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Alberta

Province of Alberta reaching out to the rest of Canada for skilled workers

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Alberta is calling again

A second Alberta is Calling campaign is launching to attract more skilled workers from across Ontario and Atlantic Canada.

Alberta’s economy continues to grow and diversify, creating rewarding jobs across industries and the province, including in high-demand sectors like skilled trades, health care, food service and hospitality, accounting, engineering and technology. Alberta workers continue to have the highest earnings across all provinces. As more jobs are created, businesses need more skilled workers.

In summer 2022, Alberta’s government launched the Alberta is Calling campaign to help address labour shortages across industries throughout the province. The first campaign targeted Canadians living in Toronto and Vancouver, while this second campaign turns its attention to Canadians living in the Maritimes and parts of Ontario, including London, Hamilton, Windsor and Sudbury.

The campaign highlights Alberta’s economic advantages, including the booming technology and innovation sector as well as offering the highest weekly earnings and lowest taxes in Canada. In addition, the campaign again promotes lifestyle attractions including Calgary, North America’s most liveable city, and access to world-famous mountains and parks for year-round hiking, skiing, biking, and more than 300 days of sunshine per year.

“As Alberta continues to create jobs, attract investment and diversify its economy, we are once again putting out a call for skilled workers to join our great province and appreciate the quality of life that Alberta has to offer. It is the Renewed Alberta Advantage, and I encourage more people to experience it for themselves.”

Brian Jean, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Northern Development

“Since last summer, nearly 70,000 individuals have moved here, the largest inflow of people we have seen in two decades. Between opportunity and quality of life, Alberta has a fantastic value proposition and the Alberta is Calling campaign has helped to share this message. We look forward to welcoming even more Canadians to Alberta soon.”

Adam Legge, president, Business Council of Alberta

“Alberta’s vibrant and diverse restaurant sector is one of the province’s largest employers. However, coming out of the pandemic there are almost 18,000 vacancies in the restaurant sector for vital roles like managers, chefs and prep cooks. That is why Restaurants Canada is pleased to support the relaunched Alberta is Calling campaign.”

Mark von Schellwitz, vice-president, Western Canada, Restaurants Canada

“What a great time for people to pursue careers in the trades in Alberta. Women Building Futures supports women seeking new career opportunities to get quality pre-apprenticeship training for exciting careers in the inclusive workplaces WBF Employers of Choice create.”

Carol Moen, president and CEO, Women Building Futures Society

To learn more about the opportunities and advantages of living in Alberta, visit albertaiscalling.ca.

Quick facts

  • The new phase of Alberta is Calling is launching in:
    • Atlantic Canada
      • St. John’s, N.L.; Charlottetown, P.E.I.; Moncton and Saint John, N.B.; and Halifax, N.S.
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, London, Windsor, Sudbury, Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay, Chatham, Timmins and Cornwall
  • In 2022, Alberta saw the highest employment growth in the country.
  • Alberta workers continue to have the highest weekly earnings of any provinces, at $1,268 (Statistics Canada, December 2022).
  • Alberta families earned a median after-tax income of $104,000 in 2020, which is more than $7,000 higher than Ontario.
  • Alberta families generally pay lower personal taxes (for 2022, considering annual family incomes of $75,000, $150,000 and $300,000).
  • Alberta saw the highest net interprovincial migration in Canada, at 19,285 people, in the third quarter of 2022.
  • According to Alberta’s Short-Term Employment Forecast, high and moderately high-demand occupations include:
    • restaurant and food service managers
    • software engineers and designers
    • web designers and developers
    • transport truck drivers
    • registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
    • accounting technicians and bookkeepers
    • shippers and receivers

Alberta

Red Deer Justice Centre Grand Opening: Building access to justice for Albertans

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The new Red Deer Justice Centre will help Albertans resolve their legal matters faster.

Albertans deserve to have access to a fair, accessible and transparent justice system. Modernizing Alberta’s courthouse infrastructure will help make sure Alberta’s justice system runs efficiently and meets the needs of the province’s growing population.

Alberta’s government has invested $191 million to build the new Red Deer Justice Centre, increasing the number of courtrooms from eight to 12, allowing more cases to be heard at one time.

“Modern, accessible courthouses and streamlined services not only strengthen our justice
system – they build safer, stronger communities across the province. Investing in the new Red Deer Justice Centre is vital to helping our justice system operate more efficiently, and will give people in Red Deer and across central Alberta better access to justice.”

Mickey Amery, Minister of Justice and Attorney General

Government of Alberta and Judiciary representatives with special guests at the Red Deer Justice Centre plaque unveiling event April 22, 2025.

On March 3, all court services in Red Deer began operating out of the new justice centre. The new justice centre has 12 courtrooms fully built and equipped with video-conference equipment to allow witnesses to attend remotely if they cannot travel, and vulnerable witnesses to testify from outside the courtroom.

The new justice centre also has spaces for people taking alternative approaches to the traditional courtroom trial process, with the three new suites for judicial dispute resolution services, a specific suite for other dispute resolution services, such as family mediation and civil mediation, and a new Indigenous courtroom with dedicated venting for smudging purposes.

“We are very excited about this new courthouse for central Alberta. Investing in the places where people seek justice shows respect for the rights of all Albertans. The Red Deer Justice Centre fills a significant infrastructure need for this rapidly growing part of the province. It is also an important symbol of the rule of law, meaning that none of us are above the law, and there is an independent judiciary to decide disputes. This is essential for a healthy functioning democracy.”

Ritu Khullar, chief justice of Alberta

“Public safety and access to justice go hand in hand. With this investment in the new Red Deer Justice Centre, Alberta’s government is ensuring that communities are safer, legal matters are resolved more efficiently and all Albertans get the support they need.”

Mike Ellis, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services

“This state-of-the-art facility will serve the people of Red Deer and surrounding communities for generations. Our team at Infrastructure is incredibly proud of the work done to plan, design and build this project. I want to thank everyone, at all levels, who helped make this project a reality.”

Martin Long, Minister of Infrastructure

Budget 2025 is meeting the challenge faced by Alberta with continued investments in education and health, lower taxes for families and a focus on the economy.

Quick facts

  • The new Red Deer Justice Centre is 312,000 sq ft (29,000 m2). (The old courthouse is 98,780 sq ft (9,177 m2)).
  • The approved project funding for the Red Deer Justice Centre is about $191 million.
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Alberta

CPP another example of Albertans’ outsized contribution to Canada

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From the Fraser Institute

By Tegan Hill

Amid the economic uncertainty fuelled by Trump’s trade war, its perhaps more important than ever to understand Alberta’s crucial role in the federation and its outsized contribution to programs such as the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

From 1981 to 2022, Albertan’s net contribution to the CPP—meaning the amount Albertans paid into the program over and above what retirees in Alberta received in CPP payments—was $53.6 billion. In 2022 (the latest year of available data), Albertans’ net contribution to the CPP was $3.0 billion.

During that same period (1981 to 2022), British Columbia was the only other province where residents paid more into the CPP than retirees received in benefits—and Alberta’s contribution was six times greater than B.C.’s contribution. Put differently, residents in seven out of the nine provinces that participate in the CPP (Quebec has its own plan) receive more back in benefits than they contribute to the program.

Albertans pay an outsized contribution to federal and national programs, including the CPP because of the province’s relatively high rates of employment, higher average incomes and younger population (i.e. more workers pay into the CPP and less retirees take from it).

Put simply, Albertan workers have been helping fund the retirement of Canadians from coast to coast for decades, and without Alberta, the CPP would look much different.

How different?

If Alberta withdrew from the CPP and established its own standalone provincial pension plan, Alberta workers would receive the same retirement benefits but at a lower cost (i.e. lower CPP contribution rate deducted from our paycheques) than other Canadians, while the contribution rate—essentially the CPP tax rate—to fund the program would likely need to increase for the rest of the country to maintain the same benefits.

And given current demographic projections, immigration patterns and Alberta’s long history of leading the provinces in economic growth, Albertan workers will likely continue to pay more into the CPP than Albertan retirees get back from it.

Therefore, considering Alberta’s crucial role in national programs, the next federal government—whoever that may be—should undo and prevent policies that negatively impact the province and Albertans ability to contribute to Canada. Think of Bill C-69 (which imposes complex, uncertain and onerous review requirements on major energy projects), Bill C-48 (which bans large oil tankers off B.C.’s northern coast and limits access to Asian markets), an arbitrary cap on oil and gas emissions, numerous other “net-zero” targets, and so on.

Canada faces serious economic challenges, including a trade war with the United States. In times like this, it’s important to remember Alberta’s crucial role in the federation and the outsized contributions of Alberta workers to the wellbeing of Canadians across the country.

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