More than half of Canadian finance and accounting hiring managers are paying above their planned salary ranges for specialized skills in forecasting, compliance and data analysis, with controllers leading 2027 gains at 4.1% against a 1.4% average, according to Robert Half. Insurers are no exception, as wildfires, tariffs and new legislation increase demand for finance staff who can turn data into decisions.
The firm’s 2027 Canada Salary Guide found 82% of those hiring managers cite the need to secure candidates with specialized skills as a reason for paying more. Mike Shekhtman, senior regional director at Robert Half, said the findings did not surprise him.
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"Insurance would fall into this as well. It's not an outlier," Shekhtman told Insurance Business. "If anything, we continue to see that as being one of the industries inclusive of financial services that is in demand for 2027, just based on some of the survey results."
The survey does not break out insurers as a separate group. Shekhtman said the findings still apply because many of the financial services and professional services organizations it covers are insurance companies.
Employers are exceeding their planned budgets when specialized skills are involved, Shekhtman said. The guide lists controllership, enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and systems proficiency, data analytics, AI agent building, and workflow automation and process improvement among the skills commanding premiums.
Shekhtman said candidates who understand budgeting and complex reporting requirements, and who have worked on digital transformation and data-driven decision-making, are drawing higher offers. That creates a challenge for employers trying to balance salary budgets against the need to bring in people with the right expertise. While general salary increases remain relatively modest, competition for candidates with a combination of financial, analytical and technology skills can push compensation beyond initial expectations.
The competition mirrors a wider pattern in which insurers are pushing ahead with AI despite a skills gap that limits how fast they can scale.
"I think the economy has moved a little bit from just doing merit type of hikes in some situations to paying more of a premium for specific, not so much roles, but skills within businesses to help them solve business challenges," he said.
Controllers are projected to see the largest increase in 2027 at 4.1%, followed by assistant controllers at 3.9%, according to the guide. Senior accountants and mutual fund accountants are each projected at 3.6%. Shekhtman said financial analysts and data analyst managers are also seeing increases of around 3% year over year.
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"There's a common thread for a lot of these roles. A lot of them are to do with supporting business forecasting, allowing companies to do more accurate financial reporting," Shekhtman said. "A lot of it is also connected to compliance work, and we know how much change is happening in compliance."
Shekhtman said insurance organizations have faced constant change since the pandemic. Tariffs are weighing on manufacturers, while insurers are contending with wildfires and other events outside their control, he said. Employers want finance staff who can turn data into decisions that mitigate those risks and keep pace with compliance changes.
Those demands land on a sector already dealing with the productivity gap facing Canada's insurance industry and a demographic talent crunch that AI may only partly solve.
Shekhtman said the pace of legal and legislative change is adding to the pressure on finance teams, particularly in insurance, where companies must assess how new requirements and external risks could affect their business. Finance professionals who can combine accounting expertise with an understanding of technology and data are increasingly important in helping organizations evaluate those changes and decide when to adjust their strategies.
He expects demand for specialized finance and technology skills to continue through 2027, driven by digital transformation, workforce retirements, mergers and acquisitions, and growing reporting complexity.
“People who are in demand and have specialized skill sets, whether it's finance and accounting or technology-related, are going to continue to see that right through 2027,” Shekhtman said.
