The federal government released their March 2026 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are up in Alberta.
The net increase to jobs between February and last month was 6,400.
Gender & age
Among workers 25 years of age and older, women saw the largest increase between February and March. There were 7,100 more women over 25 at work last month compared to February. Those numbers worsen to a gain of 6,300 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
Men, however, saw an decrease of 7,900 in the number of those 25 years old and older finding new work compared to those working in January. When you add in the younger cohort, it changes to a tiny 200 increase.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Speaking of age, Alberta had fewer older people as a percentage of the total workforce last month, compared to the other provinces.
| 55+ | All ages | 55+ as % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NL | 59,200 | 249,600 | 23.72% |
| NB | 92,500 | 411,300 | 22.49% |
| NS | 117,100 | 528,000 | 22.18% |
| PEI | 21,200 | 96,000 | 22.08% |
| BC | 625,600 | 2,908,200 | 21.51% |
| ON | 1,733,800 | 8,205,500 | 21.13% |
| QC | 966,500 | 4,622,300 | 20.91% |
| SK | 126,800 | 623,900 | 20.32% |
| MB | 141,600 | 750,900 | 18.86% |
| AB | 496,300 | 2,655,600 | 18.69% |
Compared to other provinces
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MB | 740,100 | 750,900 | 10,800 | 1.46% |
| QC | 4,612,400 | 4,622,300 | 9,900 | 0.21% |
| AB | 2,649,200 | 2,655,600 | 6,400 | 0.24% |
| SK | 618,100 | 623,900 | 5,800 | 0.94% |
| NS | 524,100 | 528,000 | 3,900 | 0.74% |
| NB | 409,300 | 411,300 | 2,000 | 0.49% |
| NL | 249,400 | 249,600 | 200 | 0.08% |
| PEI | 96,200 | 96,000 | -200 | -0.21% |
| ON | 8,211,300 | 8,205,500 | -5,800 | -0.07% |
| BC | 2,927,400 | 2,908,200 | -19,200 | -0.66% |
Alberta had the third largest decrease in jobs among all the provinces who gained jobs, with 6,400 jobs gained. Only Manitoba and Québec has larger gains, while Prince Edward Island, Ontario, and British Columbia were the only provinces with losses.
On a percentage basis, Alberta was in fifth place, behind Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.
It is hard to believe that Alberta had the largest job gain in the country back in January.
By industry
Only 8 job sectors in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in December. Of those, “wholesale and retail trade” had the highest gains: 9,500.
The 8 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada saw job losses, with the “accomodation and food services” sector losing the most, at 8,300 jobs:
| Accomodation & food services | -8,300 |
| Business, building & other support services | -5,800 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | -5,100 |
| Utilities | -3,700 |
| Agriculture | -2,900 |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | -2,600 |
| Educational services | -1,100 |
| Construction | -800 |
Combined, these 11 industries lost 28,000 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “health care and social assistance”, increasing by nearly 20,000 jobs, a jump of 14.04%.
The construction sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing 16,900 jobs, which was about 6.22% of its total workforce.
| Mar 2025 | Mar 2026 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care & social assistance | 327,700 | 387,300 | 59,600 | 18.19% |
| Manufacturing | 140,300 | 160,000 | 19,700 | 14.04% |
| Public administration | 128,100 | 142,100 | 14,000 | 10.93% |
| Information, culture & recreation | 85,700 | 98,200 | 12,500 | 14.59% |
| Utilities | 18,700 | 25,900 | 7,200 | 38.50% |
| Accommodation & food services | 149,700 | 153,100 | 3,400 | 2.27% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 361,300 | 363,800 | 2,500 | 0.69% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | 142,500 | 144,600 | 2,100 | 1.47% |
| Transportation & warehousing | 152,500 | 153,900 | 1,400 | 0.92% |
| Agriculture | 36,600 | 37,800 | 1,200 | 3.28% |
| Business, building & other support services | 78,400 | 79,200 | 800 | 1.02% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 99,100 | 99,800 | 700 | 0.71% |
| Educational services | 171,500 | 171,500 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | 146,600 | 145,600 | -1,000 | -0.68% |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 244,300 | 237,800 | -6,500 | -2.66% |
| Construction | 271,600 | 254,700 | -16,900 | -6.22% |
Private & public sector
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 15,400 between February and March. There were 76,800 more private-sector jobs as there were this time last year, however.
In comparison, public sector jobs were up by 4,600 over February, and Alberta had 55,200 more public sector workers compared to March 2025.
Self employed jobs were down by 5,800 over February but down by 44,800 over March 2025.
Part-time & full-time jobs
Part-time jobs shrunk last month. Alberta lost 15,000 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between February and March.
In contrast, Alberta gained 21,500 full-time jobs during the same period. Keep in mind, however, that we lost 17,300 full-time jobs in February, so this gain is more like 4,200.
These full-time gains last month were mostly women workers (20,300), with just 1,100 more men working full-time. For part-time jobs, it was a loss for both: women (14,000) and men (-1,800).
In June 2019, the month before the Job Creation Tax Cut came into effect, there were 1,886,700 people working full-time. Last month, there were 2,201,400. That means that there are 293,200 more full-time jobs than there were before the UCP cut the tax on corporate profits.
While more full-time jobs does seem like a good thing, let’s take a look at how much of a percentage of total jobs are full-time jobs. In June 2019, full-time jobs made up 82.50% of all jobs in the province.
Last month, they were at 82.89%, so the percentage of Alberta workers being employed in full-time positions has increased.
There were only a handful of times during 2023 when this number passed 82.5%, but it was always only marginally and came right back down the following month. And only once in 2024 (July) did it pass the mark. June and August were the only months in 2025 that it rose above 82.5%. So far, January and March have been the only months in 2026 where it passed that mark.
It is quite possible this percentage will drop next month again, as it has every other time it has been above 82.5% since June 2019.
Wages
Speaking of full-time jobs, median wages for full-time workers in Alberta decreased to $35.10 an hour last month, down from $35.91 in February. This is the lowest it has been since November.
Part-time hourly wages rose to $20.00 from $19.00, reversing a two-month decline. This is where part-time wages were this past November and December.
The median hourly wage for both full-time and part-time jobs shrunk to $32.52, down 48¢ from $33.00 in February.
In January, Alberta had the second highest median hourly wage of all the provinces, behind British Columbia, where they have been since 2023, except in January, when they were briefly ahead and February when they were tied. There was also a brief period last year when Alberta was in third place, behind not only BC but also Ontario.
Speaking of which, Alberta had the third highest median full-time hourly wage in March 2026, 90¢ behind BC and 80¢ behind Ontario. They are also only 10¢ ahead of Québec, which says something, given Québec’s median full-time hourly wage has not changed since January.
| BC | $36.00 |
| ON | $35.90 |
| AB | $35.10 |
| QC | $35.00 |
| SK | $33.40 |
| NL | $31.69 |
| NS | $31.00 |
| NB | $30.00 |
| MB | $29.50 |
| PEI | $29.06 |
Alberta had the third smallest increase in median hourly wages for full-time wages over the past 12 months.
| Mar 2025 | Mar 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| QC | $32.52 | $35.00 | $2.48 |
| ON | $34.53 | $35.90 | $1.37 |
| SK | $32.26 | $33.40 | $1.14 |
| PEI | $28.00 | $29.06 | $1.06 |
| NS | $30.00 | $31.00 | $1.00 |
| BC | $35.00 | $36.00 | $1.00 |
| MB | $28.79 | $29.50 | $0.71 |
| AB | $34.62 | $35.10 | $0.48 |
| NL | $31.29 | $31.69 | $0.40 |
| NB | $29.92 | $30.00 | $0.08 |
For part-time workers, Alberta had the third-highest median hourly wage last month, up from the fifth highest in February and fourth-highest in January but down from second-highest in December.
| BC | $23.00 |
| QC | $20.36 |
| AB | $20.00 |
| ON | $19.95 |
| NS | $19.00 |
| MB | $18.75 |
| NL | $18.00 |
| PEI | $18.00 |
| SK | $18.00 |
| NB | $17.50 |
Alberta saw no improvement in median hourly wages over the last year for part-time workers. Only 3 provinces performed worse.
| Mar 2025 | Mar 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | $16.50 | $18.00 | $1.50 |
| NS | $18.00 | $19.00 | $1.00 |
| ON | $19.00 | $19.95 | $0.95 |
| BC | $22.50 | $23.00 | $0.50 |
| QC | $20.00 | $20.36 | $0.36 |
| NB | $17.25 | $17.50 | $0.25 |
| AB | $20.00 | $20.00 | $0.00 |
| NL | $18.25 | $18.00 | -$0.25 |
| SK | $18.50 | $18.00 | -$0.50 |
| MB | $19.45 | $18.75 | -$0.70 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 9 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 3 and decreased in the other 4.
| Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | $34.86 | $37.00 | $2.14 |
| Business, building & other support services | $23.08 | $25.00 | $1.92 |
| Educational services | $38.00 | $39.56 | $1.56 |
| Manufacturing | $34.62 | $36.00 | $1.38 |
| Utilities | $60.70 | $61.93 | $1.23 |
| Health care & social assistance | $30.00 | $30.76 | $0.76 |
| Information, culture & recreation | $24.15 | $24.68 | $0.53 |
| Wholesale & retail trade | $22.00 | $22.50 | $0.50 |
| Public administration | $46.34 | $46.35 | $0.01 |
| Agriculture | $27.00 | $27.00 | $0.00 |
| Accommodation & food services | $17.00 | $17.00 | $0.00 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $27.23 | $27.23 | $0.00 |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | $42.56 | $41.38 | -$1.18 |
| Construction | $36.54 | $35.00 | -$1.54 |
| Transportation & warehousing | $35.00 | $32.97 | -$2.03 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | $52.40 | $50.00 | -$2.40 |
Unemployment rate
Alberta saw its unemployment rate rise from 6.3% in February to 6.5% in March. In March 2025, it was 7.2%.
Alberta’s labour force increased last month, by 13,300. With having 6,400 more people actually working and but more than twice that available to work than in February, it makes sense that our unemployment rate increased.
As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the fourth lowest, ahead of Manitoba (5.6%), Québec (5.4%), and Saskatchewan (5.0%).
In December, Alberta had the fourth highest unemployment rate.
Of the 4 provinces that saw their unemployment rates increase last month, Alberta had the second smallest increase.
Canada saw an increase in employment last month, with jobs across the country rising by 14,100. Those gains were driven primarily by Manitoba (10,800), Québec (9,900), and Alberta (6,400).
The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 6.7%.
Alberta’s youth (15–24) unemployment rate was the 5th highest in the country, down from 4th highest in February but still up from 5th lowest in January. It was also higher than the national average of 13.8%.
| NL | 17.6 |
| ON | 17.0 |
| BC | 15.6 |
| NS | 14.6 |
| AB | 13.9 |
| NB | 12.6 |
| MB | 11.6 |
| SK | 9.8 |
| PEI | 9.0 |
| QC | 8.2 |
Of the 5 provinces who saw their youth unemployment decrease since February, we had the smallest decrease.
| Feb 2026 | Mar 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| BC | 13.8 | 15.6 | 1.8 |
| NL | 16.2 | 17.6 | 1.4 |
| ON | 16.3 | 17.0 | 0.7 |
| NB | 12.0 | 12.6 | 0.6 |
| AB | 14.6 | 13.9 | -0.7 |
| MB | 12.4 | 11.6 | -0.8 |
| NS | 16.4 | 14.6 | -1.8 |
| SK | 11.9 | 9.8 | -2.1 |
| QC | 10.4 | 8.2 | -2.2 |
| PEI | 11.8 | 9.0 | -2.8 |
Over the last year, however, we had the largest decrease in our youth unemployment rate.
| Mar 2025 | Mar 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NS | 11.7 | 14.6 | 2.9 |
| BC | 13.3 | 15.6 | 2.3 |
| NL | 16.3 | 17.6 | 1.3 |
| ON | 16.5 | 17 | 0.5 |
| MB | 12.2 | 11.6 | -0.6 |
| PEI | 10.2 | 9 | -1.2 |
| NB | 13.8 | 12.6 | -1.2 |
| QC | 9.5 | 8.2 | -1.3 |
| SK | 11.3 | 9.8 | -1.5 |
| AB | 15.5 | 13.9 | -1.6 |
