Wages and salaries

Alberta Employment and Immigration commissions a detailed wage and salary survey every two years.  The survey provides information on wages and salaries for full-time and part-time employees in Alberta by occupation, geographic area and industry¹.  The latest survey was conducted in 2009 and for the first time wage and salary estimates have been prepared for Alberta’s 14 economic regions. 

In 2009, the average hourly wage was $20.49 in the South West region², 15.8% less than the Alberta average of $24.34 per hour. 

The industry in the region with the largest number of reported employees was healthcare and social services, followed by public administration (federal, provincial and municipal government).  Most of the industries for this region have too few reported employees for the estimates to be reliable.  Only the six industries in the below table had more than 100 reported employees³.  Of these six, the industry with the highest average wage was the healthcare and social services industry at $25.94 per hour, followed by public administration at $24.88.  Although estimates for the oil and gas industry are not as reliable as for these six industries, wage and salary estimates suggest that it is the industry with the highest average wage.  The accommodation and food services industry had the lowest average wage at $10.97 per hour.

The average number of hours worked per week was 36.0 for the region and 37.3 for all of Alberta.  The industry with the most average hours per employee was the manufacturing sector at 39.8 hours, followed by healthcare and social services at 38.0 hours.    

As the below table clearly indicates, labour shortage issues are not confined to Alberta’s urban core.  The South West region had a 4.2% vacancy rate⁴ in 2009, compared with Alberta’s 3.0%.  Moreover, the region also reported more hiring difficulties⁵ than Alberta (53% versus 41%).  Hiring difficulties were particularly acute in accommodation and food services (85%), and healthcare and social services (74%). 

¹ http://alis.alberta.ca/wageinfo 
² The number of survey respondents for small regions may be too small to provide accurate overall wage estimates
³ Only industries or occupations with more than 100 reported employees were included in the analysis
⁴ The percentage of total positions in this industry reported as unfilled for over four months
⁵ Percent of employers with hiring difficulties with Hiring

Date Updated:
RDP-2413