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Canada Payroll Salary Guide 2025/26
Second Edition | Featuring insights from the National Payroll Institute
With payroll teams playing a more strategic role and candidate expectations shifting rapidly, the second edition of the Canada Payroll Salary Guide from Portfolio Payroll Canada delivers vital data and analysis for employers navigating today’s complex hiring landscape.
This comprehensive, data-driven guide is based on survey responses from over 820 payroll professionals nationwide, combined with real-time market intelligence from our recruitment teams and expert commentary from the National Payroll Institute.
Whether you are hiring, budgeting, or benchmarking your own compensation, this guide offers an accurate, detailed view of pay, benefits, working models, and recruitment trends across the Canadian payroll profession.
What’s in the Canada Payroll Salary Survey:
- Role-by-role salary benchmarks across all provinces – Includes high, low, and average base salaries from Payroll Administrator through to Head of Payroll. Ontario, British Columbia, and Alberta remain the highest-paying regions.
- In-demand skills and where the market is hiring – Seventy-four percent of employers plan to hire in the next three months, while standalone payroll roles now account for 35 percent of the market. Mid-level talent is in increasingly short supply.
- Remote and hybrid working insights – Forty-one percent of payroll professionals are now hybrid, and 43 percent say they would never return to a fully office-based role. Flexibility ranks just behind salary as a top motivator.
- Trends in benefits, bonuses, and employee expectations – Eighty-three percent of professionals want more flexible vacation options. Paid tuition, additional leave, and hybrid arrangements are now essential to attract and retain top talent.
Whether you are an employer looking to retain talent, expand your team, or improve your hiring outcomes, or a payroll professional assessing your market value, this guide is your go-to resource.
Our in-depth analysis enables you to benchmark salaries with confidence, assess total reward packages, and understand how working patterns and candidate priorities are shifting across the country.
Designed to support decision-making at every level, the Canada Payroll Salary Guide 2025/26 provides clarity, context, and competitive insight in a fast-changing market.
Download your copy of the 2025/26 guide
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