Alberta's Minimum Wage Highlights

Alberta is a western province of Canada and its capital is Edmonton. The province economy was one of the strongest in the world, supported by the growing petroleum industry.

The Government of Alberta announces their commitment to improving the minimum wage to help the Albertan low-income families. According to their statistics, approximately 296,200 Albertans currently earn less than $15 per hour. 50% of those are the head of the family or their spouses. And nearly 37,000 of those earning $15 per hour or less are single earners with children.

The Current Minimum Wages in Alberta are the following:

• General hourly minimum wage – $11.20 for most employees
• An hourly minimum wage of $10.70 for employees serving liquor as part of their regular job
• A weekly minimum wage of $446 for many salespersons, including land agents and certain professionals
• A monthly minimum wage of $2,127 for domestic employees living in their employer’s home.

The Upcoming Changes to Minimum Wages are:

• Alberta’s general minimum wage will rise by $1.00 to $12.20 per hour on October 01, 2016.
• And the current liquor server rate will be abolished.
• Weekly and monthly minimum wages used by certain professions will rise to $486 and $2,316, respectively, at the same time.
• The minimum wage will raise a further $1.40 to $13.60 per hour on October 1, 2017.
• And by $1.40 to $15 per hour on October 1, 2018.
• Weekly and monthly rates will rise by equivalent amounts.

Based on their demographics, there are approximately 59,000 Albertans earning a minimum wage. 61% of them are female. 43% minimum-wage earners work full time and 77% has permanent jobs.

Those who will migrate in Alberta, Canada in the following years are so lucky.  A minimum pay of $15/hour is a lot, especially for newcomers. And take note that the province has also a low tax rate which is 5%GST only.

Christina Gray, Minister of Labour once said…

 “We’re committed to bringing Alberta’s general minimum wage up to $15 per hour to give lower-income Albertans the ability to support their families.”

Sources:

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Alberta.ca