August 17, 2023 — Personal support workers (PSWs) are an important part of the health workforce, caring for some of Canada’s most vulnerable populations. CIHI has been working on advancing comparable pan-Canadian PSW data, including developing data standards and piloting a data submission project to assess data quality and comparability. This page includes the most recent data from the pilot project.
Key findings
In 2022,
- 27,242 personal support workers (PSWs)Footnote iwere employed in Alberta. This number decreased by 2,165 between 2021 and 2022 (an annual decrease of 7%). This decline may be partly due to factors such as shifts in employment from the public to the private sector, pandemic-related leave or PSWs leaving their profession.
- The majority of the PSW workforce (61%) reported part-time or casual employment status.
- More than 40% of PSWs in the workforce reported working more than 37 hours per week.
- The majority of PSWs in Alberta were employed in nursing homes or long-term care facilities (59%) or in community health agencies (22%). The number of PSWs employed across different sectors of care varied.
- Compared with 2021, there were 385 more PSWs employed in nursing homes or long-term care facilities (6% increase), 35 more employed in hospitals (1% increase) and 84 more employed in other sectors, such as private nursing agencies and self-employment (7% increase).
- 450 fewer PSWs were employed in community health agencies (7% decline).
- There were 39,396 PSWs listed in Alberta’s Health Care Aide Directory who were eligible to practise.
- The majority of PSWs in Alberta were younger than 60, with the highest count (28%) observed in the 40 to 49 age group. The average age of PSWs in the province was 45, reflecting a relatively youthful supply .
- Among those PSWs who reported gender, 89.2% of the overall PSW supply in Alberta reported their gender as female and 10.7% as male.
- About half (47%) of Alberta PSWs spoke more than one language (i.e., English plus at least one other language).
Featured material
Data tables
These tables are meant for analysts, researchers and those who want to explore and analyze the raw data.
Access 3 years of supply, workforce, employment, education and demographic trends for Alberta’s personal support workers.
Methodology notes
These notes are meant for all data users.
They summarize the sources, definitions, strengths and limitations of the data available.
Report
Recommendations for Advancing Pan-Canadian Data Capture for Personal Support Workers
Learn about CIHI’s recommendations for advancing PSW data.
Contact
Footnote
- i.
- Back to Footnote i in text
- Data on Alberta PSWs is likely to be under-reported since enrolment in Alberta’s Health Care Aide Directory is mandatory only for PSWs working in the public sector. PSWs who work in the private sector are not mandated to register in the directory to maintain employment. For more information, see the methodology notes.