Albertans struggling to find jobs as unemployment jumps to 8.4%: Stats Canada
Posted September 9, 2025 3:59 pm.
Last Updated September 9, 2025 7:38 pm.
Autumn Sampson has been looking for a job for almost a year. She said she applied to over 50 jobs this summer with no luck, saying it has been hard to facilitate her living expenses without a job.
“It’s very exhausting,” Sampson explained. “It’s hard to manage putting all your time into looking for full-time employment while also taking care of your needs.”
After finishing a medical office administration certificate, Sampson was primarily looking for a job in her field. But now she’s finding herself forced to look elsewhere.
“Because of a more urgent need for a position, I have started for the lower and entry minimum-wage positions. I’ve started just kind of mass applying,” said Sampson.
She is not alone in her struggle to find a job that can pay her bills, as new Statistics Canada data shows the national unemployment rate has been rising this year, with Canadian youth between 15 and 24 feeling the most.
The new data shows 7.1 per cent of jobs lost in August in Canada, up from 6.6 per cent in January. In Alberta, the unemployment rate reached 8.4 per cent.
Recording the largest employment declines nationally, besides Ontario and British Columbia. The highest decline since 2016, outside of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Particularly, we’re feeling it for youth employment, which is one of the reasons why we supported a job fair last week. We had 870 job seekers,” said David Blackburn, the senior manager at Prospect Human Resources.
Statistics Canada data shows that reduced hiring and layoffs were contributing factors. While experts agree, they say population growth, immigration, tariffs, and other factors also played a role.
“It’s newcomers to the province, newcomers to Canada, that are settled in Alberta. You know they’re bringing a life of experience with them, and that’s pushing young jobs out of the market,” Blackburn explained.
Blessie Matthew, the assistant dean of student success at the University of Alberta, added, “We’re seeing different effects on different industries so in industries where ai can be adopted a little bit more easy, where there are some really front-line AI solutions, they’re hiring fewer front-line workers.”
The Alberta Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration told CityNews that it’ll be “looking for opportunities to grow our economy by building on our reputation as the best place to do business through low corporate taxes, less red tape, and more business-friendly policies. We will also be making direct investments to address youth unemployment, with details to be announced in the coming days.”
But for now, Sampson is still waiting for that call back for a job.
“I think there’s always room for more initiatives focused on underrepresented groups in terms of finding employment,” said Sampson.
