Skip to Content News Archives Economy Energy Oil & Gas Renewables Electric Vehicles Mining Commodities Agriculture Real Estate Mortgages Mortgage Rates Finance Banking Insurance Fintech Cryptocurrency Work Wealth Smart Money Wealth Management Investor Personal Finance Family Finance Retirement Taxes High Net Worth FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials More Innovation Information Technology FP500 Podcasts Small Business Lives Told Tails Told Shopping Financial Post Store Obituaries Place a Notice Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place a Classifieds ad Working Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ News Economy Energy Mining Real Estate Finance Work Wealth Investor FP Comment Executive Women Puzzmo Newsletters Financial Times Business Essentials HomeNewsEconomyWorkNearly 80% of Canada's job gains in the past year were in this provinceAlberta gained nearly 80,000 jobs, while all of Canada added 99,000 You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Alberta is home to roughly 12 per cent of Canada’s population, but it accounted for close to 80 per cent of all the jobs the national economy created in the past year, according to Statistics Canada. Larry Wong/Postmedia fileAlberta is home to roughly 12 per cent of Canada’s population, but it accounted for close to 80 per cent of all the jobs the national economy created in the past year, according to Statistics Canada.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman, and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles from Barbara Shecter, Joe O'Connor, Gabriel Friedman and others.Daily content from Financial Times, the world's leading global business publication.Unlimited online access to read articles from Financial Post, National Post and 15 news sites across Canada with one account.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorAlberta added nearly 80,000 jobs in the past 12 months, while all of Canada added 99,000, the national agency said in its latest jobs report.Alberta’s total looms large partly because it kept hiring while some of the country’s biggest provinces shed workers.“It’s not like we have an acceleration in our job creation rate,” said Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Servus Credit Union in Calgary.FP Work touches on HR strategy, labour economics, office culture, technology and more.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Work will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“Alberta continues to hum along at about the same rhythm. What you’re seeing is continuing underperformance in the rest of the country.”Quebec and British Columbia shed a total of 67,000 jobs in the past 12 months, Statistics Canada reported last week.Employers in Ontario were hiring, with employment picking up by close to 65,000 positions, but that’s a modest gain of less than one per cent for the country’s largest province.The story in Alberta is not just that the province is pulling ahead. It is why. Alberta is where Canadians are moving, and the jobs are following the people.The pull is affordability. The average home in the Toronto area now costs over a million dollars; in Alberta’s two largest cities, it is far less. “I can see the temptation for Calgary and Edmonton,” St-Arnaud said.Brendon Bernard, a senior economist at the job site Indeed in Toronto, sees the same draw. Alberta pay is still strong, he said, and paired with better housing costs, it keeps pulling people from British Columbia and southern Ontario.A growing population needs to be looked after, and that is where most of the new work is. Of the roughly 80,000 jobs added over the year, about 55,000 were in health care and social assistance, a category St-Arnaud notes is wide, covering far more than hospital staff.“Growing population, aging population,” he said. “You need doctors, you need nurses. You need the services to support that population.”This is genuine, full-time work. Full-time employment rose 58,500 over the year, the bulk of the gain. But it is mostly a response to how many people are arriving, not a sign that Alberta’s core industries are booming.Bernard makes the same point. Health care and public administration are carrying the province, he said. “Construction, relatively flat. Natural resources, not too much change there either,” he said. “Some of the key drivers of the Alberta economy still aren’t showing the strength that would come from a stronger economy.”For all its lead, Alberta’s job market is not on fire. “The job market has been, in a lot of ways, similar to the rest of Canada,” Bernard said. “Stable, but not roaring. More static than robust.”Alberta’s seven per cent unemployment rate, he added, “is pretty consistent with that kind of stable picture. But it could be better.”Zoom in on the latest month, for example. Alberta added jobs again, but the gains were all part-time; full-time work actually slipped. The unemployment rate also rose, to seven per cent, even as jobs were added, a combination that usually signals a weakening economy. But here it is the opposite.“You have more people coming to the province, and you’re not necessarily employed from day one,” St-Arnaud said. “They increase the number of job seekers. So it’s not necessarily problematic, per se.” The province is drawing workers faster than even a healthy job market can absorb, so the rate climbs even as jobs are added.A caveat belongs on all of it. The monthly numbers are always volatile, and one June is not a trend. But the shape holds.People are moving to Alberta for cheaper homes and steady pay, and the province is hiring to keep up with them.Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don’t miss the news you need to know — add EdmontonJournal.com and EdmontonSun.com to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters.You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. 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