Calgary

Calgary among the six largest metros

Calgary's labour market is the strongest of the six largest metropolitan areas. The unemployment rate is 6.6%, the lowest of the six and down from 7.8% a year earlier, and employment is 6.2% above a year ago, the largest increase. The employment rate of 66.7% is the highest. Metropolitan labour figures come from a sample survey and move more than provincial ones, so the size of the gap matters more than the exact rank, but on each of these measures Calgary is first.

Population is also growing quickly. It grew 2.9% in the year to July 2025, second only to Edmonton, and net interprovincial migration added 11 thousand persons in the latest annual figure, the second-largest inflow after Edmonton. Immigrants numbered 29 thousand and net non-permanent residents 9,608.

Housing: building fast, prices flat

Builders started 2,535 homes in September 2026, narrowly the most of the six, and 26,252 homes are under construction. The new-home price index was unchanged on a year earlier (0.0%), while two-bedroom rents in purpose-built buildings averaged C$1,908 in the October 2025 survey, third of six, with a vacancy rate of 4.9%, the highest of the six. Heavy building, a high vacancy rate and flat new-home prices together are consistent with supply catching up with demand, though these data do not test that explanation.

Output and industry

Gross domestic product at basic prices was C$130.0 billion in 2022, 24.0% higher than five years earlier in current dollars, which include inflation. Manufacturing shipments in August 2026 were 20.0% above a year earlier. Consumer prices rose 3.4% in the year to September 2026, the second highest of the six.

What it means for decisions

For an employer, Calgary has the fastest job growth and the lowest unemployment of the six; the data held here do not show wages. For a builder or lender, the combination of heavy building and the highest vacancy rate is the number to watch. For a household moving there, jobs are the strength and inflation the weakness.

What the data cannot say: they do not give wages, rents on the whole housing stock or resale prices, they are metropolitan totals and the survey is a sample. Nothing here is a forecast.

1. Jobs: 1.1 million people are employed, 6.2% against a year ago; unemployment is 6.6%. The employment rate, 66.7%, is 1st of 6 among the six. Labour

2. Prices: inflation is 3.4%, 2nd of 6 among the six metros. The city index is held here for all items only. Prices

3. People: the population changed 2.9% in the year to July 2025, 2nd of 6 among the six metros. Population

4. Housing: new-home prices changed 0.0% in the twelve months to September 2026, with 26,252 homes under construction. CMHC puts the additional starts needed each year at 4,000 to 5,000. Housing

5. Industry: manufacturing shipments are C$1.7 billion a month, 20.0% against a year ago. Industry

6. Connections: most links that reach Calgary are national or provincial; the one measured for the city is a correlation between oil prices and employment. Connections

What happened

At basic prices and in current dollars, the Calgary economy produced C$130.0 billion of output in 2022, the latest reference year in Statistics Canada's table, equal to 28.5% of Alberta's total of C$456.4 billion. Among the six large metropolitan areas it ranked 4th of 6 by size.

Measured in current dollars, output was 72.4% higher in 2022 than in 2009 and 16.8% higher than in 2019. Alberta as a whole was 92.7% higher than in 2009 and 34.4% higher than in 2019. Over the same period since 2009 the other metropolitan areas grew 54.6% in Edmonton, 85.0% in Toronto, 98.1% in Vancouver, 75.3% in Montréal and 61.1% in Ottawa–Gatineau (Ontario part).

Why it happened

Not assessed. The table is in current dollars, so these changes include price increases, and it is not divided by population, so the figures do not separate growth in the number of people from growth in output per person. This section cites no source that explains the differences between metropolitan areas.

Why it matters

GDP at basic prices is the broadest measure of local production that Statistics Canada publishes for metropolitan areas. It shows how large the local economy is and how its share of the provincial total compares, but not who earns the income, what is produced, or how the economy is doing now.

History

The series starts in 2009 and ends in 2022. A fall in output in any year in between would show in the chart; no year-by-year explanation is offered here.

Across geographies

What it influences

Not assessed. No relationship in the recorded graph links metropolitan output to another variable.

Risks

The table ends in 2022 and describes nothing since; it cannot show the effects of recent changes in interest rates, trade policy, population or commodity prices on Calgary.

What to watch

Statistics Canada's next release of table 36-10-0468-01. No release date for it is in the calendar this site holds, and none is assumed.

What happened

Calgary's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate (three-month average) was 6.6% in October 2026, from 7.8% a year earlier. For comparison: Edmonton's 7.1%, Toronto's 7.1%, Vancouver's 6.7%, Ottawa–Gatineau's 7.1%. Employment of 1.1 million changed 6.2% over the year, against 3.0% in Edmonton, 1.9% in Toronto and 1.2% in Vancouver.

The participation rate is 71.4% and the employment rate 66.7% (1st of 6 among the six areas, against 63.8% in Edmonton and 62.2% in Toronto).

Why it happened

The data show where Calgary stands, not why. Since the end of 2019 employment has changed 27.1% in Calgary, 12.7% in Edmonton and 10.9% in Toronto; the data held here cannot say why those paths differ.

Why it matters

Jobs matter for household income and housing demand. The employment rate says more than the unemployment rate about how much of the adult population is working, because people who stop looking for work leave the unemployment count.

History

Over ten years Calgary's unemployment rate has averaged 8.0%, with a high of 15.5% in June 2020 and a low of 5.1% in August 2022.

Across geographies

Calgary's rate minus Edmonton's is -0.5 percentage points. As context, on a different definition (monthly, province-wide), Alberta's unemployment rate is 7.3% and Canada's 6.7%; these must not be read against the metropolitan three-month averages.

What it influences

Jobs matter for household income and housing demand in the region. The relationship explorer lists the national and provincial links that reach the city, each with its evidence class.

Risks

Not assessed: the exposure of Calgary's employment to particular industries or to US demand. Annual employment by industry is held for the metropolitan area but describes the mix of jobs, not exposure.

What to watch

Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey (release dates in the calendar).

What happened

Calgary's consumer prices were 3.4% higher in September 2026 than a year earlier (from 2.1% a year before), against 3.5% in Edmonton, 2.1% in Toronto and 3.0% in Vancouver, and 3.1% for Canada.

Why it happened

Why it matters

The CPI measures changes in prices, not their level, so a rate of change says nothing about how expensive the city is. Calgary's rate ranks 2nd of 6 among the six large metropolitan areas and a year earlier it was 2.1%; a rate that is falling or rising against its own recent past tells more than its rank. Because the index covers all items together, it cannot show whether housing, food or energy explains the difference.

History

Calgary's rate has averaged 2.9% over ten years and peaked at 9.6% in June 2022.

Across geographies

Calgary's rate minus Canada's is 0.3 percentage points.

What it influences

Inflation bears on wage bargaining, the policy rate and mortgage renewals; those links are national and not measured for the city.

Risks

Not assessed for Calgary specifically: the national risks are energy prices and tariffs (see the Canada report).

What to watch

Statistics Canada's monthly Consumer Price Index release (calendar).

What happened

The Calgary metropolitan area had 1.8 million residents on July 1, 2025, a change of 2.9% from a year earlier. Over five years it changed 20.1%, against 15.8% in Edmonton and 9.5% in Toronto. In the latest year the rates were 3.1% in Edmonton, 0.0% in Toronto and 0.2% in Vancouver.

Why it happened

This is the provincial and national explanation; the metropolitan data end in July 2025, before the 2026 decline, so they cannot show it. The components of the metropolitan change are shown below.

In the demographic year that began in July 2024, the Calgary metropolitan area recorded 19 thousand births and 9,538 deaths, 29 thousand immigrants, a net change of 9,608 non-permanent residents, net interprovincial migration of 11 thousand and net intraprovincial migration (movement to and from the rest of the province) of -2,790. The year before, immigrants numbered 31 thousand and the net change in non-permanent residents was 49 thousand. Net non-permanent residents averaged 21 thousand a year over the latest five demographic years.

Why it matters

Population growth adds workers and households, which can add to demand for housing and services.

History

Over ten years the population changed 29.6%.

Across geographies

Alberta's population changed 1.5% in the more recent year to 1 July 2026, against 0.3% in Ontario; Alberta's net change in non-permanent residents over the same four quarters was -7,957. These are provincial figures.

What it influences

Risks

Not assessed: the effect of the federal immigration levels plan on Calgary specifically.

What to watch

Statistics Canada's quarterly provincial and annual metropolitan population estimates and the federal levels plan.

What happened

Calgary started 24,403 homes over the past twelve months and completed 23,827. At the end of September 2026, 26,252 were under construction, 2.1% against a year earlier (Toronto 88,108, Vancouver 61,680, Edmonton 18,494).

The New Housing Price Index for Calgary is 129.7, 0.0% on a year ago and 11.0% since February 2022. Vancouver's index changed -2.1% over the year and Toronto's -4.9%. Index levels are not comparable across cities because each is indexed to its own base.

Why it happened

The data show how much is being built and what is happening to new-home prices; they do not separate demand, land and construction costs, interest rates and incomes.

Posted mortgage rates are national. Since the first week of January 2026 the posted five-year rate has changed by +0.10 percentage points and the posted one-year rate by -0.35 percentage points, to 6.19% and 5.49% in the week of 28 October 2026 (see the Canada report).

Why it matters

Housing is a large household expense. A supply gap estimate is CMHC's model-based figure, not a forecast of what will be built.

History

The monthly peak of units under construction in the past ten years was 26,633 in January 2026.

Across geographies

On the six-city comparison, units under construction changed 2.1% in Calgary, -4.2% in Toronto, -2.3% in Vancouver and 4.0% in Edmonton over the twelve months to September 2026. The gap estimates in CMHC's summary table differ widely: Toronto 20,000 to 26,000 units a year, Vancouver 5,000 to 7,000, Montréal 42,000 to 56,000, Ottawa 22,000 to 27,000, Edmonton no measurable housing supply gap.

What it influences

The Bank of Canada describes a link between mortgage costs and housing, and CMHC a link between supply and affordability; neither is estimated for Calgary.

Risks

What to watch

CMHC's monthly starts, Statistics Canada's New Housing Price Index and building permits (release dates in the calendar), and the Bank of Canada's next announcement on 9 December 2026.

What happened

Calgary manufacturing shipments were C$1.7 billion in August 2026, a change of 20.0% from a year earlier and 80.5% from December 2019, against 46.6% over the year in Edmonton, 11.6% in Toronto and 21.2% in Vancouver. The latest shipments of petroleum and coal products for Calgary are suppressed by Statistics Canada and are not shown.

Building permits for the metropolitan area (all types) totalled C$9.2 billion over the twelve months to August 2026, -2.6% on the twelve months before.

The Labour Force Survey's annual estimates for 2025 put 14.3% of Calgary's employment in professional, scientific and technical services, 9.2% in construction, 4.9% in manufacturing and 4.7% in the resource group (forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas).

Why it happened

The metropolitan shipments series is not broken down by industry here, so this report cannot say which products drive Calgary's shipments or how much of the change is price or volume.

Why it matters

Manufacturing was 4.9% of Calgary's employment in 2025, so shipments describe one part of the metropolitan economy. No evidence in the relationship graph measures how much of Calgary's output or employment depends on oil prices.

History

Calgary's manufacturing shipments peaked at C$1.7 billion in August 2026, the highest in the past ten years.

Across geographies

As provincial context only: energy products made up 76% of Alberta's domestic merchandise exports in 2025 and 85% of those exports went to the United States, while the resource group (forestry, fishing, mining, quarrying, oil and gas) employs 5.6% of Alberta's workers and construction 10.0% (shares of employment, 2025). These are provincial shares and must not be read as describing Calgary.

What it influences

Calgary's manufacturing and construction activity feed local employment and incomes. The explorer records documented exposures for the province, and an observed correlation between oil prices and metropolitan employment (see the connections section), none of which is a measured effect on Calgary.

Risks

Not assessed: the exposure of Calgary employment and output to industry-specific shocks.

What to watch

Statistics Canada's monthly manufacturing survey and merchandise trade releases (calendar).

What happened

In the 2021 Census, 617 thousand jobs were located in the Calgary metropolitan area (people who worked at home or had a usual workplace there; people with no fixed workplace address are not in the table). The three largest sectors were Health care and social assistance (14.2% of jobs), Professional, scientific and technical services (12.9%) and Retail trade (12.5%).

Measured as its share of jobs divided by the other five metropolitan areas' combined share (among sectors that make up at least one fiftieth of Calgary's jobs), the sector in which Calgary stood furthest above the rest was Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction: 4.8% of its jobs, against 1.8% in Edmonton, 0.2% in Toronto, 0.3% in Vancouver, 0.2% in Montréal and 0.1% in Ottawa–Gatineau.

Why it happened

Not assessed. The table counts jobs by sector at one date and says nothing about why a metropolitan area has the mix it has. This section cites no source that explains Calgary's industry structure.

Why it matters

The industry mix shows what a local economy does for a living, which bears on how it is exposed to changes in demand, prices and policy. It does not measure output, wages or how the economy is performing; those need other tables.

History

Not available from this table: the Census is taken every five years and the platform holds only the 2021 reference week (May 2021). Annual industry employment for the metropolitan area comes from the Labour Force Survey and is in the industry section of this page.

Across geographies

The six metropolitan areas come from one table with one definition, so the shares can be compared with one another. They are shares of jobs located in the area, not of residents' employment, and not comparable with provincial Labour Force Survey industry shares, which use a different survey, year and definition. Alberta is not described here.

What it influences

Not assessed. No relationship in the recorded graph links the metropolitan industry mix to another variable.

Risks

What to watch

The release of 2026 Census results on industry for metropolitan areas. No release date for them is in the calendar this site holds, and none is assumed.

What happened

Most recorded connections that reach Calgary are provincial or national. Alberta's exposure to the United States was 85% of its goods exports in 2025; the national export shares that year were 72% to the United States and 4.5% to China.

Twelve-month changes in oil prices and in metropolitan employment are compared in the relationship graph only for Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto, with same-month correlations of 0.37, 0.41 and 0.37. This city is one of the three compared.

Why it happened

Not assessed. This edition cites no source on Calgary's particular trade or investment links, and no data are held.

Why it matters

The currency, interest rates and trade partners that matter for Calgary are covered at national level in the Global report: one US dollar cost C$1.4135 on average in October 2026; Canada's posted five-year mortgage rate is 6.19%, which rose 0.10 percentage points over the past year. The US ten-year Treasury yield is 4.84% and Canada's ten-year yield 3.67%; how much of any move in either reaches Calgary's housing market is not measured here.

History

Not assessed.

Across geographies

What it influences

Three chains bear on Calgary: US trade measures to exports (hypotheses nationally, with a sourced provincial statement), rates to mortgage costs and housing (documented nationally) and immigration policy to population (documented nationally and, with no measured size, for the metropolitan area).

Risks

Not assessed beyond the national risks in the Canada report and the global risks in the Global report.

What to watch

The Bank of Canada's next announcement on 9 December 2026, tariff changes and Statistics Canada's monthly trade release (calendar).