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 2007, there were 46,500 seniors in the Alberta labour force. (Note: Labour force participants are those individuals who are employed and those who are actively seeking work.) Approximately 45,800 of these seniors were employed, while the remaining 700 were actively seeking work. (Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey Estimates, 2007.)

In 2007, workers aged 65 years and older accounted for 2.3% of Alberta’s workforce, compared to 2.1% of the national labour force.

Senior males were more likely than their female counterparts to be part of the workforce; 19.8% of male seniors compared to 8.7% of female seniors were in the Alberta labour force in 2007.

Part-time employment among seniors is increasing

In Alberta, approximately 58% of employed seniors worked full-time in 2007.

As with many other age groups, female seniors were more likely to work part-time than male seniors. In 2007, 60.3% of female seniors in the Alberta labour force worked part-time, compared to 31.8% of male seniors.

In 2006, employed Alberta seniors worked an average of 29.9 hours per week, a decrease of five hours from thirty years prior. (Statistics Canada, Labour Force Historical Review)

In 2006, male seniors worked, on average, 7.5 hours more per week than females (32.4 hours versus 24.9 hours). However, it appears female seniors are working more hours, as the average number of hours worked increased by 3.6 hours from 2001 (see Chart 12).

Chart 12
Overall Decline in Average Hours Worked by Seniors
from 1976 to 2006

Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Historical Review 2006

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%). (Note: Unpaid family workers are persons who worked without regular money wages for a relative who is a member of the same household. Unpaid family members mainly contribute to the operation of a business, farm or professional practice, owned or operated by the relative.)

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.