Alberta Sector Profile: Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
NAICS 54
- Workforce characteristics
- Main occupations
- Occupation of interest: Information systems specialists (NOC 21222)
Highlights
- There were 218,900 people employed in professional, scientific and technical services in Alberta in 2022, accounting for 9.2% of total provincial employment.
- Employment in professional, scientific, and technical services in Alberta increased by 28,700 jobs (15.1%) from 2021 to 2022, making it one of the fastest growing sectors in the province.
- Investments in new technologies from both public and private sources will create employment opportunities in professional, scientific, and technical services from 2023 to 2024.
- Employment prospects will be strong across Alberta from 2023 to 2024 for most occupations in professional, scientific, and technical services.
About the Sector
Composition and importance of the sector
The professional, scientific and technical services sector is made up of establishments primarily engaged in activities where human capital is the major input. Thus, the establishments classified in this sector sell expertise.
The main components of this sector are legal services; accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services; architectural, engineering and related services; specialized design services (such as industrial design and graphic design); computer systems design and related services; management, scientific and technical consulting services; scientific research and development services; and advertising, public relations, and related services. [1]
In 2022, there were about 218,900 Albertans employed in the professional, scientific and technical services sector. This represents about 9.2% of Alberta's total employment across all industries.
In 2022, the sector contributed to:
Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey; Statistics Canada Table: 36-10-0402-01 (GDP at basic prices, chained 2012 dollars); Statistics Canada Table: 36-10-0400-01 (GDP at basic prices, current dollars)
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Geographical distribution of employment
The vast majority (87.9%) of employment in the professional, scientific and technical services sector is in the metropolitan areas in Calgary (55.3%) and Edmonton (32.6%). This leaves 12.1% of employment in other areas of the province. Although employment in the sector will likely continue to be primarily centered in the major urban centres, there will likely be employment opportunities in more rural areas of the province, as energy producers continue to invest in technologies that reduce carbon emissions, including carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).
Workforce
Workforce characteristics
About 52.4% of the workforce in the professional, scientific, and technical services sector identifies as male, whereas about 47.6% of the workforce identifies as female. Professional, scientific and technical services is the sector where most, if not all, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) occupations can be found: fields that are historically underrepresented by female workers. The majority of the female workers in the sector can be found in legal services; accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services; management, scientific and technical consulting services; and administration services – largely industry groups classified as non-STEM fields.
The vast majority of the jobs in the sector (86.1%) are full-time, while only a small minority (13.9%) of jobs are part-time.
Young workers (aged 15-24) only comprise about 5.1% of the employment within the professional, scientific and technical services sector. For comparison, young workers comprised about 13.1% of employment in Alberta's total labour market. The high amount of expertise, training and skill that is often required for jobs in the sector is the reason why young workers are underrepresented.
Of those employed in 2022:
Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, ESDC custom table
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Main occupations
The occupations in professional, scientific, and technical services in Alberta with the highest number of employees are, from highest to lowest, 11100 Financial auditors and accountants, 12200 Accounting technicians and bookkeepers, 21222 Information systems specialists, 11201 Professional occupations in business management consulting, 21232 Software developers and programmers, and 21300 Civil engineers.
Occupation of interest: Information systems specialists (NOC 21222)
- Occupational Outlook: Employment prospects for information systems specialists will be very good in Alberta from 2023 to 2024.
- Duties: Include but are not limited to: design, develop, test, implement and oversee IT systems, collect and analyze data to identify areas for improvement within an organization's IT infrastructure, provide advice on a wide range of information systems issues, and perform preventative maintenance tasks on computer systems.
- Employment of information systems specialists: 25,850 people were employed in this occupation in Alberta in 2021. [2]
- Education: In Alberta, a bachelor's degree in computer science, computer systems engineering, business administration or a related discipline or completion of a college program in computer science is usually required. A professional certification such as Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), or another related information technology (IT) designation may be required by some employers.
- Wages: The median wage for information systems specialists in 2022 was $47.96/hour in Alberta.
Information Systems Specialist Employment in Alberta
Note: Figures shown are employment estimates
Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, ESDC custom table
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Year
Employment
2012
15,500
2013
13,900
2014
15,200
2015
13,300
2016
17,000
2017
18,800
2018
15,900
2019
18,300
2020
20,700
2021
26,500
2022
23,500
Further information on information systems specialists and related occupations in Canada can be found here:
- 21222 – Information systems specialists
- Information Systems Quality Assurance Analyst in Alberta
- Systems Specialist – Computer Systems in Canada
Recent History
Employment in the professional, scientific and technical services sector has grown rapidly in recent years in Alberta. Employment in the sector has been steadily increasing over the last 5 years or so. Since 2018, employment in the sector has grown by 47,300 jobs (+27.6%). Between 2021 and 2022, employment in the sector grew by 28,700 jobs (+15.1%), making it one of the fastest growing sectors in the province. Employment growth in the sector has been supported by robust investments in new technologies such as carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS), hydrogen energy, and computer systems design.
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services Employment
Note: Figures shown are employment estimates. Totals may not add to 100% due to rounding.
Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, ESDC custom table
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Year
Employment (Total)
Full-time
Part-time
2012
163,200
142,300
20,900
2013
174,300
151,700
22,500
2014
181,300
156,200
25,000
2015
171,300
146,500
24,700
2016
173,400
146,600
26,700
2017
170,300
140,800
29,500
2018
171,600
144,400
27,100
2019
178,100
149,900
28,200
2020
174,200
149,100
25,100
2021
190,200
159,100
31,100
2022
218,900
188,500
30,500
Alberta is investing $1.24 billion until 2025 in the Quest and Alberta Carbon Trunk Line (ACTL) CCUS projects. [3] There is private sector interest in this technology as well: in September 2022, dmg events (Canada) inc. hosted Carbon Capture Canada, Canada's only CCUS convention in Edmonton, with more than 100 exhibitors, 3,000 domestic and international attendees, and a conference with over 100 speakers and 500 delegates. [4]
In early 2023, the Pathways Alliance, a consortium of the biggest oil sands producing companies, announced that it was starting field work this winter for a detailed assessment of a proposed geological carbon storage hub in Alberta. The proposed carbon storage hub would be connected to a transportation line that would initially gather captured carbon from an anticipated 14 oil sands facilities in the Fort McMurray, Christina Lake and Cold Lake regions. The plan is to grow the transportation network to eventually include over 20 oil sands facilities, and to accommodate other industries in the region interested in CCUS. [5] With anticipated co-funding from the federal and provincial governments, Pathways Alliance expects that $16.5 billion will be invested in the CCUS network. [6]
Hydrogen production is another emerging industry that has the potential to support robust job growth in the professional, scientific and technical services sector in Alberta for years to come. In November 2022, the provincial and federal government announced that they were investing $476 million toward a new blue hydrogen (hydrogen produced from natural gas and supported by carbon capture and storage) energy facility northeast of Edmonton. The project is being undertaken by Air Products, an American-based multinational corporation. [7] In late 2022, construction also began on two hydrogen production and refuelling facilities in Calgary and Edmonton, which are intended to support a Canada Pacific (CP) Rail program design to power locomotives using hydrogen. [8]
Top Subsectors by Employment
Note: Figures shown are employment estimates
Source: Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, ESDC custom table
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Year
Accounting
Architectural
& engineeringComputer
systems design
2012
19,900
63,200
23,900
2013
19,400
66,200
29,500
2014
20,500
67,700
29,100
2015
23,500
66,000
23,700
2016
24,100
57,100
32,200
2017
24,200
51,200
34,800
2018
22,400
54,100
30,800
2019
24,000
61,200
32,800
2020
27,300
47,600
38,600
2021
28,600
46,600
43,500
2022
32,000
59,400
50,900
Employment growth in the professional, scientific and technical services sector is also being driven by robust investments in computer technology. In June 2021, India's Mphasis along with the Government of Alberta and the University of Calgary announced a strategic partnership to spur high-quality job creation within the technology sector in Alberta. The partnership expected to create 500-1,000 new technology jobs within two years. [9] Shortly thereafter, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) announced that it was launching an Innovation Hub in Calgary focusing on creating jobs for high-demand areas in Calgary's tech ecosystem. The Hub will create 300 tech jobs over the next three years, in data engineering, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and other areas. The hires will join 1,500 RBC employees in the city and 4,000 in the province. [10]
In November 2021, Amazon announced that it was going to construct its second Canadian cloud-computing server hub in Calgary. Amazon plans to invest $4.3 billion on the project by 2037 through construction, utility costs, and buying goods and services from local businesses. The project is planned to create about 950 direct and indirect jobs. [11] In September 2022, global tech-giant Infosys launched the Infosys Digital Center in downtown Calgary and announced that it will bring 1000 jobs to the city and double its workforce commitment across Canada to 8000 employees by 2024. [12]
Employment Outlook
Employment prospects for professional, scientific and technical services are expected to be very good in Alberta from 2023 to 2024. Investments in new technologies from both public and private sources is expected to drive this outlook.
According to Alberta Enterprise Corp. the number of tech companies in the province has more than doubled in recent years. Since 2018 the number of tech companies in the province grew from 1,238 to more than 3,000 at of the end of 2020. [13]
There will be robust investment into hydrogen energy in the short to medium term. A report from the Transition Accelerator for the Calgary Region Hydrogen Task Force states that Alberta is “superbly positioned” to be a leader in the emerging hydrogen economy. The report also identified about $4.6 billion per year in market potential for fuel hydrogen production in the Calgary region. [14] Any new investments in the sector will be supported by the new Clean Hydrogen Investment Tax Credit, which covers between 15-40% of eligible project costs, announced by the federal government in the 2023 budget. [15]
Alberta's Broadband Strategy, an investment of $369 million over three years to help connect businesses in remote areas, will enhance the connectedness of rural Alberta businesses and support the adoption of information and communication technologies. Budget 2023 also proposes to renew investment in Alberta's Technology and Innovation Strategy, which seeks to position Alberta as an internationally recognized technology and innovation hub. Meanwhile, the proposed funding for the province's Digital Accelerator Program will digitalize government services, potentially providing procurement opportunities to local technology businesses. Alberta's budget also proposes to address labour shortages for in-demand and emerging jobs, investing $176 million to address labour shortages in key economic sectors and $111 million to expand post-secondary enrolment in programs tied to in-demand roles, including in energy, technology, and business. [16]
Endnotes
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Statistics Canada (March 18, 2021). North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Canada 2017 Version 3.0: 541 - Professional, scientific and technical services. ↑
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Statistics Canada (2022). 2021 Census of Population. ↑
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Government of Alberta (Accessed March 28, 2023). Carbon capture, utilization and storage. ↑
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dmg events (Canada) inc. (September 14, 2022). dmg events to host Global Carbon Capture Convention in Edmonton Canada. ↑
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Pathways Alliance (January 04, 2023). Detailed evaluation to begin on Pathways Alliance proposed carbon storage hub. ↑
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Pathways Alliance (February 22, 2023). Pathways Alliance carbon capture and storage network moves to design stage. ↑
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Edmonton Journal (November 08, 2022). Feds, Alberta government to fund more than $470 million in new blue hydrogen energy complex. ↑
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Canadian Consulting Engineer (September 20, 2022). WSP to design CP Rail's hydrogen refuelling facilities in Alberta. ↑
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TechTalent.ca (June 05, 2021). India's Mphasis Promises To Create Over 500 Tech Jobs In Calgary. ↑
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BetaKit (July 22, 2021). RBC Launching Calgary Innovation Hub, with Plans to Hire 300 Employees. ↑
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CBC News (November 08, 2021). Amazon to open cloud computing hub near Calgary with promise of $4.3B investment, 950 jobs. ↑
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ITWorld Canada (September 27, 2022). Infosys opens in Calgary with plans to create 1000 local jobs by 2024. ↑
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CBC News (November 08, 2021). Amazon to open cloud computing hub near Calgary with promise of $4.3B investment, 950 jobs. ↑
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Calgary Economic Development (February 02, 2023). Feasibility Study Demonstrates Calgary Regions Potential as A Major Hydrogen Hub. ↑
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Government of Canada (March 28, 2023). Budget 2023: A Made-in-Canada Plan: Strong Middle Class, Affordable Economy, Healthy Future. ↑
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Government of Alberta. Budget 2023 Highlights. Accessed April 12, 2023. ↑
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