MyCLPNA
HCAs in Alberta: Statistics from the 2023 CLPNA Annual Report
The Annual Report of the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA) includes statistics gathered from the Alberta Health Care Aide (HCA) Directory. Every year, we share these statistics with stakeholders, including HCAs.
Some highlights from the 2023 statistics include:
- The number of HCAs on the Directory went up 4.9%. There are now 34,523 HCAs on the Directory as of December 31, 2023.
- The average age of HCAs is 42.7. Most HCAs work in Calgary (34.9%) or Edmonton (33.7%).
- A large share (39.6%) of HCAs work full time, while 38.5% work part time.
- A majority (57.6%) of HCAs on the Directory work in long-term care, with an increasing number working in hospitals (13.1%) and community health (11.1%). In addition, 10.9% work for home care agencies.
- Almost 80% of HCAs in Alberta work in publicly funded settings.
- Most (65.6%) of HCAs on the Directory have Certified status, meaning that they received an HCA certificate in Alberta.
For more information, please see the full report:
Focus on Data
The Alberta HCA Directory provides workforce data to the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), covering areas such as demographic information, education, and employment trends. A pilot project, conducted between 2020 and 2022, culminated in the first edition of HCA data published by CIHI. During that period, Alberta was the only province in Canada with comprehensive data to analyze.
This data supports better understanding of HCAs, who they are, and their role on the healthcare team. CIHI identified a few key takeaways based on Alberta’s data:
- The number of HCAs employed are comparable with the number of Registered Nurses, making HCAs one of the largest healthcare provider groups in the province.
- There are higher numbers of HCAs in the younger and older age groups compared to nurses.
- The HCA workforce speaks almost 100 different languages, with 46.8% speaking more than one language.
The HCA Directory will continue to work with CIHI to support better understanding of the HCA role, responsibilities, and workforce.