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Working in Alberta's Oil and Gas Industry: Jobs, Training and Safety Tickets

About 140,000 Albertans worked in mining and oil and gas extraction in 2025. This guide explains the main jobs and what they pay, how people train for them, which safety tickets employers expect, what rotations and camp life involve, and where hiring is heading. It is general information, not safety training.

Updated 2026-09-2825 min read90 sourcesDraft: fact-check pending

How many people work in Alberta's oil and gas industry

The official count comes from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey, a monthly household survey. It reports Alberta's "mining and oil and gas extraction" industry, which covers exploring for oil and gas, drilling, completing and equipping wells, and operating field equipment up to the point where oil leaves the producing property. It also includes coal mining and quarrying [1]. Because the definition stops at the lease, pipeline, refinery and most project construction jobs are generally counted in other industries, so the figure understates the full oil and gas workforce.

In 2025 the industry employed 140,200 people, 5.4 per cent of Alberta's 2.59 million jobs. Almost all (96.9 per cent) worked full time, and the industry's unemployment rate was 3.1 per cent, compared with 7.2 per cent for the province [1]. Employment was 6.7 per cent lower than in 2024 [1].

Year Employed in Alberta mining and oil and gas extraction Change from 2014 (per cent)
2014 172,100 n/a
2015 153,200 -11.0
2016 130,500 -24.2
2017 131,500 -23.6
2018 141,100 -18.0
2019 138,200 -19.7
2020 125,000 -27.4
2021 136,500 -20.7
2022 129,500 -24.8
2023 132,300 -23.1
2024 150,200 -12.7
2025 140,200 -18.5
2026 (January to August average) about 135,900 -21.1

Annual figures are Statistics Canada estimates for Alberta, ages 15 and over [2]; the 2026 value averages eight unadjusted monthly estimates [3]. Percentage changes are calculated for this guide. Survey estimates carry sampling error and are revised, so small moves should not be over-read.

The table tells a story of two shocks and a partial recovery. Employment peaked in 2014, fell by about a quarter by 2016 in the downturn that followed the collapse in oil prices, and hit its low of 125,000 in 2020, the first year of the pandemic [2]. It jumped 13.5 per cent in 2024 and then gave back part of that gain in 2025 [1]. For the first eight months of 2026, employment averaged about 3 per cent below the same months of 2025 (calculated) [3].

The industry is also doing more with fewer people. Its share of Alberta employment fell from 6.8 per cent in 2015 to 5.4 per cent in 2025, while it still generated about 26 per cent of provincial gross domestic product in 2023 [1]. Careers in Energy, the labour market arm of Energy Safety Canada, found that despite record production in 2025, employment in conventional exploration and production fell 17 per cent, largely because of mergers and acquisitions, while oil sands and energy services employment stayed roughly flat [11].

Nationally, Careers in Energy counts about 192,500 direct jobs across Canada's energy industry in 2025, supporting another 370,000 indirect jobs [4]. Its 2024 edition put peak direct employment at 225,350 in 2014 [12]. These figures use a different definition from the Labour Force Survey and include pipelines and refining, so they cannot be compared directly with the Alberta table.

Career families and what they pay

The table links common roles in each career family, from field operations and drilling to the trades, professions, environment and safety, to Alberta pay data. Wages come from the 2023 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey, the latest available; the survey runs every two years [1]. Its figures exclude overtime, bonuses, tips and benefits [13], which matter a great deal in field jobs with long shifts.

Each range runs from the 5th to the 95th percentile of hourly pay for all workers in that occupation group, followed by the group average. The groups follow the National Occupational Classification and include workers outside oil and gas.

Role What they do Typical entry route Hourly pay range, 2023 (average)
Leasehand, floorhand Clean and organize tools and work areas, and run power tongs to connect pipe on the rig floor [14] Direct hire at 18 or older with at least Grade 10 and basic tickets [14] $17.56 to $40.00 ($31.91) [15]
Motorhand, derrickhand Maintain rig engines and hydraulics; work high on the derrick and run the drilling fluid system [14] Promotion from floorhand [14] $19.90 to $52.45 ($37.83) [13]
Driller Operate the drawworks, rotary equipment and pumps, and supervise the crew [14] Promotion after years on the rig [14] $19.98 to $59.85 ($41.84) [16]
Rig manager (toolpush) Run the rig and its crews for the drilling contractor Often 8 to 10 years from entry level [14] $28.31 to $84.00 ($56.74) [17]
Service rig and well servicing crews Complete, repair and abandon wells; on service rigs the derrickhand guides tubing [14] Same ladder as drilling [14] $19.90 to $52.45 ($37.83) [13]
Field production (lease or battery) operator Monitor wells, batteries and flow lines, take readings and samples, and run well tests [18] Helper or junior operator on contract, trained on the job [18] $40.40 to $83.32 ($54.52) [19]
Plant and process operator Run processing units at gas plants, heavy oil plants and refineries [20] Power engineering certificate where the plant has boilers or pressure plant [20] $40.40 to $83.32 ($54.52) [19]
Power engineer Supervise, operate and maintain boilers and machinery supplying steam, power and heat [20] College program, ABSA exams and supervised operating time [20] $28.62 to $69.47 ($46.73) [21]
Heavy equipment operator (oil sands mining) Run shovels, loaders and haul trucks in open-pit mines [22] On-the-job training; high school and Class 5 licence preferred [22] $23.00 to $48.00 ($34.81) [23]
Heavy equipment technician Maintain and repair trucks, shovels and other heavy equipment Four-period apprenticeship [24] $31.81 to $53.13 ($41.57) [25]
Millwright (industrial mechanic) Install and maintain pumps, compressors and other plant machinery Apprenticeship [26] $26.75 to $56.98 ($38.86) [27]
Instrumentation and control technician Install and maintain the measuring and control devices that run a plant Apprenticeship [26] $25.00 to $65.45 ($40.25) [28]
Industrial electrician Install and maintain electrical systems at plants and mine sites Apprenticeship [26] $30.48 to $45.61 ($40.13) [29]
Steamfitter-pipefitter Lay out, build and repair piping for steam, chemicals and fuel Four-period apprenticeship [30] $30.20 to $51.00 ($43.44) [31]
Welder Join and cut metal for piping, vessels and structures Three-period apprenticeship [32] $25.95 to $55.00 ($37.72) [33]
Crane operator Lift equipment and pipe with mobile cranes and boom trucks Apprenticeship; wellhead boom truck is a one-period program [34] $30.00 to $50.00 ($38.93) [35]
Petroleum engineer Plan how wells and reservoirs are developed Four-year degree and APEGA registration [36] $40.38 to $90.92 ($76.57) [37]
Chemical engineer Design and run processing, upgrading and refining systems Degree and APEGA registration [36] $35.82 to $87.81 ($55.73) [38]
Mechanical engineer Design and maintain equipment, piping and rotating machinery Degree and APEGA registration [36] $35.90 to $72.50 ($50.41) [39]
Geologist, geophysicist Study rocks, the subsurface and the fluids they hold [40] Four-year degree; APEGA professional geoscientist title [40] $34.77 to $111.80 ($79.71) [41]
Land agent Negotiate surface rights and rights of way with landowners [42] Licence under the Land Agents Licensing Act [42] $24.12 to $78.38 ($41.64) [43]
Environment and reclamation specialist Restore land disturbed by oil and gas and other activity [44] Degree in environmental, soil or earth science or agrology [44] $24.96 to $63.70 ($47.57) [45]
Health and safety advisor Build and run workplace safety programs [46] Education plus field or trade experience; voluntary designations [46] $24.04 to $79.80 ($43.02) [47]

Reclamation specialist is an emerging occupation without its own wage survey, so its row uses the closest environmental group [44][45], and alis groups land agents with purchasing agents for wage purposes [43]. Careers in Energy estimates average total compensation in Canada's established energy sectors at $171,100 in 2024, about 2.2 times the Canadian average of $78,100 [11].

Engineers must register with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA) to practise [36], while safety advisors need no provincial licence, although voluntary designations such as Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP) can help [46].

Field operations, drilling and servicing

Drilling rigs

Drilling crews work a clear ladder. Most people start as a leasehand, doing housekeeping and helping the crew, then move to floorhand, motorhand, derrickhand and driller. Experienced hands can reach rig manager within 8 to 10 years, or branch into roles such as mud technician or directional driller [14]. Crews usually work 12-hour shifts that include commuting time, some on a rotation of two weeks on and one week off, often at remote sites in all weather. On shift they may stay in a camp or nearby hotel, or go home [14].

The work is physical: crews may lift items over 25 kilograms, work on slippery rig floors near heavy tools and moving machinery, and deal with dust, noise and fumes [14]. Entry-level jobs often require only Grade 10, but applicants must be at least 18 and hold first aid with CPR and H2S Alive certificates. Motorhands, derrickhands and drillers need an unrestricted Class 5 driver's licence [14]. Winter is the busiest drilling season, and alis suggests late fall and early winter as the best time for inexperienced applicants to ask about openings [14]. Alberta's short-term forecast rated drilling and service rig personnel "hot", meaning more openings than job seekers, with about 5,440 people employed [14].

Interactive 3D: explore a drilling rig and the casing strings it sets in the well.

Servicing, completions and oilfield transport

Service rigs return to wells to complete them for production, repair them during their life and prepare them for abandonment. Their crews follow the same job ladder as drilling crews, and pay falls in the same wage group [14][13]. For the full sequence from licence to reclamation, see the life of an Alberta oil well.

A few oilfield jobs have their own Alberta credentials. Wellhead boom truck operation is a one-period apprenticeship with 100 hours of work experience and five days of classroom instruction [34]. Oil and gas transportation services, which covers bed trucks, winch tractors, bulk haul trucks and rig moves, remains a designated trade, but Alberta no longer accepts applications for certification in it and certification is not required to work [48].

Field production operators

Once a well produces, field production operators keep it running. They take pressure and flow readings, run well tests, inspect flow lines and wellheads, and look after batteries, the field stations where oil, gas and water are separated and stored. Some, called pumpers, only check wellheads; battery operators work entirely at batteries [18]. Operators drive between sites, must watch for hazards such as hydrogen sulphide, often work shifts and are on call [18].

There are no formal education requirements, although employers usually prefer a high school diploma and a Class 5 licence. Newcomers typically start as helpers or junior operators on contract, and the work is increasingly done by small contractors, so owning a suitable vehicle helps [18]. Operators running steam injection for enhanced recovery need at least a 4th Class Power Engineering Certificate [18]. Alberta's forecast rated the wider operator group "balanced", with about 10,315 people employed [18].

Oil sands mining and processing

Mine operations

Surface mines, including oil sands mines, mostly move material with shovels and trucks. Operators run power shovels with buckets of up to 44 cubic metres that load trucks carrying up to 360 tonnes [22]. They work shifts in climate-controlled cabs or control rooms, and at remote mines may be away from home for two to three weeks at a time [22].

There is no standard education requirement. Employers prefer a high school diploma and mining or heavy equipment experience, usually require a Class 5 licence, and treat Construction Safety Training System (CSTS) and WHMIS training as assets. Applicants may need to pass a medical exam, a pre-employment drug test and an aptitude test, and companies provide on-the-job training [22]. Keyano College in Fort McMurray runs an eight-week heavy equipment operator program using simulators and real machines, open to residents within 150 km of the city [49]. Women Building Futures in Edmonton offers a two-week Suncor haul truck program followed by a six-month paid co-op [50].

Heavy equipment technicians keep the fleets running. It is a compulsory-certification trade with four apprenticeship periods of 1,500 hours of work experience and eight weeks of classroom instruction each [24]. For more on how mining and in situ production work, see the oil sands guide.

Plants, upgraders and power engineers

In situ projects, upgraders and gas plants run on steam, pressure equipment and control systems, which is why they employ power engineers and process operators. Power engineers supervise, operate and maintain boilers and machinery. Under Alberta's Safety Codes Act and Power Engineers Regulation, anyone supervising a power plant or heating plant must hold the appropriate certificate of competency from ABSA, the province's pressure equipment safety authority [20]. They work in gas plants, heavy oil plants, refineries and petrochemical plants, but also in hospitals, schools and food plants [20].

Alberta's short-term forecast rated power engineers "cold", with about 9,845 employed, and alis notes that job growth is affected as industry adopts technologies that need fewer power engineers [20].

Entry routes: apprenticeship, power engineering and post-secondary

How apprenticeship works in Alberta

An apprenticeship is post-secondary education in which about 80 per cent of learning happens on the job and 20 per cent in a classroom or lab. Apprentices attend six to ten weeks of classroom instruction a year at a college or polytechnic, pass an exam for each period, and finish with a journeyperson certificate. Programs last one to four years depending on the trade [26].

To register, you must live or mainly work in Alberta and be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, protected person or refugee claimant with a work permit, or hold certain other permits; post-graduation work permit holders qualify only after completing a recognized Alberta program [51]. You also need a sponsor, a business that agrees to employ and mentor you. You can register and start earning work hours before meeting the high school entrance requirements, but you must meet them before your first classroom period [51].

The steamfitter-pipefitter trade is a typical example. It has four periods, each with 1,560 hours of work experience and eight weeks of classroom instruction, and classes are offered at Keyano College, Lakeland College, NAIT and other schools. Apprentices must be paid at least 50, 65, 80 and 90 per cent of the journeyperson rate in periods one to four [30]. Welding has three periods of 1,560 hours [32], and heavy equipment technician four periods of 1,500 hours [24].

Experienced workers without an Alberta certificate have other routes. A steamfitter-pipefitter can qualify through the work experience program with 72 months and 9,360 hours of verifiable experience plus a theory exam, and holders of recognized certificates from other provinces can work in the full scope of the trade in Alberta [30]. High school students aged 15 and older can start early through the Registered Apprenticeship Program, earning up to 41 high school credits while logging on-the-job hours toward a trade [52].

Power engineering classes and "steam time"

Power engineers climb a ladder of certificates from 5th class (the entry level) to 1st class, each requiring an exam and a set amount of qualifying operating experience, often called "steam time". ABSA administers the exams and issues the certificates in Alberta [53][54].

Colleges package the theory and the steam time. Portage College's 4th class program is 25 weeks of study plus a 160-hour field placement, and its 3rd class program is 52 weeks plus a 960-hour placement; it recommends a valid H2S course before starting [57]. Lakeland College's process and power engineering diploma covers both 4th and 3rd class and includes a 480-hour practicum; it reported an extensive waitlist for fall 2026 [58]. SAIT's two-year power engineering technology diploma prepares students for 3rd class certification and transfers 27 credits toward the University of Calgary's energy engineering degree [59].

Diplomas and degrees

Technologist and engineering careers usually start with a diploma or degree. NAIT's two-year petroleum engineering technology diploma trains students on drilling simulators for work with producers, service companies and regulators [60]. The University of Alberta offers a petroleum engineering degree after a qualifying first year, with a co-op route that can add up to 20 months of paid work experience [61]. The University of Calgary offers four-year degrees in chemical, mechanical, and oil and gas engineering, a transfer program in energy engineering, and an optional internship year of 12 to 16 months [62].

Graduates then work toward professional licensure. Since July 18, 2026, all APEGA applicants for the professional engineer licence are assessed through a competency-based process that builds eight Canadian work environment equivalencies into 22 competencies [63].

Safety tickets and common prerequisites

This section is general information, not training; requirements differ by employer, site and job. One legal rule applies to every oil, gas and geothermal work site: a worker must complete a site-specific orientation, covering hazards, procedures, protective equipment and the emergency response plan, before coming on site for the first time [6]. Most other "tickets" mix legal training duties and industry standards.

Energy Safety Canada, the national safety association for Canada's energy industry, sets many of the industry standards [4]. The table lists the tickets that job-readiness sources mention most often.

Ticket What it covers Who sets it Validity
Common Safety Orientation (CSO) Foundational safety for workers new to the energy industry, including the 10 Life Saving Rules [64] Energy Safety Canada; introduced to replace Petroleum Safety Training (PST) and other orientations [65] Does not expire [64]
H2S Alive Detecting hydrogen sulphide, breathing apparatus and rescue drags [5] Energy Safety Canada Three years; 70 per cent pass mark [5]
Standard First Aid and CPR First aid at the work site Agencies approved by Alberta under CSA Standard Z1210-17 [66] Set by the course
WHMIS Labels and safe handling of hazardous products Employer duty under the OHS Code [67] Refreshed as needed
Transportation of Dangerous Goods (TDG) Handling, offering or transporting dangerous goods Transport Canada regulations [68] 36 months for road transport [68]
Fall protection Use of harnesses and anchors where a fall of 3 metres or more is possible [69] Employer duty under the OHS Code [69] Set by the course
Confined space entry Hazards of tanks, vessels and pits, and safe entry [70] Employer duty under the OHS Code [70] Set by the course
Ground Disturbance 201 Planning and supervising digging near buried pipelines and utilities Utility Safety Partners standard [71] Set by the course

What employers ask for varies by job. Alberta's occupational profile for drilling and service rig personnel says employers require first aid with CPR and H2S Alive before hiring, and that workers then earn WHMIS, TDG, fall protection, well control and confined space entry through in-house training [14]. Field production operators commonly take WHMIS, H2S, TDG, first aid, self-contained breathing apparatus and the CSO [18]. For mine operator applicants, CSTS and WHMIS training are assets [22]. The Ground Disturbance 201 standard is aimed at people who will supervise excavation, while a separate 101 standard covers workers who dig under supervision [71].

Several tickets rest on legal duties: employers must train workers before they use fall protection [69] or enter confined spaces [70]. A TDG certificate is issued by the employer and does not transfer to a new job [68].

Hydrogen sulphide (H₂S) is the hazard most associated with Alberta's sour oil and gas. Alberta's occupational exposure limits are 10 ppm over eight hours and a ceiling of 15 ppm [72]. The H2S awareness module explains how the gas behaves and how monitors and escape routes work.

Safety trainingH2S awarenessRead a gas monitor, choose an escape route in 3D and practise the rescue sequence. About 20 minutes.
Safety training: H2S awareness with a gas monitor simulator and 3D escape scenario.

Take courses from Energy Safety Canada or the authorized providers it lists by location [5], and be suspicious of any "job offer" that requires you to buy a ticket package through the recruiter.

Work life: rotations, camps and Fort McMurray

Rotations and hours

Much oilfield work runs on rotations rather than a Monday-to-Friday week. Drilling crews usually work 12-hour shifts, and some work two weeks on and one week off [14]. Operators at remote mines may be away for two to three weeks at a time [22]. Field production operators work shifts and are on call [18]. In 2025 the broader resource workforce averaged 46.5 hours a week, and 30.4 per cent of employees worked overtime in a typical week [1].

Long rotations are legal under Alberta's employment standards through averaging arrangements, which let employers average hours over 1 to 52 weeks when calculating overtime. Without a collective agreement, the arrangement must be in writing, include a schedule of daily and weekly hours and be announced with two weeks' written notice [73].

Camps and fly-in, fly-out work

Remote projects house workers in camps. In the oil sands region, camps and short-term housing hold temporary workers whose permanent homes are elsewhere, while others live in Fort McMurray [74]. Careers in Energy notes that non-standard schedules and remote work are offset by higher pay, but that field roles draw on a smaller, rural talent pool and remain harder to fill [11].

Fort McMurray and Wood Buffalo

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, which includes Fort McMurray, counted 107,740 people in its 2025 municipal census, up 1.6 per cent from 2021 [74]. The mix is shifting from camps to permanent residents. Since 2021, the permanent population grew 11.16 per cent, the number of temporary workers in camps or short-term housing fell 22.15 per cent, and the number of work camps dropped from 68 to 25 [74].

By one common measure, Fort McMurray is no longer far more expensive than the big cities. The Alberta Living Wage Network, which estimates the hourly wage a worker needs to cover basic expenses, set Fort McMurray's 2025 living wage at $23.00 an hour, down 2.1 per cent from 2024. That was below Calgary's $26.50 and close to Edmonton's $22.30 [75].

The worker safety record

Injury and fatality statistics

Alberta publishes workplace injury statistics from Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) claims. Oil and gas falls mostly within the "mining and petroleum development" sector, which also includes coal mining. In 2024 the sector recorded 1,677 disabling injury claims over 145,896 person-years of work, or 1.15 per 100 person-years. Its lost-time claim rate was 0.34, against 1.35 for the province as a whole [7].

Those low rates need context. About 90 per cent of the sector's 2024 injury claims involved modified work and 30 per cent involved time lost, which suggests that many injured workers stayed on lighter duties instead of losing time [76]. Risk is also concentrated. Within the sector, well servicing with service rigs had a disabling injury rate of 4.59 per 100 person-years, procuring soil samples 4.46 and drilling oil or gas wells 3.79 [76].

Fatalities tell a harder story. The sector recorded 17 fatalities in 2024: 10 from occupational illnesses, four from workplace incidents and three from motor vehicle incidents. Its fatality rate of 11.65 per 100,000 person-years was above the provincial average of 8.25 [76][7]. Transport truck drivers accounted for 36 per cent of the sector's fatalities [76]. Across all industries, WCB-Alberta accepted 144 fatality claims in 2025, down from 203 in 2024, and projected a provincial lost-time claim rate of 1.4 per 100 workers [77].

Energy Safety Canada's own analysis of WCB data finds that 171 people died on the job in Alberta and Saskatchewan's oil and gas industry from 2011 to 2025, 44 of them in the last five years. Transportation accidents caused 60 per cent of deaths in 2021 to 2025, and exposure to harmful substances another 20 per cent, excluding COVID-19. Most harmful-substance deaths over the longer period were occupational diseases such as asbestosis and mesothelioma [78]. In Alberta, vehicles were involved in only about 8 per cent of oil and gas injury claims from 2021 to 2025, but in 52 per cent of fatalities; head-on collisions were the most common fatal crash [79].

Where the risk sits

WCB premium rates point the same way. For 2025, oil and gas producers paid $0.57 per $100 of assessable earnings and oil sands operations $0.96, while well servicing with rigs paid $2.54, oil and gas well drilling $3.17 and oilfield trucking $3.72 [80]. The average premium rate collected across all Alberta employers in 2025 was $1.40 [77].

The long-term trend is mixed. Energy Safety Canada reports that the fatality rate in its funding sectors has trended down since 2011, but it also notes that the rate jumped after periods of industry contraction [78]. Two features of the data are worth keeping in mind when comparing industries: heavy use of modified work lowers lost-time counts [76], and many deaths come from long-latency occupational diseases that surface years after exposure [78].

Diversity and Indigenous employment

Women

Women held 19.0 per cent of Alberta's mining and oil and gas extraction jobs in 2025, 26,700 of 140,200 [1]. Across Canada's energy industry, Careers in Energy found women's share fell to 18.2 per cent in 2025 from 20.9 per cent in 2024, possibly because mergers cut business, finance and administrative roles in which women are better represented. In Western Canada the share was 19.1 per cent, against 46.7 per cent of the overall labour force [9].

Change has been slow in the field. A study by PetroLMI (now Careers in Energy) found women made up 21 per cent of oil and gas workers in 2006 and 22 per cent in 2016, with only 4 per cent of those women in trades and operations [81][82]. Targeted hiring can shift the numbers at a single site: women made up about 30 per cent of the workforce at Syncrude's Aurora mine in 2022, which one long-time operator credited partly to programs such as Women Building Futures, although women were 20.4 per cent of Syncrude's overall workforce of 4,901 in 2020 [81].

In the trades, the number of women registered as welding apprentices in Alberta rose 60 per cent, from 390 in 2022 to 623 in 2023, although fewer than 5 per cent of welders were women in the 2021 census [83]. Women Building Futures graduated 256 women in 2023-24, and one apprentice told CBC that child care remains a barrier for women who start early or work out of town [83].

Indigenous workers

Indigenous people are strongly represented in energy work. Careers in Energy data show them at 7.4 per cent of Canada's energy labour force, compared with 3.5 per cent of the overall labour force, and at 8.0 per cent in Western Canada, compared with 5.3 per cent [9]. A 2021 census profile counted about 13,000 Indigenous energy workers, with the highest shares in energy services (8.8 per cent) and exploration and production (6.8 per cent). Of these workers, 82 per cent were in Western Canada, 37 per cent were under 35, compared with 28 per cent of all energy workers, and 17.7 per cent were women [84].

The most common jobs for Indigenous energy workers were heavy equipment operators, oil and gas drilling and servicing labourers, and central control and process operators [84]. The same report notes under-representation in science and engineering occupations and cites barriers such as limited access to higher education, a lack of culturally relevant curricula and experiences of racism [84]. For Indigenous ownership and community issues in the oil sands, see the oil sands guide.

Newcomers and young workers

Immigrants are under-represented. They made up 18.6 per cent of Canada's energy labour force in 2025, down from 19.5 per cent in 2024, compared with nearly 36 per cent of the national labour force. Youth aged 15 to 24 were 6.5 per cent of energy workers, against 14 per cent of all workers [9].

Outlook: hiring, automation and transferable skills

Hiring projections

Careers in Energy's 2026 outlook projects about 18,400 new direct energy jobs in Canada by 2035, while 54,200 workers become eligible to retire. Replacing all of them implies a net hiring requirement of about 72,600. It expects shortages as early as 2027 in drilling, servicing and field operations, engineering, facility operations, trades, and transport and heavy equipment roles [4]. Direct employment is projected to rise from 192,490 in 2025 to 210,880 in 2035 [11]. These are projections under a "current measures" scenario, not firm counts.

The 2026 figure is much lower than the 2024 edition's range of 110,000 to 116,000 net hires [12]. The newer report stresses productivity gains and consolidation, and says mergers since 2024 have affected workforce needs more than artificial intelligence or automation [11]. It also projects that oil sands workforce requirements will decline even as production grows, and that shortages in drilling and servicing will likely worsen in 2027 and 2028 ahead of liquefied natural gas growth [11].

Alberta's own 10-year outlook, published in September 2026, looks across all industries and reaches a more cautious view of some trades. It expects net job seekers to exceed net job openings by about 9,800 a year from 2025 to 2035. Among trades it forecasts surpluses of welders, steamfitters and pipefitters, plumbers and automotive technicians, with about 6,300 job seekers a year, mostly new graduates, for about 1,500 openings. It also expects a surplus of industrial instrument technicians, but shortages of construction electricians and mechanic-trade supervisors [85]. The two outlooks measure different things, energy-sector demand nationally versus province-wide supply and demand, so a tight market for experienced rig and field workers can coexist with a surplus of new trade graduates. Job seekers should check both, along with the alis forecast rating in each occupational profile.

Automation

Automation is most visible in oil sands mining. Suncor began using autonomous haul trucks at its Base Plant in 2018, and by 2025 all ore there was moved by almost 120 driverless trucks, directed from a central control room; it planned to equip 140 by the end of 2025 [8]. Imperial completed the conversion of its Kearl mine fleet in 2023, giving it 81 autonomous trucks. Company executives said many former drivers were redeployed to the control room and other jobs, while one acknowledged that "head count efficiencies" were a source of value [86]. Careers in Energy expects growth in heavy equipment operator jobs to be well below average for this reason, because mine haul routes are predictable, while most field work remains non-routine and harder to automate [11]. It also reports fewer entry-level roles as automation and AI take over routine tasks [11].

Transferable skills

Many oil and gas skills carry over to newer energy sectors. Careers in Energy says operators in liquefied natural gas, carbon capture and hydrogen facilities need the same foundational qualifications as operators in established sectors, and that drilling and servicing crews also drill, complete and service wells used to store carbon dioxide underground. It adds that helium, lithium and geothermal production rely on the same occupations and equipment [11]. Two large low-carbon hydrogen plants were under construction in Alberta in 2026 [11]. Alberta's safety code already treats geothermal wells alongside oil and gas wells [6].

Energy Safety Canada's chief executive said in 2023 that many oil and gas workers' skills are "transferable to CCS, hydrogen, biofuels" and other sectors [82]. The 2024 outlook expected emerging sectors to account for 8 to 10 per cent of projected new jobs, a real but modest share [12].

Getting a first job, and avoiding scams

Steps for a newcomer

These general steps summarize what the cited sources say employers and regulators expect.

Scams to avoid

Job fraud is common and costly. The Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre says Canadians reported losing more than $704 million to fraud in 2025, only 5 to 10 per cent of fraud is reported, and job fraud was one of the three types with the highest financial losses [87].

Warning signs from government sources include:

Foreign workers have added protection. Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, employers must ensure that neither they nor anyone recruiting for them charges or recovers recruitment fees from workers, and the program's processing fee cannot be paid by or recovered from the worker [90]. Report suspected fraud to local police and to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre online or at 1-888-495-8501 [87].

Check your understanding

Eight questions drawn from this guide. Your best score is kept on this device.

FAQ

How much do oil and gas workers make in Alberta? It depends on the job. In the 2023 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey, rig labourers averaged $31.91 an hour [15], process operators $54.52 [19] and petroleum engineers $76.57 [37], before overtime and bonuses [13].

Do I need a degree to work in the oilfield? No. Many field jobs, such as leasehand or junior production operator, need a high school education or less, a driver's licence and safety tickets [14][18]. Trades require an apprenticeship [26], and engineering and geoscience jobs require a degree and APEGA registration [36][40].

What safety tickets do I need for oilfield work in Alberta? There is no single list. Rig employers typically require first aid with CPR and H2S Alive before hiring, then provide WHMIS, TDG, fall protection, well control and confined space training [14]. Every worker must also complete a site-specific orientation before their first day on an oil or gas site [6]. This guide is general information, not training.

How long does it take to become a power engineer? Entry at 4th class can take less than a year of study plus operating experience; Portage College's 4th class program is 25 weeks plus a 160-hour placement [57]. ABSA requires about six months of qualifying plant experience for a 4th class certificate [55], and moving up to 1st class takes years of further exams and supervisory experience [54].

Is the oil industry still hiring in Alberta? Yes, but unevenly. Alberta's extraction employment fell 6.7 per cent in 2025 [1], yet Careers in Energy projects a national net hiring need of about 72,600 by 2035, mostly to replace retirees [4]. Alberta's own outlook expects surpluses in some trades such as welding and pipefitting [85].

Can newcomers to Canada work in Alberta oil and gas? Yes, if they have the right to work. Apprenticeship registration is open to citizens, permanent residents, protected persons and some permit holders [51], and APEGA assesses engineering licence applicants through a competency-based process [63]. Immigrants were 18.6 per cent of Canada's energy labour force in 2025 [9].

How can I tell if an oilfield job offer is a scam? Be wary of any offer that asks you to pay a fee, buy training or equipment, or share banking details before you are hired [88][10]. Employers hiring temporary foreign workers may not charge them recruitment fees [90]. Report suspected fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre [87].

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