Dear John,

Today, the Fraser Institute released a new study, Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Alberta.

This study finds that public-sector employees in Alberta—including municipal, provincial and federal government workers—received 9.3 per cent higher wages on average than comparable workers in the private sector last year. Government employees also enjoyed more generous pensions, retired nearly two years earlier, took more personal leave, and were five times less likely to experience job loss than comparable private-sector workers.

Below is the news release and accompanying infographic. Please share with your colleagues and friends.

Best,

Niels

Niels Veldhuis | President
The Fraser Institute
Suite 2215, 500 4th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2P 2V6
403.216.7175
www.fraserinstitute.org

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Alberta’s public-sector employees were paid 9.3 per cent higher wages than comparable private-sector workers in 2018

CALGARY—Government employees in Alberta received 9.3 per cent higher wages on average than comparable workers in the private sector last year, and enjoyed much more generous non-wage benefits, too, finds a new study by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.

“Bringing government-sector compensation in line with the private sector would not only help governments in Alberta control spending without reducing services, it would also maintain fairness for taxpayers,” said Ben Eisen, a senior fellow with the Fraser Institute’s Alberta Prosperity Initiative.

The study, Comparing Government and Private Sector Compensation in Alberta, finds that government employees in Alberta—including federal, provincial and municipal workers—received 9.3 per cent higher wages, on average, than comparable workers in the private sector in 2018. And that wage gap accounts for differences between workers in the two sectors such as age, gender, education, tenure and type of work.

But wages are only part of overall compensation. Government workers in Alberta enjoy much more generous benefits, too.

• Pensions: Almost 7-in-10 government workers in Alberta (66.8 per cent) have a defined benefit pension plan—which offers a guaranteed level of benefits in retirement—compared to less than 1-in-10 workers in the private sector (6.3 per cent).
  

• Early retirement: Government workers in Alberta retire 1.8 years earlier, on average, than private-sector workers.

• Personal leave: Government workers in Alberta are absent from their jobs for personal reasons 63.2 per cent more often than private-sector workers—12.4 days compared to 7.6 days.

• Job security: Government workers were 5 times less likely to experience job loss than private-sector workers—0.6 per cent compared to 3.2 per cent.

 “Of course, governments in Alberta should provide competitive compensation to attract qualified employees, but clearly wages and benefits in the government sector are out of step with the private sector,” said Steve Lafleur, study co-author and Fraser Institute senior policy analyst.








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