.
Ever-since Klein gutted the system, many professionals (doctors/nurses/teachers) have demanded much greater wages to come to  Alberta, couple that with the $$$$$ the oil corporations were paying, these wages have caused  Alberta to have the highest cost of living index in Canada.

Thus/so, many of the "civil servants/professionals" may earn more in Alberta, yet, due to the expense side of the ledger and costly real-estate/hydro, they re actually not better  off
than they would be in other provinces.
.