Minimum wage Alberta 2026: $15 an hour

Alberta minimum wage rates in 2026

Alberta's general minimum wage is $15.00 an hour and it applies to all employees except students under 18, who may be paid $13.00 under the job creation student wage introduced on June 26, 2019.^[ab_mw] The Employment Standards Regulation also sets weekly and monthly minimums for some workers. Tips and expense money do not count toward the minimum wage.^[ab_mw]

Student minimum wage in Alberta: $13 an hour

An Alberta employer may pay a student under 18 at least $13.00 an hour for the first 28 hours worked in a week while school is in session, and must pay at least $15.00 for every hour above 28.^[ab_mw] In spring break, Christmas break and summer, the $13.00 rate can apply to all regular hours. The rate covers students in grades up to 12, post-secondary or vocational school; a youth who is not enrolled must get $15.00. Using the government's own example, a student who works 30 hours in a school week earns at least 28 × $13.00 + 2 × $15.00 = $394.00.

Alberta overtime: the 8/44 rule

Overtime in Alberta is every hour over 8 in a day or 44 in a week, whichever total is greater, paid at 1.5 times the regular wage unless there is a written agreement to bank it as paid time off at one hour per overtime hour.^[ab_ot] Salaried employees are covered by the same rule. At $15.00, a 46-hour week of normal days has 2 overtime hours at $22.50 and pays $705.00. Four 10-hour days and a 6-hour day are also 46 hours, but the 8 daily overtime hours are greater than the 2 weekly ones, so 8 hours are overtime and the week pays $750.00. Banked overtime must be taken within 6 months of the pay period it was earned in.^[ab_ot]

The 3-hour minimum for short shifts

When an Alberta employer has you report to work, come in for a short period, or sends you home early, you must be paid for at least 3 hours at no less than the minimum wage, or for the hours worked at your regular wage if that is more.^[ab_hours] At $15.00 that floor is $45.00. It does not apply when you ask for a shorter shift or leave early for personal reasons such as illness.

Alberta minimum wage per week, month and year

At $15.00 an hour, a full-time 40-hour week pays $600.00 and a 52-week year $31,200; a 20-hour part-time week pays $300.00, and a student on 20 hours at $13.00 earns $260.00.

Vacation pay is added to these amounts: 4% of wages and 2 weeks off after each of the first 4 years, then 6% and 3 weeks after 5 years.^[ab_vac] Unlike Ontario, Alberta has no separate vacation pay calculator on this site; the vacation pay calculator for Ontario uses the same 4% and 6% percentages.

When will Alberta's minimum wage go up?

No increase has been announced: Alberta's rate is not indexed to inflation, so it changes only when the government amends the regulation, and it has stayed at $15.00 since October 1, 2018.^{[ab_mw][prov_mw]} Every other province and territory has raised its rate since then, which is why Alberta is now $0.70 below Saskatchewan, $3.25 below the minimum wage in BC and $2.95 below the minimum wage in Ontario. Federally regulated jobs in Alberta, such as banks, airlines and telecoms, follow the federal $18.15.^[fed_mw]

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Prices in Alberta: 5% GST and no PST

Alberta has no provincial sales tax, so most purchases carry only the 5% GST: $100 costs $105.^[cra_rates] The GST calculator adds or removes it on any receipt, and the sales tax calculator for Canada compares Alberta with the provinces that charge 12% to 15%.