Retirement Age and Labour Force Participation

Retirement age increased in last decade

The median retirement age in Alberta increased from 63.6 years in the 1995 to 1999 period, to 63.7 years in the 2000 to 2004 period.

Alberta had the second highest median retirement age in the 2000 to 2004 period, behind Saskatchewan (see Chart 11).

Chart 11
Alberta's Retirement Age Second Highest in Canada

Source: Statistics Canada, Perspectives on Labour and Income,
Retirement, May 2006

Male seniors more active in the labour force than female seniors

In 2009, there were 58,700 seniors in the Alberta labour force, an increase of more than 25% from 2007.²³ Approximately 56,500 of these seniors were employed. (Statistics Canada, Labour Force Historical Review, 2009)

In 2009, workers aged 65 years and older accounted for about 2.8% of Alberta's workforce, compared to 2.5% of the national workforce.

Senior males were more likely than their female counterparts to be part of the workforce; 22.7% of male seniors compared to 11.2% of female seniors were in the Alberta workforce in 2009.

Part-time employment among seniors is increasing

In Alberta, approximately 58% of employed seniors worked full-time in 2009.

As with many other age groups, female seniors were more likely to work part-time than male seniors. In 2009, 53.6% of female seniors in the Alberta labour force worked part-time, compared to 31.5% of male seniors.

In 2009, employed Alberta seniors worked an average of 28.6 hours per week, a decrease of more than six hours from thirty years prior (see Chart 12). (Statistics Canada, Labour Force Historical Review)

In 2009, male seniors worked, on average, 7.9 hours more per week than females (31.5 hours versus 23.6 hours).

Chart 12
Overall Decline in Average Hours Worked by Seniors
From 1979 to 2009

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Historical Review, 2009

According to the 2006 Census, 55.6% of seniors participating in the labour force were employees. The remaining senior workers were either self-employed (43.0%) or were unpaid family workers (1.4%).²⁴

The proportion of seniors identifying themselves as employees increased nearly 10% compared to the 2001 Census. The increase appears to be a result of seniors moving from self-employment to employee status.

A higher percentage of female seniors were employees or unpaid family workers. Employed male seniors were more likely to be self-employed than females.

In 2006, 34.3% of rural seniors participated in the labour force, while the participation rate for urban seniors was 13.6%.

Urban senior workers were more likely to be employees, while rural employed seniors were almost three times more likely to be self-employed. The percentage of rural seniors who were unpaid family workers was also three times higher than that of urban seniors.