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Alberta employment was on the upswing in November, leading job gains across the country, according to the latest 2025 Labour Force Survey results from Statistics Canada.
The province added about 29,000 jobs last month, more than half of the total net job gains across the country. As a result, the unemployment rate fell from October’s 7.8 per cent down to 6.5 per cent, on par with the national average.
Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Minister Joseph Schow issued a statement Friday saying the numbers are an indicator the job market is meeting increasing demand.
“Since this time last year, Alberta has added more than 105,000 jobs, showing a positive trend that is catching up to our rapid population growth,” the statement read.
WATCH | New numbers reveal Alberta job growth:
Federal survey shows Alberta leading increase in November employment
Canada’s economy gained 54,000 jobs in November with 29,000 of them in Alberta. As Travis McEwan reports, it’s encouraging for some of the province’s economists.
Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist at Servus Credit Union, said the numbers are a good sign for Alberta’s economy, which has seen less impact from U.S-imposed tariffs than other parts of the country.
“Earlier this year, the labour market seemed too weak for what the economy was doing,” he told CBC News. “What we’re seeing now is probably a return to reality or a reversal of that weakness.
“It shows an economy that’s on relatively solid footing.”
But St-Arnaud said he worries shrinking response pools for surveys could skew data for Statistics Canada.
Servus Credit Union chief economist Charles St-Arnaud speaks to CBC News in December 2025 for an interview conducted via video call. (Screenshot from CBC News interview conducted via Google Meet)
A smaller sample size, combined with a low hiring forecast for the Prairies projected by a recent Bank of Canada survey, could mean the upward swing might not be a lasting one, he said.
“We should be cautious and not get overly excited with the recent increase,” St-Arnaud said. “It doesn’t mean we’ll see job losses, but we should see more of a return to more modest employment gains in the coming months.”
In his statement, Schow said the province remains optimistic job growth will continue in 2026.
Youth unemployment down
November also saw the national youth unemployment rate drop for the second month in a row to 12.8 per cent, down from 14.7 per cent in September — the highest it had been since 2010, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic years.
Edmonton-based career coach Kristen Carter said while the numbers are encouraging, the decrease could be due to seasonal demands, and more part-time opportunities.
She said it still may be too early to see changes in the market from the province’s new Alberta Youth Employment Incentive. The program, comprised of $8 million in grants for employers to hire Albertans between 15 and 24, was announced in September.
John Mackell, the owner of an Edmonton flower shop called Laurel’s on Whyte, said he is currently looking for part-time employees in anticipation of the busiest times of year for his shop: Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day.
“We can go from famine, drought, to overabundance in business,” he told CBC News. “It’s easier to hire part-timers just because it’s easier to up their hours during that time — during the busier times — and then when it gets quiet again I can lower the amount of hours. ”
Mackell said younger, less experienced applicants generally prefer part-time work to get a sense of the job before diving into a career, or to accommodate other part-time employment.
Still ‘an employer’s market’
Despite the drop in the unemployment rate, some businesses looking to hire say they are still spoiled for choice.
David Jannard, the head of retail for Blush Lane Markets Alberta, said online job postings for the company’s stores typically stay up for a week. But recently, they’ve garnered as many as 200 applications in 24 hours.
“It’s definitely an employer’s market and has been for some time,” he told CBC News. “We’ve been very successful in finding candidates because the pool is so large.
“[Postings] rarely last two days.”
Mackell said he’s currently fishing from a dwindling number of applicants, but he believes the overall jump in employment in the province is a good omen for his bottom line.
“It’s perhaps a little bit of a trickle effect. There might be more business coming into the store, more business coming into our studio, doing our workshops and that kind of thing.”
