The federal government recently released their March 2023 job numbers. As I was reviewing the data, I came across information on unpaid overtime in Canada, and I thought I’d take a look at how things look in Alberta.
First, here’s a look at how many workers ended up working unpaid overtime last month.
| Total workers | Total working unpaid OT | % of workers in unpaid OT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AB | 1,930.9 | 167.4 | 8.67% |
| NL | 187.8 | 16.1 | 8.57% |
| SK | 464.1 | 38.7 | 8.34% |
| PEI | 67.0 | 5.5 | 8.21% |
| MB | 577.2 | 46.9 | 8.13% |
| NS | 371.6 | 29.6 | 7.97% |
| ON | 5,939.0 | 472.7 | 7.96% |
| NB | 316.3 | 23.3 | 7.37% |
| QC | 3,629.0 | 262.8 | 7.24% |
| BC | 2,077.1 | 142.6 | 6.87% |
As far as absolute numbers working unpaid overtime, Alberta had the third highest, at 167.4 workers. That’s despite having the fourth largest employed workforce.
However, as a percentage of the workforce working unpaid overtime, Alberta had the highest, at 8.67%.
And this isn’t a one-time thing either. Take a look at February, the month before.
| AB | 9.22% |
| ON | 9.01% |
| NL | 8.97% |
| MB | 8.36% |
| SK | 8.30% |
| QC | 8.09% |
| NB | 7.98% |
| BC | 7.91% |
| NS | 7.63% |
| PEI | 6.47% |
Or last March.
| AB | 9.30% |
| SK | 8.92% |
| NB | 8.84% |
| ON | 8.64% |
| QC | 8.45% |
| NS | 8.28% |
| MB | 8.09% |
| BC | 7.85% |
| NL | 7.03% |
| PEI | 6.68% |
Or March 2021.
| AB | 12.03% |
| ON | 11.34% |
| NS | 9.74% |
| BC | 8.97% |
| SK | 8.82% |
| NB | 8.74% |
| QC | 8.46% |
| MB | 8.39% |
| NL | 8.00% |
| PEI | 5.51% |
Or March 2020.
| AB | 10.37% |
| SK | 10.29% |
| ON | 8.89% |
| NS | 8.52% |
| MB | 8.24% |
| BC | 8.06% |
| NB | 7.86% |
| QC | 7.29% |
| PEI | 6.34% |
| NL | 5.13% |
Or 4 years ago, in March 2019, just one month before the UCP took office.
| AB | 12.07% |
| NS | 11.39% |
| BC | 10.43% |
| SK | 10.07% |
| ON | 9.95% |
| MB | 9.65% |
| NB | 9.48% |
| NL | 8.87% |
| QC | 8.83% |
| PEI | 8.36% |
In every instance, Alberta workers were more likely to work unpaid overtime than their fellow workers in other provinces.
Here’s what every month looked like over the last 4 years for every province.
Alberta is that dark, thick blue line. As you can see, they were among the top provinces for the percentage of workers having to work unpaid overtime. And a lot of those months, they were in the top spot.
In fact, take a look at the monthly averages over the last 4 years for each province.
| AB | 9.90% |
| ON | 9.50% |
| NS | 8.97% |
| BC | 8.76% |
| SK | 8.58% |
| MB | 7.95% |
| NB | 7.66% |
| QC | 7.40% |
| NL | 6.78% |
| PEI | 6.40% |
Once again, Alberta is in the top spot, with basically 1 in 10 workers, on average, having to work unpaid overtime each month between March 2019 and March 2023.
