What are the rules for servers in Alberta?
The short answer
Alberta at a glance
| General minimum wage | $15.00 since June 26, 2019 |
|---|---|
| Special rates | Students under 18: $13 an hour for the first 28 hours a week in school term, and all regular hours on school breaks. |
| Are your tips protected? | No provision found. No tip-ownership or tip-pooling provision found. The Employment Standards Code only says tips aren’t “wages” (s. 1(1)(x)(iv)). That isn’t the same as “no rule”; check with Alberta Employment Standards. |
| Sick days | No paid sick leave found. Personal and family responsibility leave: up to 5 unpaid days per calendar year after 90 days. Long-term illness and injury leave: up to 27 weeks per calendar year, with a medical certificate. |
| Breaks | Shifts over 5 hours and under 10: at least one 30-minute break. Shifts of 10 hours or more: two. Paid or unpaid at the employer’s discretion, but paid if your activities are restricted. |
What servers earn: Job Bank reports a median of $18.00 an hour for food and beverage servers (NOC 65200) in Alberta. Job Bank says these figures include tips; they’re workers’ usual wages.
What’s different in Alberta
A wage that hasn’t moved. The $15.00 floor dates to June 26, 2019. The $13 student rate covers the first 28 hours worked in a week while school is in session, and all regular hours during school breaks. Any hours past 28 in a school week have to be paid at $15.00 or more.
No tip provision found. Alberta’s Employment Standards Code says tips and gratuities aren’t “wages,” and that’s the only mention we found. There’s no section we could find on who owns a tip, whether an employer can keep one, or how a pool has to run. That isn’t proof there’s no rule. Before you accept or refuse a tip-out, ask Alberta Employment Standards.
Those 5 days are unpaid. Plenty of people search “5 paid sick days alberta,” but Alberta’s 5 days are personal and family responsibility leave, and your employer doesn’t have to pay you for them. You qualify after 90 days with the same employer, and unused days don’t carry over. For a long illness, long-term illness and injury leave gives up to 27 weeks per calendar year with a medical certificate.
Pay reported by servers. Job Bank reports a median of $18.00 an hour for food and beverage servers in Alberta, above the $15.00 floor. Job Bank says its figures include tips and reflect workers’ usual wages.
Breaks. Work 10 hours or more and you get two 30-minute breaks. Your employer decides whether breaks are paid, unless it restricts what you can do during them.
Official sources
Last verified
. Checked the provincial pages above, the Government of Canada minimum wage database, and Job Bank 2025 wages.