Alberta gets more people from other states than any other province
In the first three months of 2023, more people moved to Alberta from other provinces than anywhere else in Canada.
From other parts of the country, 15,786 people moved to the province. The net losses in B.C. and Ontario were 712 and 14,732, respectively.
But Alberta’s unemployment rate is 5.7%, which is higher than both B.C. and Ontario. In May, 5.2% of people were out of work across the country.
Cristina Schultz, who works as a recruiting manager for About Staffing in Calgary, says that some newcomers’ expectations don’t match up with the Alberta job market.
Schultz said that many people who move between provinces come from Ontario, which has a different job market, and end up in Alberta looking for remote or hybrid jobs.
“We just don’t have a lot of that in Alberta,” said Schultz. “Employers want to hire people who are in the office and actually come to the place where they work.”
About a month ago, Larissa Lisboa moved her family from London, Ontario, to Edmonton.
After being fired from her last job, Lisboa said she started looking for work in Alberta because layoffs had made the job market in Ontario very competitive.
She said, “It was like a crisis.” “There are a lot of good people looking for work.”
The rate of unemployment in Ontario went up from 4.9% in April to 5.5% in May 2023.
Lisboa said that she had job offers in both Edmonton and Toronto, but because of the cost of living in Edmonton, she chose to work there.
She said, “We realized that our lives would be much better here than in Toronto.”
Schultz says that the price of housing is a big factor in many workers’ decisions.
On average, a two-bedroom apartment in Edmonton costs $1,500 to rent.The cost of a two-bedroom apartment in Toronto is more than twice as much as it is in Vancouver.
“It’s the most common reason,” Lisboa said.
From June 2022 to June 2023, rents in Edmonton went up by 11.3%, but the city still has the cheapest housing of any major city, according to Rentals.ca, a large online real estate network.
“Over the last five years, people looking for work have been most interested in the culture and environment,” Schultz said. “Right now, it all comes down to what is that base salary I can get to pay my bills.”
Heather Watkins, who is 53 years old, has lived in Greater Vancouver her whole life. In May, she moved to Edmonton.
She said that she had a good job in Vancouver as a store manager, but that she could no longer afford to live there.
“It’s a lovely spot. “There are lots of things to do outside,” said Watkins. “But is that enough for you to spend your whole paycheck just to stay alive?”
Watkins moved to Edmonton so she could still see her family and friends in British Columbia. She says that this has made her life better.
She said that she is renting a bigger, nicer, newer house for about $250 less per month.
“Today I baked bread… “At my old apartment, I didn’t even have enough counter space to do that,” said Watkins.
Lisboa also said that moving was the best thing for her family.
She said, “We moved for the job, but we really like the city.” “That was a nice surprise.”
The latest data from the Consumer Price Index show that Alberta’s inflation rate is 3.1%, which is just below the national average of 3.4%.
The latest part of the Alberta is Calling campaign ran from March 13 to April 9 and focused on getting workers from Southern Ontario and Atlantic Canada.