also because the worker received a signing bonus, worked more hours or qualified for different variable compensation.

That is why the 9.9% figure should not be treated as a typical salary increase. When comparing offers, start with guaranteed annual base pay. Review bonuses, commissions and overtime separately, and check whether they are guaranteed, discretionary or dependent on targets.

A role with a 6% higher salary can still leave you worse off if it removes a pension match, increases commuting and child-care costs, or requires more unpaid time. PaycheckGuru’s analysis of what working from home can be worth shows how quickly those costs can change the value of an offer.

What the ADP data covers

ADP says its Canadian report draws on anonymized payroll transactions for approximately 1.6 million private-sector workers each month. It uses a matched sample to follow individual workers over a 12-month period, rather than comparing the average pay of two changing pools of employees.

That design is useful because it measures what happened to the same workers. It also comes with limits:

• The figures cover private-sector workers found in ADP’s payroll data. They are not a complete census of every Canadian worker.
• The percentages are medians. Half of the measured changes were above the median and half were below it.
• The report shows an association between changing employers and stronger pay growth. It does not prove that changing jobs caused the entire difference.
• Job-changers are a selected group. Their occupations, experience, bargaining position and reasons for moving may differ from those of workers who stayed.
• The results should not be applied directly to public-sector employees or self-employed workers.

ADP’s published breakdowns also show that one national figure cannot describe every worker. September base-pay growth ranged from 2.5% in Yukon to 4.1% in Prince Edward Island. By age, it ranged from 2.8% for workers aged 55 to 85 to 3.5% for those aged 25 to 34. Most sector figures clustered between 3.0% and 3.2%.

How to compare a new offer with staying

A job offer should beat more than your current salary. Use the following checks before deciding whether the move improves your finances:

1. Compare guaranteed base pay. Put your current annual salary and the new annual salary side by side. For hourly work, use realistic paid hours rather than assuming every week will be identical.
2. Separate reliable pay from variable pay. List bonuses, commissions, overtime and shift premiums on their own lines. Do not value a maximum bonus as if it were guaranteed.
3. Price the benefits. Include pension or RRSP matching, health and dental coverage, paid vacation, stock plans and employer-paid professional costs.
4. Count the cost of the move. Commuting, parking, meals, child care, work clothing and additional unpaid time can absorb part of a raise.
5. Check what you leave behind. A move just before a bonus date, pension vesting date or vacation milestone can create a one-time loss.
6. Calculate the after-tax result. A raise is taxed at your marginal rate, but only the additional income is taxed at the higher rate. Use the PaycheckGuru payroll calculator to compare estimated take-home pay.

A higher offer matters, but the percentage is only a benchmark

The September data gives workers a useful negotiating reference. Median base pay grew 2.6 percentage points faster for job-changers than for job-stayers, while the gross-pay gap was 5.5 percentage points.

The practical conclusion is not that everyone should change jobs. It is that staying has an opportunity cost worth measuring. If your responsibilities or market value have increased faster than your pay, compare your current total compensation with realistic outside offers. Then make the decision using guaranteed dollars, benefits and recurring costs, not the headline percentage alone.

Sources

• ADP Canada Pay Insights: September 2026 report, released October 8, 2026
• ADP Canada Pay Insights data and methodology, accessed October 9, 2026
• Canadian HR Reporter coverage, published October 8, 2026