AB only province to lower PT wages in Jan 2026

The federal government released their January 2026 job numbers yesterday, and job numbers are up in Alberta.

The net increase to jobs between December and last month was 20,300 however, we lost 13,700 jobs the month before, so this was more like a gain of 6,600.

Among workers 25 years of age and older, women saw the largest increase between December and January. There were 11,100 more women over 25 at work last month compared to December. Those numbers improve to a gain of 16,000 if you include those who are 15–24 years old.

Men, however, saw an increase of just 600 in the number of those 25 years old and older finding new work compared to those working in December. When you add in the younger cohort, it changes to a 4,400 increase.

Statistics Canada provided no data on non-binary or intersex workers.

Here’s how Alberta’s job numbers compare to the other provinces:

	Dec 2025	Jan 2026	Change	% change
AB	2,630,700	2,651,000	20,300	0.77%
SK	617,500	623,600	6,100	0.99%
NL	243,500	247,300	3,800	1.56%
QC	4,666,000	4,669,700	3,700	0.08%
BC	2,944,100	2,947,600	3,500	0.12%
NB	407,500	409,600	2,100	0.52%
MB	743,100	744,100	1,000	0.13%
PEI	94,900	95,500	600	0.63%
NS	524,200	524,700	500	0.10%
ON	8,274,500	8,208,000	-66,500	-0.80%

Alberta had the largest increase in jobs among all the provinces, with 20,300 jobs gained, as I mentioned. Saskatchewan came in a distant second, with 6,100 more jobs, followed by Newfoundland and Labrador at 3,800.

This is a complete reversal for Alberta, which had the largest job loss in the country this past December.

Ontario had the only decrease, shedding 66,500 jobs. They were the only province to lose jobs, but they lost more jobs than all the other provinces gained, combined.

Only 9 job sectors in Alberta actually saw an increase in jobs in December. Of those, construction had the highest gains: 9,200.

The 7 remaining sectors reported by Statistics Canada saw job losses, with the “professional, scientific and technical services” sector losing the most, at 4,100 jobs:

Professional, scientific & technical services	-4,100
Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas	-3,400
Transportation & warehousing	-2,400
Educational services	-1,800
Business, building & other support services	-1,300
Accomodation & food services	-600
Utilities	-400

Combined, these 11 industries lost 14,000 jobs.

Compared to a year ago, the industry with the highest job gains was “health care and social assistance”, increasing by over 34,300 jobs, a jump of 10.13%.

The “other services (except public administration)” sector saw the largest decrease over the last year, losing 4,200 jobs, which was about 4.02%.

	Jan 2025	Jan 2026	Change	% change
Health care & social assistance	338,700	373,000	34,300	10.13%
Public administration	123,700	139,800	16,100	13.02%
Accommodation and food services	146,300	158,900	12,600	8.61%
Educational services	167,100	176,600	9,500	5.69%
Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing	142,000	150,100	8,100	5.70%
Information, culture & recreation	87,100	93,700	6,600	7.58%
Utilities	19,700	26,100	6,400	32.49%
Professional, scientific & technical services	243,100	246,100	3,000	1.23%
Agriculture	38,900	41,200	2,300	5.91%
Business, building & other support services	83,300	84,000	700	0.84%
Manufacturing	155,200	155,700	500	0.32%
Wholesale & retail trade	362,400	360,600	-1,800	-0.50%
Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas	142,300	140,200	-2,100	-1.48%
Construction	261,000	258,200	-2,800	-1.07%
Transportation & warehousing	149,300	146,500	-2,800	-1.88%
Other services (except public administration)	104,400	100,200	-4,200	-4.02%

The report from Statistics Canada also shows that Alberta’s private sector shrunk by 1,700 between December and January. There were 52,700 more private-sector jobs as there were this time last year, however.

In comparison, public sector jobs were down by 2,600 over December, and Alberta had 16,000 more public sector workers compared to January 2025.

Self employed jobs were up by 24,700 over December but up by just 17,800 over January 2025.

Part-time jobs shrunk last month. Alberta lost 21,400 part-time jobs (seasonally adjusted) between December and January.

In contrast, Alberta gained 41,800 full-time jobs during the same period.

These full-time losses last month were mostly men workers (33,400), with 8,300 more women working full-time. For part-time jobs, it was a gain for women (7,500) and a loss for men (-29,100).

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 2,197,200. That means that there are 310,500 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 82.88%, so the percentage of Alberta workers being employed in full-time positions has increased. Be careful about getting excited just yet though.

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%.

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.

Speaking of full-time jobs, median wages for full-time workers in Alberta decreased to $35.33 an hour last month, down from $35.70 in December.

Part-time hourly wages dropped to $19.50 from $20.00, where it was in November and December.

The median hourly wage for both full-time and part-time jobs grew to $32.97, up from $32.14 in December. Which is odd given that separately, both full-time and part-time wages each decreased. I believe that the combined wage should be $31.97 an hour. We will see if this gets adjusted in a later update.

If the median hourly wage truly is $32.97 in Alberta, this will be the first time since 2023 that Alberta has had the highest median hourly wage in the country.

Alberta had the highest median full-time hourly wage in January 2026, 2¢ ahead of Ontario and 33¢ ahead of BC and Québec.

AB	$35.33
ON	$35.31
QC	$35.00
BC	$35.00
SK	$32.00
NL	$31.00
NS	$30.77
NB	$30.00
MB	$29.83
PEI	$29.47

Alberta had the second smallest increase in median hourly wages for full-time wages over the past 12 months, not counting BC and Saskatchewan, which saw no increase.

	Jan 2025	Jan 2026	Change
QC	$32.67	$35.00	$2.33
ON	$34.13	$35.31	$1.18
MB	$28.80	$29.83	$1.03
PEI	$28.47	$29.47	$1.00
NL	$30.07	$31.00	$0.93
NS	$30.00	$30.77	$0.77
AB	$34.62	$35.33	$0.71
NB	$29.57	$30.00	$0.43
SK	$32.00	$32.00	$0.00
BC	$35.00	$35.00	$0.00

For part-time workers, Alberta had the fourth-highest median hourly wage last month, dropping from second-highest in December.

BC	$22.00
QC	$21.00
NS	$20.00
ON	$20.00
AB	$19.50
MB	$18.83
SK	$18.10
NL	$18.00
PEI	$18.00
NB	$17.50

Alberta was the only province to see a decrease in median hourly wages during 2025 for part-time workers.

	Jan 2025	Jan 2026	Change
NS	$17.50	$20.00	$2.50
QC	$20.00	$21.00	$1.00
PEI	$17.00	$18.00	$1.00
MB	$18.00	$18.83	$0.83
NL	$17.20	$18.00	$0.80
ON	$19.23	$20.00	$0.77
NB	$17.00	$17.50	$0.50
SK	$18.00	$18.10	$0.10
BC	$22.00	$22.00	$0.00
AB	$20.00	$19.50	-$0.50

By industry, Alberta wages increased in just 4 of the 16 reported sectors. They remained unchanged in 7 and decreased in the other 5.

	Dec 2025	Jan 2026	Change
Transportation & warehousing	$34.80	$35.77	$0.97
Forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil & gas	$54.56	$55.00	$0.44
Manufacturing	$30.77	$31.16	$0.39
Professional, scientific & technical services	$41.81	$41.83	$0.02
Agriculture	$27.00	$27.00	$0.00
Construction	$37.00	$37.00	$0.00
Wholesale & retail trade	$23.00	$23.00	$0.00
Business, building & other support services	$25.00	$25.00	$0.00
Educational services	$36.54	$36.54	$0.00
Health care & social assistance	$30.00	$30.00	$0.00
Accommodation & food services	$17.00	$17.00	$0.00
Information, culture & recreation	$25.00	$24.00	-$1.00
Public administration	$46.34	$45.12	-$1.22
Finance, insurance, real estate, rental & leasing	$36.00	$34.34	-$1.66
Other services (except public administration)	$26.92	$23.08	-$3.84
Utilities	$56.00	$48.08	-$7.92

Alberta saw its unemployment rate shrink from 6.7% in December to just 6.4% in January. In January 2025, it was 6.8%.

Alberta’s labour force increased last month, by 13,300. With having 20,300 more people actually working and 13,300 more people available to work than in December, it makes sense that our unemployment rate decreased. In fact, had the labour force not grown, the unemployment rate would have been even lower.

As far as how it compares with the rest of the country, Alberta’s unemployment rate was the fifth lowest, ahead of Manitoba (6.3%), BC (6.1%), Saskatchewan (5.3%), and Québec (5.2%).

In December, Alberta had the fourth highest unemployment rate.

Of the 4 provinces that saw their unemployment rates decrease last month, Alberta had the largest decrease.

Canada saw a decrease in employment last month, with jobs across the country falling by 24,800. Those gains were driven primarily by Ontario, which lost over 66,500 jobs, as I pointed out earlier. The national loss in employment numbers would have been much larger had it not been for Alberta’s gain of over 20,000 jobs.

The national unemployment rate fell to 6.5%, as well.

Alberta’s youth (15–24) unemployment rate was the 5th lowest in the country, down from 4th highest in December.

NL	16.9
NS	14.9
PEI	14.4
ON	14.3
MB	14.1
AB	14.1
BC	13.8
NB	13.7
SK	11.2
QC	8.2

Of the 5 provinces who saw their youth unemployment increase since December, we had the smallest decrease.

	Dec 2025	Jan 2026	Change
SK	15.0	11.2	-3.8
NL	19.1	16.9	-2.2
ON	15.6	14.3	-1.3
QC	8.7	8.2	-0.5
AB	14.5	14.1	-0.4
NB	13.5	13.7	0.2
BC	13.0	13.8	0.8
MB	11.6	14.1	2.5
PEI	11.8	14.4	2.6
NS	12.2	14.9	2.7

Over the last year, however, we had the second smallest increase in our youth unemployment rate.

	Jan 2025	Jan 2026	Change
PEI	6.7	14.4	7.7
NB	11.2	13.7	2.5
NS	13.3	14.9	1.6
MB	12.5	14.1	1.6
BC	12.3	13.8	1.5
AB	13.7	14.1	0.4
NL	16.6	16.9	0.3
SK	11.6	11.2	-0.4
QC	9.3	8.2	-1.1
ON	16.9	14.3	-2.6