On Oct. 1, five provinces across the country raised their minimum wages, making Alberta’s the lowest in Canada. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario and P.E.I. now have minimum wages above $15 per hour.
Alberta’s last minimum wage increase was in 2018, when the province had the highest minimum wage in the country.
Christina Gray, the former Alberta Minister of Labour and current NDP Leader of the House, was at the forefront of the last increase. Gray says the decision to raise the minimum wage from $13.60 to $15 was entrenched in the NDP’s 2015 campaign.
“It wasn’t enough to make ends meet,” says Gray. “We were seeing back then similar things to [what] you are now, with higher food bank usage and a real struggle for someone working a full-time job.”
One year after the provincial NDP raised the minimum wage, the UCP won the 2019 election. With former Premier Jason Kenny at the helm, the party introduced a bill to lower the minimum wage for workers under 18 to $13 per hour as an incentive for businesses to hire young workers.
While there has been no increase in the minimum wage since, Alberta currently has a youth unemployment rate of 17 per cent.
“We know many youth are contributing to household bills; they have their own bills, it’s really not a tenable state for so many workers,” says Gray. Students across Alberta are especially affected, with 56.6 per cent of minimum wage workers falling between the ages of 15 and 24 in 2024. Students make up 37.5 per cent.
“I don’t think that I could work enough minimum wage hours and be in school full time to support myself,” says Kaeli Wagner, a University of Alberta Arts student.
Wagner has opted to take on a part-time course load in order to work, while in school, to afford tuition.
“I haven’t really been able to start building any foundation for financial security.”
As of 2024, the Alberta Living Wage Network says the Edmonton area’s livable wage sits at $20.85, a decrease from 2023’s figure of $22.25.
“The gap between our minimum wage and a livable wage in Alberta has got to be one of the highest gaps across the country,” says Gray.
Nunavut is currently leading the country with a minimum wage of $19.25 per hour, with the territory’s government pledging to continue annual wage increases. The most recent hike took effect on Sept. 1 of this year, with Nunavut’s government citing the rising cost of living across the territory.
In an Oct. 1 press release, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) called on the provincial government to raise Alberta’s minimum wage to $20 hourly.
“Under the UCP, living standards are going backwards rapidly,” says AFL President Gil McGowen.
According to figures from the AFL, if the province’s minimum wage were indexed for inflation, Alberta’s minimum wage would be sitting at $18.75. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith stated in a press conference that the province has no plans to raise the minimum wage.
“I hope that the government will rethink its policy,” says Gray.
“We’re going to keep talking about this because families keep talking to us about it.”
We have contacted Minister of Jobs, Joseph Schow, for a formal statement, but have yet to hear back at the time of publishing.
