Job prospects Accountant in Alberta

Job opportunities for Financial auditors and accountants (NOC 1111) are good in Alberta over the next 3 years. These job prospects are also applicable to people working as an accountant.

Note: These employment prospects were published in December 2021 based on the information available at the time of analysis. The next update will be in December 2022. To learn more, see our FAQs. You can also find additional information on the Canadian Online Job Posting Dashboard.

Job opportunities in Alberta

accountant

Prospects over the next 3 years

Good

The employment outlook will be good for Financial auditors and accountants (NOC 1111) in Alberta for the 2021-2023 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
Several positions will become available due to retirements.
There are a moderate number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

The shift to work-from-home at the beginning of the pandemic protected this profession from job losses. Office based employment suffered few losses once the possible impacts of the pandemic were realized. Growth outlook will remain stable in Alberta as the financial sector continues to experience growth and with work from home employment still largely the norm.

Here are some key facts about Financial auditors and accountants in the Alberta region:

Approximately 31,300 people work in this occupation.
Financial auditors and accountants mainly work in the following sectors:
- Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services (NAICS 5412): 34%
- Oil and gas extraction (NAICS 211): 12%
The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
- Full-time workers: 91% compared to 81% for all occupations
- Part-time workers: 9% compared to 19% for all occupations
72% of financial auditors and accountants work all year, while 28% work only part of the year, compared to 59% and 41% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 35 weeks compared to 32 weeks for all occupations.
15% of financial auditors and accountants are self-employed compared to an average of 12% for all occupations.

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Alberta by economic region.

Location	Job prospects
Athabasca–Grande Prairie–Peace River Region	Good Good
Banff–Jasper–Rocky Mountain House Region	Good Good
Calgary Region	Good Good
Camrose–Drumheller Region	Fair Fair
Edmonton Region	Good Good
Lethbridge–Medicine Hat Region	Good Good
Red Deer Region	Good Good
Wood Buffalo–Cold Lake Region	Good Good