Alberta will enter October with the country’s lowest minimum wage after Premier Danielle Smith defended the province’s decision to keep the general rate at 15 Canadian dollars per hour.
Pay floors rise Wednesday in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, a set of moves that leaves Alberta alone at 15 while peers move higher.
Smith, speaking to reporters in Calgary, argued that lifting the wage floor would not address a spike in youth unemployment and could discourage hiring.
“We’re going to see if we can start seeing those numbers go down and then we can have further conversations,” she said. “But I don’t want to put any more barriers in place to employers hiring young people.”
Alberta’s last increase came in October 2018, when the general minimum rose to 15 dollars.
The province also maintains a student rate of 13 dollars for workers under 18 during the school year for the first 28 hours a week, after which the general rate applies. Those rules, introduced in 2019, remain in force.
The new landscape elsewhere is stark. Ontario’s general minimum wage climbs to 17.60 dollars on Oct. 1. Manitoba goes to 16. Saskatchewan moves to 15.35.
Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island each reach 16.50. Several provinces use consumer price index formulas to adjust annually, which has translated into predictable upticks even as inflation cools. British Columbia already raised its rate to 17.85 on June 1.
The federal minimum wage for workers in federally regulated sectors rose to 17.75 dollars on April 1.
That does not override provincial rates for most Alberta workers, but it underscores how far the province’s floor now sits below the country’s headline benchmark. The premier’s focus on youth jobs speaks to a pressure point.
Alberta’s unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 hit 17.0% in August, up sharply from a year earlier, according to the province’s economic dashboard that draws on Statistics Canada’s labor force survey.
Economists note youth joblessness has climbed across Canada this year, reflecting slower hiring and more students seeking work.
Alberta’s opposition New Democrats have urged the government to raise the minimum wage and index it to inflation, arguing that stagnant pay at the bottom is compounding affordability strains that are visible in higher delinquencies and stretched household budgets.
New NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi has said a predictable formula would give workers and employers certainty while helping low-income earners keep pace with rising costs.
For businesses, a static wage floor can keep payroll costs contained, which may be welcome for restaurants and retailers that have faced higher input prices and interest expenses. The tradeoff is purchasing power.
With Alberta’s floor lagging neighbors and the federal benchmark, the real value of a 15 dollar wage has eroded since 2018.
That gap can filter into consumer spending and labor mobility, particularly in border communities where workers compare pay across provinces.
Investors will watch how Alberta balances competitiveness and household demand. A lower statutory floor can support margins in labor-intensive sectors, yet persistently elevated youth joblessness is a drag on future income growth.
Smith’s bet is that targeted hiring incentives will move the needle faster than a one-size-fits-all increase.
The coming months will test whether employers respond as hoped, and whether the province’s position at the bottom of the wage table becomes a point of differentiation or a political liability.
