Alberta public service managers quietly received a double-digit per cent pay increase late last year, according to documents reviewed by Postmedia.
A job posting from last October for an executive director role in one of the government's ministries listed a salary range of $136,631 to $179,559. More recent and current job postings for executive director roles list the salary range as between $153,903 and $202,256, a 12.6 per cent increase from the fall for both the minimum and maximum salary.
The increases were implemented last December, with the government citing significant recruitment and retention issues for management employees.
The timing of the non-union adjustments is driven largely by the results of collective bargaining, according to a document circulated to government staff. If these adjustments were not made, some frontline managers would be compensated less than their staff. The document states the adjustments were in line with standardized benchmarks applicable to all public sector employers.
Management received a 2.4 per cent increase effective April 1, following a three per cent increase the year before and another three per cent increase that took effect in September 2023.
A statement from the office of Finance Minister Jason Nixon stated the government supports recruitment and retention within the public service and noted unionized government employees had recently received a raise through the collective bargaining process. Bargaining unit employees received a three per cent increase under the most recent negotiated collective agreement, adjusted down for senior officials, resulting in an estimated $4.8 million in savings for taxpayers.
The changes also affected some chiefs of staff positions, which were reclassified as executive director roles. The government said the new classification better reflects the complexity and scope of those jobs, and that the change applies to department public service workers, not in ministerial offices.
The government employed 1,782 people who earned over $130,042 in 2024, the most recent year with full data available. The management salary adjustments come as eight government MLAs serving as parliamentary secretaries began receiving a newly-approved $6,000 annual allowance.
