Alberta has emerged as Canada's employment leader, adding about 78,000 jobs over the past year -- a gain of more than 3%, versus just 0.1% growth across the rest of Canada, according to Bank of Montreal Capital Markets (BMO) in a note Monday.
The gap has widened since the end of 2024, with Alberta accounting for most of Canada's net job gains, said BMO. Employment in the province has risen 4.2% over that period, compared with 0.5% elsewhere, driven mainly by services and construction rather than the energy sector, which is Alberta's dominant industry.
Alberta's outperformance has been driven by the strongest economic growth among Canadian provinces, supporting broad-based job creation, according to the bank. The province has also benefited from lower exposure to U.S. tariffs, with oil exports remaining largely insulated.
A smaller share of non-permanent residents has limited the impact of federal immigration caps compared with Ontario and British Columbia, while continued interprovincial migration has boosted both labor supply and domestic demand, added BMO.