The federal government released their April 2026 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are up in Alberta.
The net increase to jobs between March and last month was 1,000.
Gender & age
Among workers 25 years of age and older, women saw the largest increase between March and April. There were 1,400 more women over 25 at work last month compared to March. Those numbers improve to a gain of 7,300 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.
Men, however, saw an decrease of 1,600 in the number of those 25 years old and older finding new work compared to those working in March. When you add in the younger cohort, it drops even further to a 6,300 loss.
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 | 56,800 | 244,400 | 23.24% |
| NB | 92,200 | 408,600 | 22.56% |
| NS | 114,900 | 528,700 | 21.73% |
| PEI | 20,600 | 95,500 | 21.57% |
| BC | 624,900 | 2,903,900 | 21.52% |
| QC | 970,100 | 4,579,000 | 21.19% |
| ON | 1,731,500 | 8,247,900 | 20.99% |
| SK | 125,700 | 619,900 | 20.28% |
| MB | 140,400 | 749,300 | 18.74% |
| AB | 494,800 | 2,656,600 | 18.63% |
Compared to other provinces
Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:
| Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ON | 8,205,500 | 8,247,900 | 42,400 | 0.52% |
| AB | 2,655,600 | 2,656,600 | 1,000 | 0.04% |
| NS | 528,000 | 528,700 | 700 | 0.13% |
| PEI | 96,000 | 95,500 | -500 | -0.52% |
| MB | 750,900 | 749,300 | -1,600 | -0.21% |
| NB | 411,300 | 408,600 | -2,700 | -0.66% |
| SK | 623,900 | 619,900 | -4,000 | -0.64% |
| BC | 2,908,200 | 2,903,900 | -4,300 | -0.15% |
| NL | 249,600 | 244,400 | -5,200 | -2.08% |
| QC | 4,622,300 | 4,579,000 | -43,300 | -0.94% |
Alberta had the second largest decrease in jobs among all the provinces who gained jobs, with 1,000 jobs gained. Only Ontario had larger gains, much larger gains: over 42,000. Alberta was one only 3 provinces that saw an increase in overall jobs.
Québec lost over 43,000 jobs, the largest loss in the country,
On a percentage basis, Alberta dropped to third place, behind Ontario (of course) and Nova Scotia.
It is hard to believe that Alberta had the largest job gain in the country back in January.
By industry
Only 7 job sectors in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in April. Of those, “wholesale and retail trade” had the highest gains: 12,600.
The 9 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada saw job losses, with the “health care and social assistance” sector losing the most, at 7,700 jobs:
| Health care & social assistance | -7700 |
| Information, culture & recreation | -4100 |
| Construction | -2300 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | -2200 |
| Transportation & warehousing | -1600 |
| Utilities | -1200 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | -700 |
| Manufacturing | -400 |
| Accomodation & food services | -100 |
Combined, these 9 industries lost 20,300 jobs.
Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “health care and social assistance”, increasing by nearly 50,000 jobs, a jump of 14.86%.
The construction sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing 19,100 jobs, which was about 7.03% of its total workforce.
Apr 2025 | Apr 2026 | Change | % change | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care & social assistance | 330,500 | 379,600 | 49,100 | 14.86% |
| Wholesale & retail trade | 358,500 | 376,400 | 17,900 | 4.99% |
| Manufacturing | 144,800 | 159,600 | 14,800 | 10.22% |
| Public administration | 132,900 | 142,600 | 9,700 | 7.30% |
| Utilities | 20,000 | 24,700 | 4,700 | 23.50% |
| Agriculture | 35,200 | 39,200 | 4,000 | 11.36% |
| Information, culture & recreation | 90,500 | 94,100 | 3,600 | 3.98% |
| Business, building & other support services | 80,100 | 82,700 | 2,600 | 3.25% |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | 238,300 | 240,600 | 2,300 | 0.97% |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas | 141,600 | 143,400 | 1,800 | 1.27% |
| Accommodation & food services | 152,200 | 153,000 | 800 | 0.53% |
| Transportation & warehousing | 152,100 | 152,300 | 200 | 0.13% |
| Other services (except public administration) | 100,000 | 99,900 | -100 | -0.10% |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing | 145,200 | 143,900 | -1,300 | -0.90% |
| Educational services | 173,900 | 172,400 | -1,500 | -0.86% |
| Construction | 271,500 | 252,400 | -19,100 | -7.03% |
Private & public sector
The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector grew by 9,400 between March and April. There were 67,400 more private-sector jobs as there were this time last year, however.
In comparison, public sector jobs were down by 800 over March, yet Alberta had 13,400 more public sector workers compared to April 2025.
Self employed jobs were down by 7,600 over March but up by 8,300 over April 2025.
Part-time & full-time jobs
Part-time jobs grew last month. Alberta gained 12,400 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between March and April.
In contrast, Alberta lost 11,400 full-time jobs during the same period, more than half of the 21,500 full-time jobs they gained the month before.
Alberta has seen a net gain of 34,600 full-time jobs during the first 4 months of 2026, which works out to an average of 8,650 per month.
These full-time losses last month were mostly men workers (11,300), with fewer than 100 more women working full-time. For part-time jobs, it was a loss for women (5,300) and a gain for men (5,100).
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 2,190,000. That means that there are 303,300 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 82.4%, so the percentage of Alberta workers being employed in full-time positions has decreased.
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.
As I predicted last month, this percentage dropped between March and April, 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 increased to $36.06 an hour last month, up from $35.10 in March. This is its highest level ever.
Part-time hourly wages remained stagnant at $20.00. This is where part-time wages were this past November and December, as well.
The median hourly wage for both full-time and part-time jobs grew to $33.00, up 48¢ from $32.52 in March and where it was in February.
In March, Alberta was tied with British Columbia for having the highest median hourly wage of all the provinces. In March, Alberta had in second place behind British Columbia, where they had been since 2023, except in January, when they were briefly ahead and February when they were also 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 highest median full-time hourly wage in April 2026, 6¢ ahead of BC and 48¢ ahead of Ontario.
| AB | $36.06 |
| BC | $36.00 |
| ON | $35.56 |
| QC | $35.00 |
| SK | $33.40 |
| NL | $31.99 |
| NS | $30.77 |
| NB | $30.00 |
| MB | $29.50 |
| PEI | $28.94 |
Alberta had the fifth largest increase in median hourly wages for full-time workers over the past 12 months.
| Apr 2025 | Apr 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| QC | $33.00 | $35.00 | $2.00 |
| NL | $30.00 | $31.99 | $1.99 |
| PEI | $27.00 | $28.94 | $1.94 |
| SK | $31.51 | $33.40 | $1.89 |
| AB | $34.62 | $36.06 | $1.44 |
| ON | $34.37 | $35.56 | $1.19 |
| MB | $28.50 | $29.50 | $1.00 |
| NB | $29.12 | $30.00 | $0.88 |
| NS | $30.00 | $30.77 | $0.77 |
| BC | $35.38 | $36.00 | $0.62 |
For part-time workers, Alberta had the third-highest median hourly wage last month, unchanged from March but up from the fifth highest in February and fourth-highest in January but still down from second-highest in December.
| BC | $22.50 |
| QC | $20.76 |
| AB | $20.00 |
| ON | $19.95 |
| SK | $18.84 |
| MB | $18.55 |
| NS | $18.50 |
| NL | $18.00 |
| PEI | $18.00 |
| NB | $17.55 |
Of the provinces who saw an increase in median hourly wages for part-time workers, Alberta saw the smallest increase. Newfoundland and Labrador, however, saw no change, and 3 provinces saw decreases.
| Apr 2025 | Apr 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ON | $19.00 | $19.95 | $0.95 |
| SK | $18.00 | $18.84 | $0.84 |
| QC | $20.00 | $20.76 | $0.76 |
| NS | $18.00 | $18.50 | $0.50 |
| BC | $22.14 | $22.50 | $0.36 |
| AB | $19.65 | $20.00 | $0.35 |
| NL | $18.00 | $18.00 | $0.00 |
| MB | $18.80 | $18.55 | -$0.25 |
| NB | $18.00 | $17.55 | -$0.45 |
| PEI | $19.00 | $18.00 | -$1.00 |
By industry, Alberta wages increased in 8 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 3 and decreased in the other 5.
| Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public administration | $46.35 | $49.74 | $3.39 |
| Manufacturing | $36.00 | $38.46 | $2.46 |
| Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas | $50.00 | $52.00 | $2.00 |
| Professional, scientific and technical services | $41.38 | $42.79 | $1.41 |
| Construction | $35.00 | $36.00 | $1.00 |
| Accommodation and food services | $17.00 | $18.00 | $1.00 |
| Educational services | $39.56 | $40.00 | $0.44 |
| Information, culture and recreation | $24.68 | $25.00 | $0.32 |
| Agriculture | $27.00 | $27.00 | $0.00 |
| Finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing | $37.00 | $37.00 | $0.00 |
| Business, building and other support services | $25.00 | $25.00 | $0.00 |
| Wholesale and retail trade | $22.50 | $22.00 | -$0.50 |
| Health care and social assistance | $30.76 | $30.00 | -$0.76 |
| Transportation and warehousing | $32.97 | $32.10 | -$0.87 |
| Other services (except public administration) | $27.23 | $26.00 | -$1.23 |
| Utilities | $61.93 | $50.00 | -$11.93 |
Unemployment rate
Alberta saw its unemployment rate jump from 6.5% in March to 7.0% in April. In April 2025, it was 7.2%.
Alberta’s labour force increased last month, by 16,300. With having 1,000 more people actually working and but more than 16 times that available to work than in March, 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 fifth highest, behind of Newfoundland and Labrador (10.0%), Prince Edward Island (8.0%), Ontario (7.5%), and New Brunswick (7.2%).
Of the 7 provinces that saw their unemployment rates increase last month, Alberta was tied with Newfoundland and Labrador for the fourth smallest increase.
Canada saw a decrease in employment last month, with jobs across the country falling by 17,700. Those losses were driven primarily by Québec (-43,300). They would have been much higher had Ontario not seen an increase of 42,400 jobs.
The national unemployment rate grew to 6.9% from 6.7% in March.
Alberta’s youth (15–24) unemployment rate was the 3rd highest in the country, up from 5th highest in March, 4th highest in February, and 5th lowest in January. It was also higher than the national average of 14.3%.
| ON | 17.7 |
| NL | 17.2 |
| AB | 14.7 |
| BC | 14.4 |
| NS | 14.2 |
| NB | 14.1 |
| PEI | 12.2 |
| SK | 12.0 |
| MB | 10.3 |
| QC | 9.0 |
Alberta had the fourth largest increase in its youth unemployment rate since March.
| Mar 2026 | Apr 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | 9.0 | 12.2 | 3.2 |
| SK | 9.8 | 12.0 | 2.2 |
| NB | 12.6 | 14.1 | 1.5 |
| AB | 13.9 | 14.7 | 0.8 |
| QC | 8.2 | 9.0 | 0.8 |
| ON | 17.0 | 17.7 | 0.7 |
| NL | 17.6 | 17.2 | -0.4 |
| NS | 14.6 | 14.2 | -0.4 |
| BC | 15.6 | 14.4 | -1.2 |
| MB | 11.6 | 10.3 | -1.3 |
However, a year ago, we had the highest youth unemployment rate in the country, so we are still in better shape than we were last April.
| Apr 2025 | Apr 2026 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| PEI | 7.3 | 12.2 | 4.9 |
| SK | 10.0 | 12.0 | 2.0 |
| ON | 15.9 | 17.7 | 1.8 |
| BC | 13.3 | 14.4 | 1.1 |
| NS | 13.7 | 14.2 | 0.5 |
| NL | 16.8 | 17.2 | 0.4 |
| MB | 10.5 | 10.3 | -0.2 |
| NB | 15.3 | 14.1 | -1.2 |
| QC | 11.0 | 9.0 | -2.0 |
| AB | 17.4 | 14.7 | -2.7 |
