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Alberta

25 facts about the Canadian oil and gas industry in 2023: Facts 16 to 20

Published

2 years ago

7 minute read

From the Canadian Energy Centre

One of the things that really makes us Albertans, and Canadians is what we do and how we do it.  It’s taking humanity a while to figure it out, but we seem to be grasping just how important access to energy is to our success.  This makes it important that we all know at least a little about the industry that drives Canadians and especially Albertans as we make our way in the world.

The Canadian Energy Centre has compiled a list of 25 (very, extremely) interesting facts about the oil and gas industry in Canada. Over the next 5 days we will post all 25 amazing facts, 5 at a time. Here are facts 16 to 20. 

The Canadian Energy Centre’s 2023 reference guide to the latest research on Canada’s oil and gas industry

The following summary facts and data were drawn from 30 Fact Sheets and Research Briefs and various Research Snapshots that the Canadian Energy Centre released in 2023. For sources and methodology and for additional data and information, the original reports are available at the research portal on the Canadian Energy Centre website: canadianenergycentre.ca.

 

16. Employment and wages in the oil and gas sector remain high

In 2021, the oil and gas sector directly employed 147,371 Canadians. The number of direct jobs in the sector rose from 158,483 in 2009 to 185,393 in 2014, then fell to 134,939 in 2016, the result of the sharp decline in energy prices, before rising to 160,379 in 2019 as energy prices gradually recovered. The onslaught of COVID-19 in 2020 saw oil and gas sector jobs fall back to 135,475, before recovering to 147,371 in 2021. The average salary of a worker in the Canadian oil and gas sector in 2021 was $133,293. The average salary for a worker in the sector had risen from $103,448 in 2009 to $133,776 in 2015, before leveling off to $129,716 in 2019 due to the energy price slump. However, between 2009 and 2021, the average annual wage of a worker in the Canadian oil and gas sector increased by nearly 29 per cent.

Source: Statistics Canada

Social and Governance

17. Women’s employment in Canada’s oil and gas sector is recovering

The number of females employed in the oil and gas sector reached a high of 42,440 in 2013, dipping to 30,285 in 2020 due to COVID-19, and then recovering somewhat to 33,068 in 2021. Between 2009 and 2021, the average wage for a female worker in the Canadian oil and gas industry increased by over 53 per cent.

Source: Statistics Canada

18. Diversity increasing in the oil and gas sector

Between 2009 and 2021, workers in the Canada’s oil and gas sector who identified as Indigenous increased by nearly 17 per cent. Between 2009 and 2021, the average salary of an Indigenous person employed in Canada’s oil and gas sector increased by over 39 per cent.

Source: Statistics Canada

19. More new Canadians working in the oil and gas sector over the long term

In 2021, 24,931 immigrants were directly employed in the Canadian oil and gas sector. The number of immigrants employed in the oil and gas industry reached 28,469 by 2014, declining to 21,622 in 2016 before recovering to 26,569 in 2019. Between 2009 and 2021, immigrant employment in the Canadian oil and gas sector increased by over 9 per cent. Between 2009 and 2021, the average wage and salary of an immigrant employed in the Canadian oil and gas sector increased by nearly 25 per cent.

Source: Statistics Canada

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)

20. Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) growing across the world

At the end of 2022, there were 65 commercial carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) projects in operation globally capable of capturing nearly 41 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of CO2 across various industries, including the oil and gas sector. There are another 478 projects in various stages of development around the world that will be capable of capturing roughly another 559 mtpa of CO2. These projects are in various stages of development: some are at the feasibility stage while others are in the concept and construction phases. If all projects move ahead as scheduled, by 2030 it is estimated that nearly 500 CCUS projects could be operating worldwide, having the ability to capture 623.0 mtpa of CO2. In fact,  between 2023 and 2030, global carbon capture capacity could grow from 43.5 mtpa to 623.0 mtpa, an increase of over 1,332 per cent.

Source: Derived from Rystad Energy

CEC Research Briefs

Canadian Energy Centre (CEC) Research Briefs are contextual explanations of data as they relate to Canadian energy. They are statistical analyses released periodically to provide context on energy issues for investors, policymakers, and the public. The source of profiled data depends on the specific issue. This research brief is a compilation of previous Fact Sheets and Research Briefs released by the centre in 2023. Sources can be accessed in the previously released reports. All percentages in this report are calculated from the original data, which can run to multiple decimal points. They are not calculated using the rounded figures that may appear in charts and in the text, which are more reader friendly. Thus, calculations made from the rounded figures (and not the more precise source data) will differ from the more statistically precise percentages we arrive at using the original data sources.

About the author

This CEC Research Brief was compiled by Ven Venkatachalam, Director of Research at the Canadian Energy Centre.

Acknowledgements

The author and the Canadian Energy Centre would like to thank and acknowledge the assistance of an anonymous reviewer for the review of this paper.

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Alberta

Alberta’s licence plate vote is down to four

Published on October 22, 2025

By

It’s time to vote again.

After Albertans had their say in the first round, the eight original licence plate designs are down to the final four.

Danielle Smith has been clear that this choice will be up to Albertans.

So now it’s your turn to help pick which designs move to the final round.
Don’t wait. Cast your vote now and help decide what Alberta’s new licence plate will look like.
– Your United Conservative Team

P.S. Every licence plate on the road is a rolling billboard for Alberta. Your vote helps decide what that billboard looks like. Vote here.
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Alberta

Calgary’s High Property Taxes Run Counter to the ‘Alberta Advantage’

Published on October 22, 2025

By

By David Hunt and Jeff Park

Of major cities, none compare to Calgary’s nearly 50 percent property tax burden increase between censuses.

Alberta once again leads the country in taking in more new residents than it loses to other provinces and territories. But if Canadians move to Calgary seeking greater affordability, are they in for a nasty surprise?

In light of declining home values and falling household incomes amidst rising property taxes, Calgary’s overall property tax burden has skyrocketed 47 percent between the last two national censuses, according to a new study by the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy.

Between 2016 and 2021 (the latest year of available data), Calgary’s property tax burden increased about twice as fast as second-place Saskatoon and three-and-a-half times faster than Vancouver.

The average Calgary homeowner paid $3,496 in property taxes at the last census, compared to $2,736 five years prior (using constant 2020 dollars; i.e., adjusting for inflation). By contrast, the average Edmonton homeowner paid $2,600 in 2021 compared to $2,384 in 2016 (in constant dollars). In other words, Calgary’s annual property tax bill rose three-and-a-half times more than Edmonton’s.

This is because Edmonton’s effective property tax rate remained relatively flat, while Calgary’s rose steeply. The effective rate is property tax as a share of the market value of a home. For Edmontonians, it rose from 0.56 percent to 0.62 percent—after rounding, a steady 0.6 percent across the two most recent censuses. For Calgarians? Falling home prices collided with rising taxes so that property taxes as a share of (market) home value rose from below 0.5 percent to nearly 0.7 percent.

Plug into the equation sliding household incomes, and we see that Calgary’s property tax burden ballooned nearly 50 percent between censuses.

This matters for at least three reasons. First, property tax is an essential source of revenue for municipalities across Canada. City councils set their property tax rate and the payments made by homeowners are the backbone of municipal finances.

Property taxes are also an essential source of revenue for schools. The province has historically required municipalities to directly transfer 33 percent of the total education budget via property taxes, but in the period under consideration that proportion fell (ultimately, to 28 percent).

Second, a home purchase is the largest expense most Canadians will ever make. Local taxes play a major role in how affordable life is from one city to another. When municipalities unexpectedly raise property taxes, it can push homeownership out of reach for many families. Thus, homeoowners (or prospective homeowners) naturally consider property tax rates and other local costs when choosing where to live and what home to buy.

And third, municipalities can fall into a vicious spiral if they’re not careful. When incomes decline and residential property values fall, as Calgary experienced during the period we studied, municipalities must either trim their budgets or increase property taxes. For many governments, it’s easier to raise taxes than cut spending.

But rising property tax burdens could lead to the city becoming a less desirable place to live. This could mean weaker residential property values, weaker population growth, and weaker growth in the number of residential properties. The municipality then again faces the choice of trimming budgets or raising taxes. And on and on it goes.

Cities fall into these downward spirals because they fall victim to a central planner’s bias. While $853 million for a new arena for the Calgary Flames or $11 million for Calgary Economic Development—how City Hall prefers to attract new business to Calgary—invite ribbon-cuttings, it’s the decisions about Calgary’s half a million private dwellings that really drive the city’s finances.

Yet, a virtuous spiral remains in reach. Municipalities tend to see the advantage of “affordable housing” when it’s centrally planned and taxpayer-funded but miss the easiest way to generate more affordable housing: simply charge city residents less—in taxes—for their housing.

When you reduce property taxes, you make housing more affordable to more people and make the city a more desirable place to live. This could mean stronger residential property values, stronger population growth, and stronger growth in the number of residential properties. Then, the municipality again faces a choice of making the city even more attractive by increasing services or further cutting taxes. And on and on it goes.

The economy is not a series of levers in the mayor’s office; it’s all of the million individual decisions that all of us, collectively, make. Calgary city council should reduce property taxes and leave more money for people to make the big decisions in life.

Jeff Park is a visiting fellow with the Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy and father of four who left Calgary for better affordability. David Hunt is the research director at the Calgary-based Aristotle Foundation for Public Policy. They are co-authors of the new study, Taxing our way to unaffordable housing: A brief comparison of municipal property taxes.

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