• More than 90 per cent of Alberta government employees paid more than other provinces examined
• CTF releases job numbers for 81 different government occupations

CALGARY, AB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation released new Alberta government numbers obtained through freedom of information requests that show the vast majority of Alberta government employees are paid more than those in similar provinces.

“Taxpayers can’t afford to keep paying for inflated Alberta government salaries and benefits,” said Franco Terrazzano, Alberta Director for the CTF. “We’re calling on the Alberta government to bring its compensation costs in line with the other provinces to save taxpayers a ton of money.”

Of the 34 government occupations, 31 are paid more in Alberta than the average of similar provinces (government data compares Alberta with numbers available for British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario). This data is based on the most recent Total Compensation Survey that has never been publicly released.

When including previously released data (October 2019), 74 of the 81 Alberta government positions are paid more than the average in comparator provinces (based on maximum compensation rates).

Highlights from the government data obtained by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation include:

• Over 90 per cent of the Alberta government occupations are paid more than the average in comparator provinces (based on maximum compensation rates).
• Twenty-one of 34 Alberta government occupations are paid more than $10,000 above the average every year (based on maximum compensation rates).
   
• Two occupations – Water Administration Technologist and Senior Technology Analyst – earn more than $20,000 above the average of comparator provinces.

“Other provinces are showing they can provide their taxpayers with quality services at a significantly lower cost and the inflated Alberta government salaries and benefits are a key reason for this,” said Terrazzano. “Not only are cuts needed, this government data shows that cuts are clearly warranted.”

The Alberta government’s compensation costs increased by over $3 billion between 2014 and 2018, according to budget documents.

Taxpayers would save $3 billion every year if the Alberta government brought its per-person compensation in line with British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, according to the government’s 2019 budget. The Blue Ribbon Panel found that the Alberta government’s per-person spending is the highest in Canada.

You can find the government compensation comparisons here.