The federal governmentreleased their November 2025 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are up in Alberta.
The net increase to jobs between last month and October was 28,700. Since the start of 2025, Alberta has seen a net gain of 69,500 jobs.
Among workers 25 years of age and older, men saw the largest increase between October and November. There were 16,800 more men over 25 at work last month compared to October. Those numbers improve to a gain of 23,500 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
Women, however, saw an increase of 5,900 in the number of those 25 years old and older finding new work compared to those working in October. When you add in the younger cohort, it drops to to a 5,200 increase.
Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | 2,615,900 | 2,644,600 | 28,700 | 1.10% |
| BC | 2,941,800 | 2,948,000 | 6,200 | 0.21% |
| ON | 8,254,300 | 8,260,400 | 6,100 | 0.07% |
| NB | 404,200 | 409,700 | 5,500 | 1.36% |
| MB | 736,100 | 740,600 | 4,500 | 0.61% |
| NS | 521,000 | 523,600 | 2,600 | 0.50% |
| SK | 618,900 | 621,200 | 2,300 | 0.37% |
| PEI | 93,300 | 94,000 | 700 | 0.75% |
| NL | 245,100 | 244,000 | -1,100 | -0.45% |
| QC | 4,651,300 | 4,649,400 | -1,900 | -0.04% |
Alberta had the largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with 28,700 jobs added, as I mentioned. British Columbia came in second, with 6,200 new jobs, followed by Ontario at 6,100.
Québec had the largest decrease, losing 1,900 jobs, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador, at 1,100.
9 industries in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in October. Of those, “health care and social assistance” had the highest gains: 12,700.
The 7 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada saw job losses, with the “public administration” sector losing the most, at 11,600 jobs:
| Public administration | -8,700 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | -2,600 |
| Agriculture | -1,400 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | -1,100 |
| Construction | -900 |
| Transportation and warehousing | -600 |
| Utilities | -400 |
Combined, these 4 industries lost 15,700 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “Accommodation and food services”, increasing by over 23,000 jobs, a jump of 16.19%.
The manufacturing sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing 7,000 jobs, which was about 4.45%. This is the first time in 4 months where the oil and gas section had not seen the largest year-over-year decrease of all sectors. They had the second largest decrease though.
| Nov 2024 | Nov 2025 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation & food services | 144,500 | 167,900 | 23,400 | 16.19% |
| Health care & social assistance | 333,800 | 354,500 | 20,700 | 6.20% |
| Educational services | 163,200 | 181,300 | 18,100 | 11.09% |
| Public administration | 120,200 | 135,400 | 15,200 | 12.65% |
| Utilities | 19,600 | 28,000 | 8,400 | 42.86% |
| Transportation & warehousing | 142,500 | 150,900 | 8,400 | 5.89% |
| Information, culture & recreation | 90,100 | 97,700 | 7,600 | 8.44% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | 138,000 | 142,800 | 4,800 | 3.48% |
| Construction | 249,600 | 253,500 | 3,900 | 1.56% |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 248,900 | 252,800 | 3,900 | 1.57% |
| Agriculture | 35,200 | 36,900 | 1,700 | 4.83% |
| Business, building & other support services | 84,800 | 85,600 | 800 | 0.94% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 361,300 | 361,900 | 600 | 0.17% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 102,300 | 99,900 | -2,400 | -2.35% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | 147,800 | 145,200 | -2,600 | -1.76% |
| Manufacturing | 157,300 | 150,300 | -7,000 | -4.45% |
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 40,300 between October and November. There were 63,300 more private-sector jobs as there were this time last year.
In contrast, public sector jobs were up by 1,400 over October, and Alberta had 48,000 more public sector workers compared to November 2024.
Self employed jobs were down by 13,000 over October and up by 5,800 over November 2024.
Part-time jobs grew last month. Alberta gained 3,900 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between October and November.
In contrast, Alberta gained 24,800 full-time jobs during the same period. So far, in 2025, we have had a net gain of 39,700 full-time jobs.
These full-time gains last month were mostly men workers (21,400), with 3,400 more women working full-time. The part-time jobs were a gain for both men (2,000) and women (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 2,160,100. That means that there are 273,400 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 81.68%, meaning that in the 6 years since the UCP government introduced the so-called Job Creation Tax Cut, the percentage of Alberta workers being employed in full-time positions has not increased.
In fact, 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, so far, that it has risen above 82.5%.
Speaking of full-time jobs, median wages for full-time workers in Alberta reamined at $35.00 last month, unchanged from October and still down by 34¢ from September, when it was at $35.34.
Part-time wages remained increased from $19.50 an hour in October to $20.00 in November, the highest it has been since June.
The median wage for both full-time and part-time jobs grew remained unchanged from October at $32.00 last month, which is also where it was in September. This is 90¢ behind British Columbia and 31¢ behind Ontario, putting Alberta in third place.
Alberta had the third highest median full-time hourly wage in September 2025, 63¢ behind BC and 50¢ behind Ontario.
| BC | $35.63 |
| ON | $35.50 |
| AB | $35.00 |
| QC | $33.77 |
| SK | $32.31 |
| NL | $31.00 |
| NS | $31.00 |
| PEI | $30.00 |
| NB | $30.00 |
| MB | $29.00 |
Alberta had the second smallest increase in median hourly wages for full-time wages over the past 12 months. PEI’s median hourly wage increase—which was the highest in the last year—was 8 times bigger than Alberta’s.
| Nov 2024 | Nov 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | $27.00 | $30.00 | $3.00 |
| NS | $28.70 | $31.00 | $2.30 |
| QC | $32.00 | $33.77 | $1.77 |
| SK | $31.02 | $32.31 | $1.29 |
| BC | $34.50 | $35.63 | $1.13 |
| NB | $29.05 | $30.00 | $0.95 |
| ON | $34.60 | $35.50 | $0.90 |
| NL | $30.26 | $31.00 | $0.74 |
| AB | $34.62 | $35.00 | $0.38 |
| MB | $28.85 | $29.00 | $0.15 |
For part-time workers, Alberta had the second highest median hourly wage, behind BC, but tied with Ontario and Québec, up from third highest in October.
| BC | $22.00 |
| QC | $20.00 |
| ON | $20.00 |
| AB | $20.00 |
| NS | $19.00 |
| MB | $19.00 |
| SK | $18.50 |
| NL | $18.00 |
| PEI | $18.00 |
| NB | $17.90 |
Alberta is tied for first place when we look at the change in median hourly part-time wages over the last year.
| Nov 2024 | Nov 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ON | $19.00 | $20.00 | $1.00 |
| NS | $18.00 | $19.00 | $1.00 |
| NL | $17.00 | $18.00 | $1.00 |
| AB | $19.00 | $20.00 | $1.00 |
| MB | $18.10 | $19.00 | $0.90 |
| NB | $17.00 | $17.90 | $0.90 |
| BC | $22.00 | $22.00 | $0.00 |
| QC | $20.00 | $20.00 | $0.00 |
| SK | $19.00 | $18.50 | -$0.50 |
| PEI | $20.00 | $18.00 | -$2.00 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 10 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 1 and decreased in the other 5.
| Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | $30.00 | $38.00 | $13.00 |
| Utilities | $59.62 | $57.69 | $5.28 |
| Transportation & warehousing | $34.20 | $35.00 | $4.92 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | $38.46 | $37.98 | $3.36 |
| Public administration | $46.67 | $46.15 | $1.85 |
| Manufacturing | $31.93 | $30.00 | $1.15 |
| Wholesale & retail trade | $23.00 | $23.00 | $1.00 |
| Information, culture & recreation | $25.00 | $24.04 | $0.54 |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | $41.02 | $40.87 | $0.21 |
| Accommodation & food services | $17.00 | $17.05 | $0.05 |
| Construction | $37.50 | $37.00 | $0.00 |
| Educational services | $36.26 | $36.06 | -$0.48 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $28.57 | $27.47 | -$1.38 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | $55.29 | $52.00 | -$1.85 |
| Business, building & other support services | $25.00 | $24.50 | -$2.50 |
| Health care & social assistance | $29.33 | $29.33 | -$2.67 |
Alberta saw its unemployment rate plummet from 7.8% in October to just 6.5% in November. This is its lowest level since March 2024.
Alberta’s labour force decreased last month, by 8,500. With having 28,700 more people actually working but 8,500 fewer people available to work than in October, it makes sense that our unemployment rate dropped so much.
As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the sixth highest, behind Newfoundland and Labrador (10.4%), PEI (7.7%), Ontario (7.6%), New Brunswick (6.7%), Nova Scotia (6.6%).
8 provinces saw an unemployment rate decrease last month, but Alberta was tied with Nova Scotia for having the highest decrease, both dropping by 1.3 percentage points.
Canada saw an increase in employment last month, with jobs across the country rising by 53,600. Those gains were driven primarily by Albert (28,700), with BC (6,200), and Ontario (6,100) in distant second and third place.
The national unemployment rate fell to 6.5%, down from 6.9% in September.
Alberta’s youth (15–24) unemployment rate was the 6th highest in the country.
| NL | 19.8 |
| ON | 15.3 |
| NB | 14.6 |
| NS | 13.9 |
| SK | 13.7 |
| AB | 13.5 |
| BC | 12.5 |
| MB | 12.3 |
| PEI | 11.2 |
| QC | 7.4 |
Of the 7 provinces who saw their youth unemployment increase since October, we had the third smallest increase.
| Oct 2025 | Nov 2025 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | 16.0 | 11.2 | -4.8 |
| BC | 14.9 | 12.5 | -2.4 |
| NB | 16.7 | 14.6 | -2.1 |
| QC | 9.4 | 7.4 | -2 |
| AB | 14.9 | 13.5 | -1.4 |
| ON | 16.3 | 15.3 | -1 |
| NS | 14.1 | 13.9 | -0.2 |
| MB | 11.9 | 12.3 | 0.4 |
| SK | 11.8 | 13.7 | 1.9 |
| NL | 17.5 | 19.8 | 2.3 |
Over the last year, however, we had the fourth largest decrease in our youth unemployment rate.
| Nov 2024 | Nov 2024 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| QC | 9.9 | 7.4 | -2.5 |
| ON | 16.9 | 15.3 | -1.6 |
| MB | 12.9 | 12.3 | -0.6 |
| AB | 13.8 | 13.5 | -0.3 |
| PEI | 11.4 | 11.2 | -0.2 |
| BC | 12.6 | 12.5 | -0.1 |
| SK | 12.9 | 13.7 | 0.8 |
| NS | 11.1 | 13.9 | 2.8 |
| NL | 15.6 | 19.8 | 4.2 |
| NB | 9.7 | 14.6 | 4.9 |
