Alberta led nation in employment gains with 30,000 net job growth in June: Statistics Canada

Statistics Canada's newly-released June 2025 Labour Force Survey indicates employment numbers grew by 83,000 in June, with Alberta leading that increase.

The province saw a net gain of 30,000 new jobs, with 51,300 full-time jobs created and 21,300 part-time jobs lost.

Those numbers represent a 1.2 per cent increase in Alberta's employment rate, with 2,594,100 people currently working.

The province's unemployment rate went down 0.6 per cent, bringing it to 6.8 per cent, or 189,000 for June.

'Such a big rebound'

Alberta Central chief economist Charles St-Arnaud said parts of the report were "surprising," with the growth numbers exceeding his expectations.

"We were not expecting such a big rebound in employment," he said. "83,000 nationally, 30,000 in Alberta, that's really big."

Alberta's first-place employment increase was followed by Quebec's 23,000 net job gain and Ontario with 21,000.
With 0.4 per cent growth across Canada, June saw the first nationwide employment increase since January.

The 6.8 per cent unemployment rate sits just below the national rate of 6.9 per cent.

Services-producing sector leads Alberta job growth

June saw employment numbers rise in 10 of 16 industries, according to the data.

Alberta's service sector had the highest overall employment growth in June, going up by 30,600 jobs, or 1.6 per cent from May 2025.

Within that sector, the top-growing industries were finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing (8,300 new jobs), health care and social assistance (6,700) and business, building and other support services (5,500).

The goods-producing sector shrank by 0.1 per cent in June, with 600 jobs lost across the board since May.

Agriculture employment went down by 6.2 per cent, with 2,600 jobs lost, while manufacturing (4.7 per cent, 6,800 new jobs) and natural resources (2.8 per cent, 4,000 new jobs) went up significantly.

Job growth reflects population growth

Kate Koplovich, director of strategy at Calgary Economic Development, said the numbers reflect the province's growth, but added she will be "waiting to see if this is a short-term gain, or if this really shows long-term resilience."

In a statement, Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Joseph Schow said the data is "welcome news" for the province.

He said it's "proof that our plan to grow Alberta's economy is working as we remain strong, stable and resilient."

He pointed to the drop in youth unemployment — 17.2 to 16.4 per cent — as a sign that "more young people who choose Alberta are finding meaningful jobs to start building their future."