Alberta had worst unionization rate in 2024

Last month, Statistics Canada released their labour force survey results for December 2024. In that release was an update on their data on union status in Canada.

The data shows the percentage of unionized workers in Canada and each province for year. This update has added data for 2024, which was unavailable prior to this update.

I thought I’d look at how Alberta’s union coverage rate compares to the other provinces and the country as a whole, and how it has changed over time.

The union coverage rate measures workers who are members of a union, covered by a collective agreement, or both, as a percentage of all workers.

To start, let’s look at the 2024 union coverage rates for each province.

QC	39.3
NL	38.9
MB	34.0
PEI	33.2
SK	33.2
NS	30.8
BC	30.4
NB	30.2
ON	26.0
AB	23.5

Alberta was at the bottom of the list, with just 23.5% of all employees being unionized, represented by a collective agreement, or both.

Québec topped the list, with just under 40% union coverage. That means that 2 out of every 5 workers in that province are either unionized, covered by a collective agreement, or both.

Speaking of Alberta, we were one of only two provinces with a union coverage rate last year that was below 30%. We’re also one of only three provinces that were at or below the national rate, which was 30.2%.

Now let’s compare it to 2019, when the UCP took power.

	2019	2024	Change
NB	27.9	30.2	2.3
PEI	31.2	33.2	2.0
BC	28.6	30.4	1.8
SK	31.8	33.2	1.4
NL	37.6	38.9	1.3
QC	38.8	39.3	0.5
NS	30.3	30.8	0.5
ON	25.8	26.0	0.2
MB	34.7	34.0	-0.7
AB	24.3	23.5	-0.8

Once again, Alberta is at the bottom of the list. Our growth in union coverage was so bad, it went in reverse! We were one of just two provinces that saw a reduction in union coverage over this 5-year period.

This time, however, it was New Brunswick, not Québec, who topped the list, jumping up 2.3 points. The national rate increased just 0.4 points during this period, which means the majority (7) of the provinces were higher than that.

Now, let’s look at the past decade.

	2014	2024	Change
NB	28.4	30.2	1.8
NL	37.7	38.9	1.2
PEI	32.1	33.2	1.1
AB	22.5	23.5	1.0
QC	38.4	39.3	0.9
NS	30.2	30.8	0.6
BC	30.0	30.4	0.4
SK	33.3	33.2	-0.1
ON	26.8	26.0	-0.8
MB	35.7	34.0	-1.7

We’re finally no longer at the bottom of the list! In fact, we’re in 4th place, with an increase of a full percentage point. Just New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island were ahead of us.

Three provinces, Saskatchewan, Ontario, and Manitoba were the only provinces to see their union coverage rate drop over the last 10 years.

The national rate actually didn’t change, settling back to the same 30.2% it was at in 2014.

Here’s a look at all the provinces for each year since 2014. Alberta is the thick blue line, and Canada is the thick yellow line.

What we notice is that the entire time since 2014, Alberta has lagged behind all the other provinces in union coverage. We started narrowing the gap with Ontario leading up to 2020, but then we plateaued in 2021 then dropped off since.

We even narrowed the gap on the national rate during the same period.

From 2015 to 2018, Alberta’s union coverage rate dropped in comparison to the national rate, going from a difference of 7.7 points in 2014 to a difference of 5.5 points in 2018.

It stayed there in 2019 and 2020, then dropped slightly in 2021, jumping to 6.5 points in 2022, returning to 5.5 points in 2023, and finishing off last year even higher, at 6.7 points behind the national rate.

I wonder if the UCP’s anti-union legislation had anything to do with this.