Guides Guide

Minimum Wage in Alberta 2026: Rates, Student Pay and History

By Alex Francisco Updated Sep 30, 2026 Figures checked Sep 30, 2026 11 min read

What is the minimum wage in Alberta in 2026?

Alberta's general minimum wage is $15 an hour in 2026, the rate set in the Employment Standards Regulation and unchanged since October 1, 2018. Students under 18 can be paid $13 an hour for their first 28 hours in a school week and during school breaks. Some salespersons get $598 a week, and live-in domestic employees get $2,848 a month.

Alberta's general minimum wage is $15 an hour and applies to all employees except students under 18, apart from a short list of exempt jobs and the weekly or monthly rates for some salespersons and live-in domestic employees.
The job creation student wage of $13 an hour covers students under 18 for the first 28 hours in a school week and all regular hours during school breaks.
Certain salespersons and professionals have a weekly minimum of $598, and domestic employees who live in the employer's home have a monthly minimum of $2,848.
Alberta has no separate liquor server rate: the server rate was eliminated on October 1, 2016, and tips never count as wages.
Alberta's rate has stayed at $15 an hour since October 1, 2018, while Ontario's general rate is $17.95 from October 1, 2026.
Most employees earn overtime at 1.5 times their wage rate after 8 hours a day or 44 hours a week, and a complaint about underpaid wages can be made up to 6 months after the job ends.

— YieldMaple, figures checked against official sources on September 30, 2026. Sources

Alberta sets its minimum wages in the Employment Standards Regulation, and Alberta Employment Standards (part of the Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration) publishes them on alberta.ca. Every Alberta rate and rule on this page comes from those official pages, checked on September 30, 2026; the Ontario figures used for comparison come from ontario.ca. This page explains the rules; it is not legal advice, and a pay statement compared with the hours actually worked is the only way to check a specific paycheque.

What is the minimum wage in Alberta right now?

The general minimum wage in Alberta is $15 an hour, and it covers every employee except students under 18. The table lists every minimum wage rate in the regulation, including the weekly and monthly rates that apply to a few specific jobs.

Alberta minimum wage rates in 2026

How to read this table: rates as listed on alberta.ca/minimum-wage on September 30, 2026. The general rate has applied since October 1, 2018 and the student rate since June 26, 2019.

Rate	Minimum	Who it applies to
General minimum wage	$15 per hour	All employees except students under 18 (exempt occupations and the weekly and monthly rates below aside)
Job creation student wage (students under 18)	$13 per hour	Students under 18 enrolled in school (up to grade 12, post-secondary or vocational), for the first 28 hours a week while school is in session and all regular hours during school breaks
Domestic employees who do not live in the employer's home	$15 per hour	People employed to work in the employer's residence for the care, comfort and convenience of the household (casual babysitting excluded)
Domestic employees who live in the employer's home	$2,848 per month	Live-in domestic employees; the full monthly rate is owed regardless of hours worked (pro-rating allowed for an agreed part of a month)
Weekly minimum for certain salespersons and professionals	$598 per week	Direct sellers, some commission salespersons, vehicle, home and equipment salespersons, land agents and listed professionals such as accountants, engineers and lawyers

Alberta’s youth employment rules add that all employees, including those under 18, are entitled to minimum wage, general holidays, vacations and termination notice or pay. The student, salesperson and domestic employee rates are narrow exceptions with strict conditions, explained below.

How much is minimum wage per year in Alberta?

At $15 an hour, a 40-hour week pays $600 before deductions, which adds up to $31,200 a year or $2,600 a month. The table covers common schedules. These are gross amounts: income tax, CPP contributions and EI premiums come off every paycheque.

Hours a week	Weekly at $15	Monthly at $15	Yearly at $15 (52 weeks)	Weekly at the $13 student rate
20	$300	$1,300	$15,600	$260
25	$375	$1,625	$19,500	$325
28	$420	$1,820	$21,840	$364
30	$450	$1,950	$23,400	$394
37.5	$562.50	$2,437.50	$29,250	$487.50
40	$600	$2,600	$31,200	$520
44	$660	$2,860	$34,320	$572

The yearly figures assume 52 paid weeks at the same hours, no overtime and no daily hours above 8. The student column follows Alberta’s 28-hour rule: in a school week, hours past 28 must be paid at least $15, so the rows above 30 hours apply only during school breaks. The hourly to salary calculator converts any wage into weekly, monthly and yearly pay, and the Alberta income tax calculator estimates what is left after tax, CPP and EI.

Low full-time earnings can also qualify for federal credits paid on top of wages. The Canada Workers Benefit is a refundable tax credit for people with low employment income, and the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit is paid to lower-income households based on the tax return they file. Both depend on filing a return every year, even when little or no tax is owed.

Who gets the $13 student minimum wage in Alberta?

The job creation student wage of $13 an hour applies only to students under 18 who are enrolled in school: up to grade 12, post-secondary or vocational school. It does not apply to youth who are out of school, who must get the general $15 rate. Alberta introduced it on June 26, 2019, and employers can always choose to pay students more.

The rules depend on whether school is in session:

School weeks. The $13 rate covers only the first 28 hours worked in the week. Every hour past 28 must be paid at least $15.
School breaks. During spring break, Christmas break and the summer vacation period, the $13 rate can apply to all regular hours.
Overtime. Overtime rules apply to students too, so hours past 8 in a day or 44 in a week earn overtime pay.

Alberta’s own worked example: a student who works 30 hours in a school week can be paid $13 for the first 28 hours and at least $15 for the other 2. That week pays at least $394, compared with $450 at the general rate.

For a hypothetical 17-year-old working 40 hours a week over the summer, the minimum is $520 a week, $80 less than an adult on the general rate. Once the student turns 18, or leaves school, the general rate applies. Most teens starting a first job also need a Social Insurance Number; the SIN application guide walks through the steps.

Is there a liquor server minimum wage in Alberta?

No. Alberta’s official history shows a liquor server rate of $10.70 an hour from October 1, 2015 (up from $9.20), and that separate rate was eliminated on October 1, 2016. Since then, servers have been paid the general minimum wage, now $15 an hour, or the $13 student wage if they are students under 18.

A minimum wage expert panel reported to the government in March 2023 and assessed whether hospitality workers who serve alcohol would benefit from a wage differential that would let them work more hours. As of September 30, 2026, no server differential appears in Alberta’s rate table.

Tips sit on top of the minimum. Alberta states plainly that wages do not include tips or expense money, so an employer cannot count tips toward the $15. Tips are also left out of the wages used to calculate vacation pay. When a customer walks out on a bill, the deduction rules below protect the server’s pay.

How do the salesperson and domestic employee rates work?

Some salespersons and professionals have a weekly minimum instead of an hourly one: $598 a week. The list includes direct sellers, commission salespeople selling goods for later delivery, car, truck, RV and bus salespeople, manufactured home, farm machinery and heavy equipment salespeople, builders’ home salespeople and land agents. It also covers professionals such as architects, accountants, chiropractors, dentists, engineers and geoscientists, lawyers, optometrists, psychologists, veterinarians and information systems professionals. For a 40-hour week, $598 works out to about $14.95 an hour, just under the hourly rate.

Domestic employees work in the employer’s home for the care, comfort and convenience of the household. Casual babysitting is not domestic employment. Their rates depend on where they live:

Live-in domestic employees get at least $2,848 a month, and the full monthly rate is owed regardless of the number of hours worked. Pro-rating is allowed only when the employee agrees to work part of a month, such as mornings only.
Live-out domestic employees get at least $15 an hour for all hours worked.

Domestic employees are not covered by the overtime rules or the maximum-hours limits, but they are still entitled to general holidays, vacation pay, a rest period for every 5 hours of work and at least 1 day of rest a week.

What can an employer deduct below the minimum wage?

Only meals and lodging, and only with the employee’s written authorization. The maximums are set by Alberta:

Maximum meal and lodging deductions below Alberta minimum wage

How to read this table: deductions need the employee's written authorization, and no deduction is allowed for meals the employee did not eat.

What the employer provides	Maximum deduction
Lodging provided by the employer	$4.41 per day
Meals provided by the employer	$3.35 per meal consumed

For a hypothetical live-in worker who receives lodging for 30 days and 2 meals a day, the maximum an employer could deduct is $333.30 for the month.

Other deductions are banned outright. Employers cannot deduct for uniforms, including buying, renting or cleaning them. They cannot deduct for faulty work, such as accidental damage to a vehicle or equipment. And they cannot deduct for cash shortages or lost property when other people have access to the cash, which covers restaurant walkouts, gas-and-dash at a service station and breakage.

Who is not covered by Alberta’s minimum wage?

Most employees in Alberta are covered, but Alberta lists several exempt occupations:

Real estate brokers, securities salespersons and insurance salespersons paid entirely by commission.
Students in a work experience program approved by the Alberta government, or in an off-campus education program under the Education Act.
Extras in a film or video production.
Counsellors or instructors at a non-profit educational or recreational camp for children, people with disabilities or religious groups.
Municipal police service members and post-secondary academic staff.

Three other groups fall outside Alberta’s rules entirely. Contractors and self-employed people are not employees, which can include teens doing casual babysitting, snow shovelling or lawn cutting on their own; what matters is whether the worker is a true employee. Unionized employees resolve pay issues through their grievance process. And people in federally regulated industries, such as banks, telecommunications and trucking across provincial borders, follow federal labour standards instead.

How do overtime and short shifts affect minimum wage pay?

Minimum wage is the floor for regular hours, and several Alberta rules add to it:

Overtime (the 8/44 rule). For most employees, overtime is every hour over 8 in a day or 44 in a week, whichever total is greater, paid at least 1.5 times the wage rate. Managers and supervisors, most of the salespersons and professionals on the weekly minimum, and domestic employees are not eligible, and some industries (trucking and oilwell servicing, for example) have higher thresholds. At $15, that is $22.50 an hour. The rule covers salaried workers too, and commission-only workers are treated as earning minimum wage for overtime purposes.
The 3-hour minimum. An employee called in, sent home early or asked to come in for a short period must get at least 3 hours of pay at minimum wage. It does not apply when the employee asks for a short shift or leaves early for personal reasons. A few jobs, such as school bus drivers, have a 2-hour minimum instead.
Breaks. At least 30 minutes, paid or unpaid, within or right after the first 5 hours of a shift.
Vacation pay. At least 4% of wages for employees with under five years of service, and 6% after five years. On a full-time year at $15, 4% is $1,248.
General holidays. Alberta has 9 general holidays with their own pay formula; the Alberta stat holidays guide lists the 2026 dates and how general holiday pay is worked out.

The daily 8-hour trigger is where Alberta differs from Ontario, which only counts weekly overtime after 44 hours. A hypothetical employee on a four-day week of 10-hour shifts works 40 hours, under the weekly limit, but has 2 overtime hours each day. At minimum wage, that week pays at least $660, not $600. The exceptions are a written overtime agreement, where the 8 overtime hours are banked as at least 8 hours of paid time off instead of overtime pay, and an averaging arrangement, which Alberta covers under separate rules. Banked overtime must be taken within 6 months of the end of the pay period in which it was earned, and any left unused when the job ends is paid out at 1.5 times.

For the 3-hour rule, an employee sent home by the employer after 1.5 hours is owed at least $45, not $22.50.

How does Alberta’s minimum wage compare with Ontario?

Alberta’s rate is well below Ontario’s. Ontario’s general minimum wage is $17.60 an hour until September 30, 2026 and $17.95 from October 1, 2026, compared with Alberta’s $15. That is a gap of $2.95 an hour, or about $6,136 over a full-time year before deductions.

Rate	Alberta	Ontario (from Oct 1, 2026)	Difference per hour
General minimum wage	$15	$17.95	$2.95
Student rate (under 18)	$13	$16.90	$3.90
Full-time week, 40 hours	$600	$718	$118 a week

The rules differ too. Ontario’s student rate applies to students under 18 working 28 hours or less in a school week, while Alberta pays $13 for the first 28 hours and $15 after that. Ontario indexes its rates to inflation every October 1; Alberta has no scheduled increase. The Ontario minimum wage guide covers Ontario’s homeworker and guide rates in full. Lower wages are only part of the picture: Alberta has no provincial sales tax, and the Alberta money guide covers provincial benefits, housing costs and credits in one place.

How has Alberta’s minimum wage changed since 2015?

Alberta’s general minimum wage rose every year from 2015 to 2018, from $10.20 to $15, then stopped. The table lists every change published on alberta.ca.

Alberta minimum wage history, 2015 to 2026

How to read this table: changes from 2015 to 2018 come from the alberta.ca minimum wage expert panel page; the student wage date comes from alberta.ca/minimum-wage. No change has been made to the $15 general rate since October 1, 2018.

Effective date	General minimum wage	Other changes
October 1, 2015	$11.20 per hour (up from $10.20)	Liquor server rate $10.70 per hour (up from $9.20)
October 1, 2016	$12.20 per hour	Separate liquor server rate eliminated
October 1, 2017	$13.60 per hour	—
October 1, 2018	$15 per hour	Highest general minimum wage in Canada at the time, per alberta.ca
June 26, 2019	$15 per hour (unchanged)	Job creation student wage of $13 per hour for students under 18 begins

Over those four increases, the general rate rose by $4.80 an hour, about 47.06%. Servers saw a bigger jump: from the $9.20 liquor server rate to $15 is an increase of about 63.04%. The Government of Alberta says the October 2018 rate made Alberta’s minimum wage the highest in the country at the time; Ontario’s general rate has since moved above it.

When will Alberta’s minimum wage go up again?

No increase has been announced on alberta.ca as of September 30, 2026. Alberta does not index its minimum wage to inflation and publishes no fixed announcement date. Under section 138(1)(f) of the Employment Standards Code, the provincial cabinet sets minimum wages by regulation, so a change would come as an amendment to Part 2 of the Employment Standards Regulation, usually with a government announcement. This page is checked against alberta.ca and will be updated when a new rate is published.

What can you do if you are paid less than minimum wage in Alberta?

The official route is an employment standards complaint with Alberta Employment Standards. It is free, and an employer cannot fire an employee for making, or being about to make, a complaint. Step by step:

Check the numbers. Compare the hours worked with the gross pay on the pay statement. Employers must pay within 10 consecutive days after the end of each pay period and pay at least once a month.
Talk to the employer. Alberta calls this the first step. Many errors are fixed on the next paycheque, so Alberta suggests waiting one pay period before filing.
Gather records. Timesheets or hour records, the hourly wage, the employer’s address, any employment contract and the Record of Employment if the job has ended.
Ask Employment Standards. Call 780-427-3731 in the Edmonton area or 1-877-427-3731 toll-free in Alberta, or use the online question form, which is answered within 3 business days.
File the complaint online through an Alberta.ca Account. The employee’s name is shared with the employer, and a complaint is the route that can lead to owed earnings being paid. Anyone, including non-employees, can instead send an anonymous tip, but the sender is not told the status or any investigation findings.
Watch the deadline. A complaint can be made while still employed or up to 6 months after the last day of employment.

Alberta Employment Standards can investigate only work performed in Alberta, in a provincially regulated industry, by an employee (not a contractor) who is not covered by a collective agreement.

What are the common mistakes with Alberta minimum wage?

Paying the student rate to out-of-school teens. The $13 wage applies only to students enrolled in school, not to youth who have left school.
Paying $13 past 28 hours in a school week. Hours 29 and up in a school week need at least $15.
Counting tips toward the minimum. Tips and expense money are not wages in Alberta.
Forgetting daily overtime. Alberta counts overtime after 8 hours a day, not only after 44 hours a week.
Deducting for uniforms, faulty work or shared-till shortages. Uniform and faulty-work deductions are never allowed, and cash-shortage deductions are banned when other people had access to the cash.
Waiting too long to complain. The complaint window closes 6 months after the last day of employment.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum wage in Alberta right now?

The general minimum wage in Alberta is $15 an hour. It applies to all employees except students under 18, who can be paid the job creation student wage of $13 an hour under strict conditions. Some salespersons and professionals have a weekly minimum of $598, and domestic employees who live in their employer's home have a monthly minimum of $2,848. These are the rates listed on alberta.ca as of September 30, 2026.

Is Alberta's minimum wage going up in 2026?

No increase is listed on alberta.ca as of September 30, 2026. The general rate has been $15 an hour since October 1, 2018. Unlike Ontario, Alberta does not publish an annual indexation date; the rate changes only when the provincial government amends the Employment Standards Regulation. This page will be updated if Alberta announces a new rate.

What is the student minimum wage in Alberta?

The job creation student wage is $13 an hour. It applies to students under 18 enrolled in school up to grade 12, post-secondary or vocational school. During the school year it covers only the first 28 hours worked in a week, and any extra hours that week must be paid at least $15. During spring break, Christmas break and summer vacation, the $13 rate can apply to all regular hours.

Do 16 and 17 year olds get paid $15 an hour in Alberta?

Not necessarily. A 16 or 17 year old who is enrolled in school can be paid the $13 student wage for up to 28 hours in a school week and for all regular hours during school breaks. A 16 or 17 year old who is out of school must get the general $15 rate. Employers can always choose to pay students more than $13.

Is there a liquor server minimum wage in Alberta?

No. Alberta had a separate liquor server rate of $10.70 an hour from October 1, 2015, but it was eliminated on October 1, 2016. Servers now get the general minimum wage of $15 an hour, or the $13 student wage if they are students under 18. A 2023 expert panel looked at a server wage differential, but none appears in the current rate table.

Do tips count toward minimum wage in Alberta?

No. Alberta's Employment Standards rules say wages do not include tips or expense money. An employer must pay at least the minimum wage for every hour worked, and tips are extra on top of that. Tips and gratuities are also left out of the wages used to calculate vacation pay.

How much is minimum wage per year in Alberta?

A 40-hour week for 52 weeks is 2,080 paid hours. Multiply 2,080 by $15 for the yearly amount before deductions; the table on this page does the maths for 20 to 44 hours a week, including monthly figures. Income tax, CPP contributions and EI premiums come off each paycheque, so take-home pay is lower than the gross figure.

When did Alberta's minimum wage become $15?

Alberta's general minimum wage reached $15 an hour on October 1, 2018. It rose in steps: $11.20 on October 1, 2015, $12.20 in 2016, $13.60 in 2017 and $15 in 2018. The Government of Alberta says that made it the highest minimum wage in the country at the time. The $13 student wage started on June 26, 2019.

Who is exempt from minimum wage in Alberta?

Alberta lists real estate brokers, securities salespersons, insurance salespersons paid entirely by commission, students in approved work experience or off-campus education programs, film and video extras, counsellors or instructors at non-profit camps, municipal police members and post-secondary academic staff. Contractors, the self-employed and people in federally regulated industries such as banks are outside Alberta's employment standards.

What is the minimum wage for salespeople in Alberta?

Certain salespersons and professionals have a weekly minimum of $598 instead of an hourly rate. The list covers direct sellers, commission salespeople selling goods for later delivery, vehicle, manufactured home, farm machinery and heavy equipment salespeople, builders' home salespeople and land agents, plus professionals such as accountants, engineers, lawyers, dentists and veterinarians. Real estate brokers and securities salespersons are fully exempt.

How does Alberta's minimum wage compare with Ontario?

Ontario's general minimum wage is $17.95 an hour from October 1, 2026 (it was $17.60 until September 30, 2026), compared with $15 in Alberta. Ontario indexes its rate every October 1; Alberta's has not changed since 2018. Ontario's student rate of $16.90 is also well above Alberta's $13 student wage. Alberta also has no provincial sales tax, which matters when comparing day-to-day costs.

What can a worker do if they are paid less than minimum wage in Alberta?

Alberta recommends talking to the employer first and waiting one pay period to see if the next pay statement fixes it. If not, file a free employment standards complaint online with an Alberta.ca Account, while still employed or up to 6 months after the last day of work. Employment Standards can be reached at 780-427-3731 in the Edmonton area or 1-877-427-3731 toll-free in Alberta.

Rules, rates and sources

Last verified: September 29, 2026
Next scheduled check: December 29, 2026

Rule or table	In effect from	Verified
Alberta minimum wage rates (general, student, salesperson, domestic employee), history since 2015 and related Employment Standards pay rules	October 1, 2018	September 30, 2026
Ontario minimum wage rates (general, student, homeworker, hunting/fishing/wilderness guide) and related ESA pay rules	October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027	September 29, 2026
Alberta general holidays (2026–2028), optional holidays and general holiday pay rules	January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2028	September 29, 2026
GST, HST, PST and QST rates by province	April 1, 2025	September 29, 2026

Official sources

Employment standards rules – Minimum wage — alberta.ca (rate table) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Minimum wage expert panel — alberta.ca (minimum wage changes from 2015 to 2018) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Overtime hours and overtime pay — alberta.ca (8/44 rule) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
File an employment standards complaint — alberta.ca (name shared with employer) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Youth employment laws — alberta.ca (true employee test) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Vacations and vacation pay — alberta.ca (vacation pay percentages) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Hours of work and rest — alberta.ca (3-hour minimum) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Payment of earnings — alberta.ca (pay within 10 days of the end of the pay period) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Deductions from earnings — alberta.ca (no deductions for uniforms) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Contact Employment Standards — alberta.ca (phone numbers) — Government of Alberta (Ministry of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Job creation student wage fact sheets — open.alberta.ca — Government of Alberta (Open Government Program, Labour and Immigration)
Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Minimum wage — ontario.ca (rate periods) — Government of Ontario (Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development)
Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Filing a claim — ontario.ca (two-year time limit) — Government of Ontario (Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development)
Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Young workers' rights — ontario.ca (students not entitled to minimum wage) — Government of Ontario (Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development)
Your guide to the Employment Standards Act, Tips or other gratuities — ontario.ca (tips are not wages) — Government of Ontario (Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development)
Federal labour standards — canada.ca (Part III of the Canada Labour Code covers federally regulated businesses) — Government of Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada, Labour Program)
List of federally regulated industries and workplaces — canada.ca (banks) — Government of Canada (Employment and Social Development Canada)
Employment standards – Alberta general holidays — alberta.ca (general holidays table) — Government of Alberta (Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Federally regulated industries — alberta.ca — Government of Alberta (Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration)
Interpretation Act, s. 35(1) "holiday" — Justice Laws (Labour Day and National Day for Truth and Reconciliation) — Government of Canada (Department of Justice)
Holidays Act, s. 4 — Justice Laws (Victoria Day) — Government of Canada (Department of Justice)
GST/HST calculator (and rates) — Canada.ca (table, part 1) — Canada Revenue Agency
Provincial sales tax (PST) in B.C. — Province of British Columbia — Government of British Columbia
Retail Sales Tax — Manitoba Finance — Government of Manitoba
Provincial Sales Tax (PST) — Government of Saskatchewan — Government of Saskatchewan
Tables of GST and QST Rates — Revenu Québec — Revenu Québec

How we check figures: our methodology and editorial policy.

General information for education, not financial, tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules change — confirm anything you act on with the official source or a licensed professional (for immigration, a lawyer or a licensed consultant registered with the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants).