Job prospects Massage Therapist (MT) in Alberta

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "massage therapist (MT)" in Alberta or across Canada.

Job opportunities in Alberta

These outlooks were updated on November 29, 2023.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Massage therapists (NOC 32201) in Alberta for the 2023-2025 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a few new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.

Alberta’s population and its proportion of residents aged 65+ are predicted to increase over the next 20 years, contributing to demand for this occupation. Alberta’s Budget 2023 allocates $24.5 billion for health services in 2023-24, an increase of $965 million or 4.1% from 2022-23. Alberta plans to reform the management structure of Alberta Health Services this year which may have implications for job seekers.

Here are some key facts about Massage therapists in Alberta:

• Approximately 5,800 people work in this occupation.
• Massage therapists mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Ambulatory health care services (NAICS 621): 77%
  • Personal and laundry services (NAICS 812): 15%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 48% compared to 80% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 52% compared to 20% for all occupations
• 20% of massage therapists work all year, while 80% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 35 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• 77% of massage therapists are self-employed compared to an average of 15% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 13% compared to 53% for all occupations
  • Women: 87% compared to 47% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 10% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 6% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 14% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 64% compared to 19% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 13% compared to 21% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 9% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in Alberta by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology