Calgary’s Living Wage is $26.50 per hour

Vibrant Communities Calgary, in collaboration with the Alberta Living Wage Network, has published a new living wage for Calgary: $26.50 per hour. This page will help you learn more about living wages in Calgary, Alberta, and Canada, and how employers can get involved to support employees and the local economy. 

A living wage reflects what people need to earn to cover living costs in their community. The living wage is calculated using a consistent, transparent methodology applied across Alberta and Canada to provide a reliable picture of local affordability.
Calgary’s 2025 living wage of $26.50 per hour is over $2 per hour higher than the 2024 living wage. The living wage is now almost 77 per cent higher than Alberta’s minimum wage.
Shelter costs have stabilized. Calgarians saw a year-over-year increase of about $190 in shelter costs, compared to about $2,000 last year. This positive change can likely be attributed to higher housing supply and policies such as the City of Calgary’s Home is Here housing strategy and Alberta’s Stronger Foundation’s housing strategy.
Transportation, child care, and food costs are up. On average, Calgarians are paying up to 52% more for transportation, about $1,000 more on child care, and 6% more for food in 2025.
Government policies matter. The introduction of Alberta’s 8% personal income tax rate and the federal Canada Dental Plan are two examples of government policies that have saved Calgarians money in 2025.

Learn more about the living wage, how and why we calculate it, and how it differs from the minimum wage:  

A living wage reflects what people need to earn to maintain a modest standard of living based on the actual costs of living in a specific community. It is determined by calculating average expenses using local costs, subtracting taxes, and adding government transfers for a given household. A living wage considers basic needs and also allows for extra costs like pursuing continuing education, having emergency savings and building financial assets. Employment income that is sufficient to cover the cost of living is vital to reducing poverty and building a resilient city and economy, so Vibrant Communities Calgary has been publishing living wages since 2008. 

Calculating and publishing living wages informs business owners, policymakers, and employees about local costs and affordability measures and how they compare to other cities and provinces. Equipped with this information, policymakers can also evaluate how measures such as utility rate caps and actions on affordable housing and food can affect lower-income workers in a city. 

The living wage is a weighted average based on the number of two-parent family households (56.5%), one-parent family households (9.6%), and single-adult households (33.9%). This approach reflects multiple situations where people may have access to different government benefits and taxes and would be affected differently by policy changes. For instance, improving the affordability of child care will affect households differently.

A pie chart showing the different family types that are considered in the living wage calculation. two-parent family households (56.5%), one-parent family households (9.6%), and single-adult households (33.9%).

The methodology for calculating Calgary's living wage assumes that all adults in the household are working full-time hours (35 hours per week) and the following inputs are included: 

A circle in the center shows different family types through stick figures. They are sinlge adult, single parent with child, and two parents with two children. Around them are icons representing the different calculations that go in to the living wage, including food, shelter, education, child care and more.

Full details of the allocations for each category are provided in the 2025 Calgary Living Wage Brief.

A living wage reflects what people need to earn to cover the actual costs of living in their community. Many employers choose to pay a living wage to ensure their workers can support themselves and their families and participate in their communities.   

The minimum wage, legislated by the provincial government, is the legal minimum that an employer must pay their employees. It is the same across the province. Alberta’s minimum wage is $15 per hour, or $13 per hour for people under the age of 18. There are approximately 114,000 minimum-wage workers in Alberta—43.4% or 49,400 of whom are over the age of 24. Alberta’s minimum wage hasn’t increased since 2018 and is now the lowest in the country. 

A table displaying the different minimum wages for each province and territory in Canada. Alberta's minimum wage is $15.00. This has not changed since October 2018. The most recent province to increase their minimum wage is Saskatchewan, to $15.35,

The Alberta Living Wage Network calculates the living wage for municipalities across Alberta. View the details of each calculation. 

There are many communities that publish living wage across Canada and formally established networks in Ontario and British Columbia. Annual figures are also released by organizations in Quebec, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, and the Atlantic provinces.

Certified Living Wage Employers 

Employers that pay a living wage directly or through a combination of wages and basic needs benefits, may be eligible for living wage certification through the Alberta Living Wage Network. 

Research into Alberta’s living wage network shows that after certification, living wage employers experienced cultural, reputational, and economic changes, including higher employee retention, financial savings on rehiring and retraining, and organizational growth over time. Their employees reported experiencing improved mental and physical health and increased economic well-being, including the ability to start paying back student loans and put money into savings. 
Explore Alberta’s living wage employers here. 

Living Wage Pilot Project

With Calgary’s living wage rising from $18.60 in 2022 to $24.45 in 2024, small businesses have faced growing pressure to balance tight margins with fair pay. In response, Be Local partnered with the Alberta Living Wage Network and Vibrant Communities Calgary in early 2025 to run a six-month pilot helping cleaning companies move toward paying a living wage. Four founder-led businesses participated, setting goals, accessing financial experts and peer support, and developing practical plans. By October 2025, one employer became a certified living wage employer, two were on track to be certified living wage employers by year end, and the fourth made strong progress toward financial sustainability, together benefiting more than 50 employees.

Learn more about the Living Wage Pilot.