Alberta
$1,200 Covid payment for 76,500 more Albertans including truck drivers, janitors, taxi drivers, security guards, farm workers, etc
More Albertans to receive $1,200 Critical Worker Benefit
76,500 more workers to receive a one-time payment to recognize the risks they have taken to support Albertans and the economy.
The Critical Worker Benefit is a joint federal-provincial program with $465 million available to recognize the hard work of critical workers during the pandemic.
During the first round of the Critical Worker Benefit Alberta’s government provided $1,200 payments to over 277,800 workers in the healthcare, social services, education and private sectors who deliver critical services to Albertans or support food and medical supply chains.
Workers in new job categories will be eligible for the same $1,200 payment. This includes workers in social services and the private sector who provided critical services to Albertans, were essential to the supply and movement of goods, and faced greater potential risk of exposure to COVID-19 through their work environments.
To be eligible for the benefit, employees must have worked a minimum of 300 hours during the period of Oct. 12, 2020 to Jan. 31, 2021. Support staff working in licensed child care must have worked a minimum of 243 hours during this period.
Eligible social services sector employers do not need to apply. Employers of support staff working in licensed child care programs, disability support workers providing independent living supports, respite, community access, and employment supports, and front-line workers in seniors-serving organizations and non-profit affordable housing providers will be contacted by the Government of Alberta to confirm details.
Eligible private sector workers making $25 per hour or less will also qualify for the benefit. These workers include: truck drivers, farmworkers, security guards, cleaners, funeral workers, employees at quick service and dine in restaurants and taxi drivers who can demonstrate they worked at least 300 hours during the eligibility period. The complete list of eligible workers for this phase of the program are available in the Application Guidelines for the private sector at alberta.ca/
Private sector employers can apply on behalf of employees at alberta.ca/
Employers will be responsible for distributing the $1,200 Critical Worker Benefit to their eligible employees.
Alberta’s government is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic by protecting lives and livelihoods with precise measures to bend the curve, sustain small businesses, and protect Alberta’s health care system.
Quick facts
- Alberta’s government contributed $118 million to the $465 million program.
- A total of about $367 million has been spent on about 289,800 workers.
- $355 million has been spent on about 277,800 workers in the phase one of the Critical Worker Benefit. This includes social services workers, health care workers, education workers and critical private sector workers, such as grocery cashiers, pharmacy assistants, and gas station attendants.
- Announced in April 2020, Alberta also used $12 million of the one-time federal funding along with a provincial investment totalling $30 million to date to provide a $2 an hour wage top-up for about 12,000 health care aides working in long-term care and designated supportive living facilities.
- About $99 million is available for about 76,500 workers in the social services and private sectors.
- The break down of benefit recipient is:
- Up to $18.5 million in the social services sector supporting 14,300 workers
- Up to $80.3 million in the private sector supporting 62,200 workers
Workers in the following private sector occupations are eligible to receive the Critical Worker Benefit:
- truck transportation, primarily engaged in the transportation of goods, in the following occupations:
- transport truck drivers
- light duty cleaners
- janitors, caretakers and building superintendents
- security guards and related security services
- material handlers
- dlivery and courier services drivers
- other trades helpers and labourers
- crop production, animal production or aquaculture directly involved in the production of food for human consumption
- funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoria
- not eligible: municipally-run funeral homes, cemeteries and crematoria
- security guards
- not eligible: private investigators, armoured car guard, house detective, personal bodyguards and security
- light duty cleaners, janitors and specialized cleaners working in commercial, institution and industrial locations
- not eligible: private residence cleaners
- taxi drivers
- not eligible: chauffers and drivers of ride-share companies such as Uber and Lyft
- workers in full-service restaurants and limited services eating places – workers must be primarily involved in the preparation, cooking or service delivery in an eligible establishment
- not eligible: drinking places that do not serve food onsite
Read the application guidelines for the private sector for more information.
Helping builders by putting an end to housing delays
Alberta’s new Stop Housing Delays online portal will allow developers, municipalities and other housing partners to report red tape and unnecessary home-building delays.
Alberta’s government is focused on ensuring Albertans have access to the housing they need, and that means working to streamline processes, cut red tape and reduce delays that are slowing housing construction down. As part of this work, government has launched a new online portal to help in these efforts.
The Stop Housing Delays online portal is now available for developers and municipal authorities to help identify areas that are preventing fast and efficient residential construction. This portal will help government identify and address barriers to building homes across the province.
“The Stop Housing Delays portal will allow Alberta’s government to hear directly from developers, municipalities and other partners on where delays are happening in the construction process. This will help identify and remove barriers, ultimately getting homes built faster and continuing Alberta’s record home-building pace.”
“Alberta’s government will continue to work with municipalities and find solutions to speed up the home-building process. The Stop Housing Delays portal will give us another tool to inform those discussions and identify areas where we can improve the pace of home building.”
Once developers, municipalities or industry partners have submitted their issue using the online form, government will collect and assess the information provided. Alberta’s government will be taking a collaborative, cross-ministry approach to ensure the appropriate departments are working together to find solutions where possible. Solutions may range from minor changes to policy reform.
Alberta’s government continues to support builders and encourage new residential housing construction by reducing red tape, incentivizing housing construction and supporting innovative strategies to build homes faster than ever.
“This webpage is an excellent opportunity to gather knowledge and further eliminate red tape. Government has been persistent in our approach of cutting red tape and removing roadblocks, and this will help to speed up residential construction. I look forward to hearing from developers and our other partners on how we can help get projects moving and Albertans in homes.”
Alberta continues to see strong housing starts and increases while other provinces across Canada are seeing a reduction in housing starts. The first half of 2024 saw 9,903 apartment unit starts in the province. This marks the highest amount in any half year in Alberta’s history, breaking the previous record of 9,750 set in 1977. Albertans will benefit from 33,577 new housing starts from January through September 2024, up 35 per cent from the same period last year. Alberta’s government remains focused on working with industry and non-profit partners to ensure that the province’s growing population has access to the housing it needs.
“This portal is a valuable tool for industry to highlight gaps, barriers and delays that may need to be prioritized and addressed by either local or provincial governments. Real solutions can only emerge through transparency, open communication and collaboration. This is an important step toward identifying the unique challenges each region and municipality faces in delivering attainable housing.”
Quick Facts
- Housing starts for January – September 2024 compared with January – September 2023
- Provincewide: 33,577 compared with 24,904 (up 35 per cent)
- Edmonton: 13,359 compared with 9,099 (up 47 per cent)
- Calgary: 17,414 compared with 14,141 (up 23 per cent)
- Lethbridge: 599 compared with 148 (up 305 per cent)
- Red Deer: 314 compared with 146 (up 115 per cent)
- Data shows Alberta had 10,699 purpose-built rentals, making up 32 per cent of all housing starts.
- Since 2019, Alberta’s government has invested almost $850 million to build more than 5,100 units and close to 900 shelter spaces. This includes projects we have committed to, that are in progress and that are complete.
- Together with its partners, Alberta’s government is supporting $9 billion in investments into affordable housing to support 25,000 additional low-income households by 2031.
Related information
(Left to right: Stéphane Germain, president of GHGSat; John Adams, president and CEO, NGIF Capital and NGIF Accelerator and managing partner of Cleantech Ventures; Rebecca Schulz, Minister of Environment and Protected Areas; Scott Volk, director of emissions and innovation, Tourmaline Oil; Justin Riemer, CEO of Emissions Reduction Alberta)
New funding will advance technologies that turn Alberta’s natural resources, such as bitumen, into materials of the future.
Alberta is Canada’s third-largest producer of manufactured goods and materials and first in clean technology innovation. At the same time, manufacturing companies around the world are looking for ways to make products like concrete, plastics, food, wood, chemicals and machinery more efficient, more durable, easier to recycle and better for the environment.
Alberta’s government is investing $40 million from the industry-funded Technology Innovation and Emissions Reduction (TIER) program to advance technologies that will turn everyday items that would otherwise be wasted or dumped in landfills into modern, low-emission products. These technologies will help create jobs, reduce emissions and help Alberta’s manufacturing industry lead the world.
“We have the resources, expertise and entrepreneurs needed to create some of the most advanced materials in the world. This funding competition will help develop new and exciting technologies that reduce emissions, create jobs, reuse waste and keep growing our economy.”
Advanced materials are increasing in global demand. They are new or significantly improved materials that provide a distinct advantage in performance when compared to conventional materials. Advanced materials have already been used to create new construction materials, improved batteries and fuel cells and lighter, stronger aircrafts, bicycles and golf clubs, among other products.
Led by Emissions Reduction Alberta, Alberta’s new funding competition will support scale-up, pilot, and demonstration and first-of-kind commercial technologies that improve the extraction, production, manufacturing, and performance of new and existing materials and products in Alberta. It is open to a wide a range of applicants including researchers, businesses, municipalities and Indigenous communities.
“Enhancing existing products and developing new materials with superior performance while embracing circular economy strategies will help deliver deeper emissions reductions, enhance supply chain resiliency and strengthen industrial competitiveness. This funding, sourced from Alberta’s TIER regulation, is critical and the possibilities are endless.”
The focus of this funding is to help create technologies that turn resources into modern, new products. This includes emerging technologies extracting high value metals like vanadium, titanium and lithium found within natural resources such as bitumen and creating novel, carbon-absorbing materials. These can then be used to improve everything from construction material and consumer electronics to aircrafts and hockey sticks.
“Emerging technology solutions, such as creating advanced carbon products from bitumen, are critical to lowering emissions and creating jobs in the province. Alberta Innovates is pleased to support this call and work closely with Emissions Reduction Alberta to realize a new future for Albertans.”
“By transforming our abundant natural resources into advanced, low-carbon materials, we are not only driving emissions reductions but also creating valuable opportunities for industry growth and export potential. The Government of Alberta’s investment through Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Advanced Materials Challenge demonstrates a commitment to building a resilient economy that harnesses Alberta’s strengths in new and sustainable ways.”
Quick facts
- Applications for the Advanced Materials Challenge close on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 5 PM MST.
- Successful applicants are eligible for up to $5 million.
- Applications are open to innovators, technology developers, commercial and industrial building owners, municipalities, Indigenous communities, small and medium-sized businesses, research and development organizations, universities, and not-for-profit organizations.
- Applications are open to emerging technologies. While technology solutions can originate from anywhere globally, they must be piloted, demonstrated or deployed in Alberta.
- The TIER system uses industry dollars to help Alberta facilities find innovative ways to reduce emissions and invest in clean technology to stay competitive and save money.
- Full details on the Advanced Materials Challenge can be found on Emissions Reduction Alberta’s website.
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