It pays more to work in Alberta

The Alberta and Ontario professional engineering associations have published the results of their latest salary surveys, reflecting the situation at June 2003. The surveys show Alberta engineers slightly ahead of Ontario when comparing all industries. The Alberta survey summary also showed that the consulting industry in that province pays salaries below the median for other industries.
The study by the Alberta Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists was summarized in their newsletter, the PEGG. The Ontario study was summarized in the Professional Engineers Ontario’ Engineering Dimensions.
Both studies separate the engineers studied into six levels, with level A being the least experienced (engineers in training) and level F being the most senior engineers, either managers or specialists. Alberta also had a Level F+ category for the highest executives, but Ontario did not report the salaries at this level.
In most categories engineers in Ontario were shown earning slightly less than their colleagues in Alberta. For “All Industries” Alberta reports a median salary for F-level engineers at $122,400, compared to $110,000 in Ontario. At the C-level Alberta engineers earned a median of $69,489, while Ontario engineers earned $68,436. Only at the lowest level A did Ontarians slightly edge out Albertans, with a median salary of $50,000 compared to $49,704.
In terms of the overall rate increase compared to 2002, the Alberta study suggests that engineers at the highest levels are being rewarded more generously than those lower down in the hierarchy. Taking mean figures, senior engineers at level F in Alberta were given an increase of 3.8%, whereas those at level A received only 1.6%. The executive engineers at level F+ received increases at 6.9%.
The Alberta summary in the PEGG also published individual tables to compare salaries in different industries. This showed that the median salary paid by consulting services was generally lower. The median of $100,200 for F-class senior management engineers in consulting compared to $122,400 for all industries. The median for C-class project engineers in consulting was $57,000, compared to $69,489 in all industries. And the median for class-A engineers in training in the consulting industries was $43,035 compared to $49,704 for all industries.
The Ontario summary did not tabulate salaries for individual industries, or give salaries at the highest executive level. The summary gave the median salary overall for all industries at $80,000, reflecting an increase of 2% from last year. However, the summary noted that the Consumer Price Index rose 2.5% during the same period.
More detailed results for Ontario are available from Professional Engineers Ontario (www.peo.on.ca) at a cost of $85.
The Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta are issuing complete results of their survey to members in November, posted at www.apegga.org.