SHORT TERM

LONG TERM

• Adjusted for inflation, the value of Alberta’s minimum wage has been on the rise for the last decade.
• For many years from the late 1970s to the mid-2000s, Alberta’s minimum wage was adjusted only occasionally, causing its real value to decline once inflation was factored in. In the mid-2000s, the PC government, under Ed Stelmach, began regular increases to the minimum wage.
• In October 2018, the NDP government raised the minimum wage to $15 an hour, the highest it has ever been.
• In June 2019, the UCP government implemented a reduced minimum wage to $13 an hour for youth (workers under the age of 18).

Income is perhaps the most important social determinate of health. The level of income affects an individual or family’s ability to access goods and services that shape their living conditions and quality of life. Individuals and families need an income to pay for child care, housing, post-secondary education, healthy food, and out-of-pocket medical costs. Individuals and families with low incomes may face difficulty affording basic necessities and may be at higher risk of poverty and social exclusion.

It is important to consider income against the rising costs of living. When the cost of living increases at a faster rate than incomes, more low- and modest-income families are at risk of poverty.

This data has been collected from external sources and should not always be attributed to ESPC. We would be happy to provide you with a specific reference for the data that you have used. Please click on the text to the right to request sourcing information, report an error or omission, or provide your comments