Alberta’s 2022 living wages

How much money do you think you need to earn per hour in order to afford living in Alberta?

According to the Alberta Living Wage Network (ALWN), you need to make around $22 an hour to live in either Calgary or Edmonton.

More specifically, a living wage in Calgary is $22.40 per hour. To live in Edmonton, you’ll need to make $21.40 per hour.

A living wage is defined by the ALWN as earning enough money to be able to cover “basic expenses and participate in the community.”

The ALWN says it calculated the hourly wages based on three types of households; a two-parent family with two young children, a single-parent family with one child, and a person living alone.

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The wages also take into account expenses like taxes, child care, setting aside money for education, and unexpected costs. The calculations also assume the person making a living wage is working full-time.

Meaghon Reid, executive director at Vibrant Communities Calgary, says more needs to be done to address the rising cost of living in the province.

“Living wages are an important tool in figuring out what it costs to live in a city and with the current affordability crisis, it’s clear that more needs to be done to help people make ends meet,” Reid said.

“Alberta is the only province that didn’t review and raise its minimum wage in 2022 and one of the only provinces that doesn’t tie its minimum wage to the cost of living. It’s time for the government to step up and give Albertans the help they need.”

The minimum wage in Alberta is currently $15 per hour.

The most expensive place to live, according to the ALWN, is in Canmore at $32.75 per hour. People would need the lowest living wage in Medicine Hat, at $17.50 per hour.