Job postings in these cities are MUCH higher than the rest of Alberta

New data shows that Alberta employers appear to have a much larger appetite for hiring than many other regions in Canada.

According to a report by Indeed’s research arm, Hiring Lab, the number of job vacancies in Alberta exceeds their pre-pandemic level, with some parts of the province showing even higher numbers.

While postings in Calgary and Edmonton are both higher than before the pandemic, those in Alberta’s smaller cities — Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, and Red Deer — were up even more.

Hiring Lab says that job postings were up more than 25% in small and mid-sized cities across the country.

Alberta and other provinces in the Prairies have maintained a better hiring outlook. The job vacancy rates are above 3% in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, which is higher than the national average.

Hiring Lab

“Job vacancy rates in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba were quite low in the years after the 2014 oil-price crash,” Hiring Lab writes.

“While they’ve also taken a hit during the latest labour market slowdown, their improvement relative to the national average is a potential sign that the shadow of the mid-2010s downturn in hiring appetite in these areas is finally fading.”

The difference in regional job postings is also evident across industries.

In Alberta and Saskatchewan, job openings in retail, manufacturing, and professional services were higher in early 2024 than before the pandemic. In Ontario, those same industries saw fewer job openings.

Hiring Lab