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<\/p>\nAlberta has led the country in job growth in recent years. From 2022 to 2025, employment increased nearly 10 percent, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS), more than any other large province and well above the national average of 6.5 percent. With growth outpacing the rest of the country, it\u2019s worth taking a closer look at what\u2019s driving it and how Alberta\u2019s labour market is changing.<\/p>\n
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In addition to the overall pace of growth, strong gains in private sector employment set Alberta apart. No other province saw more private sector job growth than Alberta over that period\u2014a difference that is especially stark relative to provinces like B.C., Quebec, and Saskatchewan, where an expanding public service masked broader labour market weakness.<\/p>\n
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But determining which industries are driving job gains is trickier. The LFS depends on a relatively small sample of households, meaning swings across industries can reflect real changes or just survey noise. More worrisome, even topline LFS estimates may be overstated, for both Alberta and Canada, given challenges in estimating population growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n This is where payroll employment data helps. Rather than relying on a household survey, the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH) draws primarily on employers\u2019 payroll records. While it excludes the self-employed, it covers the vast majority of employees and provides a more precise, stable picture of employment by industry.<\/p>\n According to SEPH, job growth in Alberta, and across Canada, was not nearly as strong as the LFS suggests, especially in provinces with faster population growth. Even so, Alberta was the clear leader. From 2022 to 2025, payroll employment grew 7 percent in Alberta compared with 4 percent nationally.<\/p>\n But where does Alberta stand out relative to the rest of Canada?<\/p>\n The short answer is almost everywhere. Alberta saw faster employment growth than the national average in 14 of the 18 categories we assessed. That broad strength reflects rapid population growth. Since 2022, Alberta\u2019s population has increased by around 11 percent, or over half a million people, making it the fastest-growing province in the country. As the population has expanded, so too has demand for housing, financial services, entertainment, and the workers needed to support them.<\/p>\n Still, a few areas are especially notable. These are the industries that both added a large number of jobs and saw the strongest growth relative to the national average.<\/p>\n Health care is one of the clearest examples. Employment in the sector increased by about 15 percent from 2022 to 2025, well above the national average of 9 percent, with gains across hospitals, nursing and residential care, and outpatient services such as clinics, testing centres, and home care.<\/p>\n It may also be an unexpected contributor to Alberta\u2019s strong private sector job growth. While often viewed as part of the public sector, many health services are publicly funded but privately delivered. The LFS, which distinguishes between public and private employment, suggests a large share of Alberta\u2019s recent health care gains fall into this category.<\/p>\n Payroll data adds some context. While it doesn\u2019t distinguish between public and private employment, the pattern of growth suggests both are playing an important role. Hospitals, which are generally in the public sector, account for the largest share of new jobs and grew at roughly double the national average. But growth has also been especially strong in home health-care services and practitioner offices, both of which are often privately delivered.<\/p>\n Construction has also played a major role in Alberta\u2019s employment growth. Employment in the sector has grown about 10 percent since 2022, roughly double the national average, driven largely by residential building. Growth is even stronger since 2021, with an 18 percent increase since the start of the housing surge. But it\u2019s not just a housing story. Since 2022, jobs tied to large-scale industrial projects\u2014including oil and gas facilities, mining sites, and pipelines\u2014have increased by 59 percent.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, one of the most notable examples of where Alberta stands out is in one of its fastest-growing, albeit smaller, sectors: childcare. Employment in child day-care services has increased by a remarkable 46 percent, the fastest growth in the country and well above the national average of 25 percent. That amounts to more than 7,000 new jobs in a relatively small industry over just three years.<\/p>\n This growth reflects both rising demand from more young families and improved affordability. As a result of the childcare agreement<\/a> between Alberta and Canada, fees dropped to $15-a-day<\/a> on average, saving families around $13,700 per child, the largest improvement in affordability in the country.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While much of Alberta\u2019s growth is concentrated in domestically driven sectors like health care, childcare, and residential construction, there are also signs of broader strength. Strong gains in industrial construction, tied to energy and major projects, along with growth in manufacturing and business support services, suggest businesses are expanding and investment is picking up.<\/p>\n Manufacturing employment, for instance, is up about 6 percent (roughly 7,000 jobs) even as it has been flat nationally. The province has also seen outsized growth in business support services such as payroll and administrative services.<\/p>\n What\u2019s also notable is what\u2019s not driving Alberta\u2019s outsized job growth. Despite strong gains in oil and gas production and exports, employment in that sector has remained relatively flat as productivity improves.<\/p>\n View reader comments (1)<\/p>\n Likewise, while the number of school-aged children has grown at more than double the national average, employment in elementary and secondary education has increased only in line with the rest of the country. That may change, however, as the province aims to hire more teachers and educational assistants<\/a> over the next three years.<\/p>\n Overall, Alberta\u2019s robust job growth since 2022 reflects both strong local demand and shifting labour needs, with gains concentrated in service industries and the private sector, some of which is tied to public funding.<\/p>\n At the same time, growth tied to investment and business activity shouldn\u2019t be overlooked. This suggests Alberta\u2019s outsized performance reflects not only population and demographic pressures, but also broader economic strength.<\/p>\n A version of this post was originally published by the Business Council of Alberta<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Fig3_AlbertaJobs_PayrollData_graph_v1.jpg\")
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