Job prospects Cook in Alberta

Job opportunities for Cooks (NOC 6322) are fair in Alberta over the next 3 years. These job prospects are also applicable to people working as a cook.

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

cook

Prospects over the next 3 years

Fair

The employment outlook will be fair for Cooks (NOC 6322) 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 several unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
High employee turnover in this occupation could lead to additional employment opportunities.

This occupation was among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic with restaurants having to close periodically due to changing restrictions. In addition, many restaurants were forced to permanently close, reducing the total number of jobs in the province. As restrictions were eased through the summer and fall of 2021, restaurants were able to operate on a more normal basis, but were faced with labour shortages leading to a high demand for workers. Although there are fewer jobs overall and weak growth forecasted for the creation of new jobs, the high demand for workers contributed to this overall positive rating.

Here are some key facts about Cooks in the Alberta region:

Approximately 23,850 people work in this occupation.
Cooks mainly work in the following sectors:
- Food services and drinking places (NAICS 722): 78%
The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
- Full-time workers: 71% compared to 81% for all occupations
- Part-time workers: 29% compared to 19% for all occupations
46% of cooks work all year, while 54% 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 30 weeks compared to 32 weeks for all occupations.
Less than 5% of cooks 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	Fair Fair
Banff–Jasper–Rocky Mountain House Region	Fair Fair
Calgary Region	Fair Fair
Camrose–Drumheller Region	Fair Fair
Edmonton Region	Fair Fair
Lethbridge–Medicine Hat Region	Fair Fair
Red Deer Region	Fair Fair
Wood Buffalo–Cold Lake Region	Fair Fair