AI-generated illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.
- calendar_today November 9, 2026
Calgary Living Wage Rises Slightly in 2026
The latest report from the Alberta Living Wage Network (ALWN) shows that Calgary's living wage has edged up to $26.90 per hour, compared to $26.50 last year. The living wage reflects the hourly rate a full-time worker needs to earn in order to cover basic needs, manage unexpected expenses, and participate meaningfully in the community.
Affordability Pressures Remain
Despite the modest 40-cent increase, Michelle James, director of policy at Vibrant Communities Calgary, notes that this is the smallest year-over-year increase in the last five years. "Last year between 2024 and 2025, we saw a huge increase in our living wage, it was about $2.00 an hour more," said James. She expressed some relief at the smaller rise this year, though she emphasized that affordability challenges persist for low-wage earners in Calgary and Alberta more broadly.
Factors Influencing Calgary’s Living Wage
The ALWN calculates living wages annually by assessing the costs of housing, food, transportation, education, and childcare across different family types: two adults with two children, a single individual, and a single parent with one child. This year, improvements in housing affordability—particularly slight declines in the cost of smaller housing units—contributed to stabilizing the living wage. James credits initiatives such as the City of Calgary’s 'home is here' policy for partially easing housing pressures.
However, the cost of transportation in Calgary rose by around 10 percent in the past year, according to James, offsetting some of the gains from housing cost reductions and contributing to the overall increase in the living wage calculation.
Gap Between Living Wage and Minimum Wage Persists
Although Calgary's living wage has remained relatively steady, the gap with Alberta's minimum wage—currently $15 per hour, the lowest in Canada—continues to widen. Of the 20 Alberta communities studied in the ALWN report, Calgary has the third highest living wage, following Banff at $27.45 per hour and St. Albert at $27.20 per hour.
James and other advocates suggest that raising the minimum wage is one way to ensure workers can meet their basic needs. "Let’s start increasing our minimum wage so that people can actually be meeting their basic needs while earning that wage," James urged.
Living Wage Trends Across Alberta
The ALWN report reveals a varied picture across the province. Living wages increased in nine Alberta communities and decreased in another ten, with Banff included in the calculation for the first time. Communities with the lowest living wages include Medicine Hat ($18.05), Cold Lake ($18.70), and Brooks ($20.60).
Red Deer experienced the largest increase in living wage—up 8.2 percent to $22.35—due to higher costs for child care, housing, transportation, and food. In contrast, Brooks saw the biggest decrease, down 6.36 percent, reflecting lower food and housing costs as well as changes to government benefits.
Government Benefits and Local Influences
According to Alison Van Dyke, a coordinator with ALWN, calculating community-specific living wages is crucial, as government benefits and local living costs can have different effects across Alberta. The introduction of the Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit, for example, helped reduce living wage figures in some areas. However, in higher-cost communities, some workers did not qualify for benefits and continued to struggle with expenses.
Looking Forward
Advocates hope that updated living wage data will inform public policy and highlight the ongoing hardships faced by low-wage earners in Calgary and elsewhere in Alberta. They point to the need for policies that support affordable childcare and housing, and for programs such as Calgary’s Low Income Transit Pass to continue, alongside gradual increases to the province’s minimum wage.
Source: cbc.ca.
