Impact of inflation is harsher in Alberta, says economist. Pins blame on population boom

The population boom in Alberta has depressed wages and means the impact of inflation is being felt more acutely here than anywhere else in Canada, says a local economist.

Charles St-Arnaud, chief economist with Alberta Central, said people in Alberta are paying the same increased prices for things like groceries, gas and household goods.

But they're not getting the same raise at work to help cover the costs.

That's because of Alberta's boom-bust economy, but also because many people are moving here — record numbers from across Canada and internationally. 

"Having a constant supply of new workers helped keep our wages lower than the rest of Canada," said St-Arnaud, who published a report with this data last month. 

"You have more available workers, and those firms don't have to compete as much for workers as what we're seeing in the rest of the country."

In his report, St-Arnaud tracked wages and inflation since 2019. Wages in Alberta increased, but not as fast as wages in the rest of the country. And when adjusted for inflation, real wages in Alberta actually dropped. 

That means people's purchasing power dropped by four per cent in Alberta, while it increased by three per cent in the rest of the country.

The provincial government launched the Alberta is Calling campaign last August, citing a growing labour shortage. As of the end of 2022, there were still 93,000 vacancies, according to Statistics Canada data, especially in industries that require employees with specialized skills. 

But when CBC Calgary reached out to Calgary residents to ask about work through our text messaging community, many said they were struggling to find jobs that paid more than minimum wage. Many were struggling to keep up with their bills and worried the marketing campaign was making things worse.

St-Arnaud said the population boom is also leading to higher unemployment, now at 6.6 per cent, the highest of any major Canadian city. But he's impressed it's not higher still.

"Considering the size of the gains in the population, not having (a larger) increase in unemployment was quite remarkable. That means the economy is strong enough to absorb so many new workers coming to our province."

Harman Bedi is among those worried. He has a masters in kinesiology and a diploma in supply chain management. But he's been looking for a steady job in his field for a decade, picking up contract jobs in the meantime. Volunteering and networking to find an opening hasn't worked so far.

Bedi says Canada needs to make sure it plans for rental housing and other job opportunities to make sure that's in line with immigration.