Fractional HR vs. In-House HR: What’s the Real Cost for Edmonton & Calgary Businesses?

If you’re running a growing business in Edmonton or Calgary, you’ve probably felt this tension:

“HR is taking way too much of my time… but I’m not sure I’m ready for a full-time HR hire.”

That gap between “we’ll just figure it out” and “we have a full HR department” is exactly where many Alberta businesses get stuck—and where they take the most risk.

This post breaks down the real-world costs and trade-offs between fractional HR and in-house HR, so you can decide what makes sense for your team right now.

The HR Problem Most Growing Businesses Face

Here’s the typical pattern we see with Edmonton and Calgary clients:

• HR lives with the owner, controller, or office manager

• Issues are handled reactively (when something breaks or someone complains)

• Policies are out of date or copied from the internet

• Recruitment, onboarding, and performance management are inconsistent

• You’re starting to worry about compliance and liability

At some point, you ask:

• “Do we need to hire a full-time HR person?”

• “Can we just bring in HR support a few days a month?”

Let’s look at both options.

Option 1: Hiring an In-House HR Manager

An in-house HR Manager becomes a permanent employee on your payroll, fully embedded in your culture and day-to-day operations.

What you get with in-house HR:

• Dedicated on-site presence – someone in the building every day

• Deep knowledge of your business – they learn your people, history, and quirks

• Immediate response – employees can walk down the hall with questions

• Ownership of HR projects – policies, programs, and initiatives can be built and maintained internally

The real cost of in-house HR:

When owners think about hiring HR, they usually think only about base salary. The full cost is more than that:

• Base salary

• Employer payroll costs

• Benefits (health, dental, insurance, etc.)

• Vacation and sick time

• Training and professional development

• HR tools and software

• Office space, equipment, and onboarding

Once you add everything up, a full-time HR Manager is typically a significant annual investment.

For many small and mid-sized businesses (especially under roughly 75 employees), that’s a big spend for a role that may not be fully utilized year-round.

Option 2: Fractional HR / Managed HR

Fractional HR (sometimes called managed HR or outsourced HR) gives you access to a team of HR professionals for a set number of hours or days each month, instead of hiring one full-time employee.

You still get strategic and operational HR support—but in a right-sized, flexible way.

How fractional HR works:

Every provider is a bit different, but typically you get:

• A primary HR partner who gets to know your business

• A defined number of hours or days per month• Access to a broader team of specialists (recruitment, investigations, compensation, labour relations, etc.)

• Support delivered on-site, virtually, or a blend of both

• The ability to scale up or down your hours as your business changes

What you get with fractional HR:

• Strategic HR leadership – workforce planning, org design, leadership coaching

• Operational support – contracts, policies, onboarding, performance management

• Compliance and risk management – staying current with legislation and best practices

• Project work – handbooks, org changes, investigations, training, etc.

• A sounding board – someone to talk through sensitive people decisions

Cost profile of fractional HR:

With fractional HR, you’re usually paying a predictable monthly fee rather than salary plus overhead.

You’re not paying for:

• Downtime or underutilized capacity

• Benefits and employer contributions

• Vacation, sick days, or leaves

• Ongoing training, conferences, or certifications

• Office space and equipment

For many organizations under approximately 75–100 employees, this makes fractional HR more cost-effective than a full-time hire, while still giving you senior-level support.

Side-by-Side: Fractional HR vs. In-House HR

Cost structure

• Fractional HR: Monthly fee; you pay for what you need.

• In-House HR Manager: Full salary plus benefits and overhead.

Expertise

• Fractional HR: Access to a team with varied specialties.

• In-House HR Manager: Depth depends on one person’s experience.

Flexibility

• Fractional HR: Can scale hours up or down as you grow.

• In-House HR Manager: Fixed full-time capacity.

Risk coverage

• Fractional HR: Team backup if someone is away.

• In-House HR Manager: Single point of failure if your HR person leaves.

On-site presence

• Fractional HR: As needed, often a mix of on-site and virtual.

• In-House HR Manager: Typically on-site full-time.

Best for

• Fractional HR: Small and mid-sized businesses with growing HR needs.

• In-House HR Manager: Larger organizations with steady, full-time HR work.

Scenario 1: 25-Person Trades or Construction Company (Edmonton)

• The owner and office manager currently juggle HR.

• Issues are starting to pop up around safety, performance, and terminations.

• There isn’t enough work for a full-time HR Manager, but the risk feels high.

In-house HR:A full-time HR Manager is probably overkill at this size, and a big fixed cost.

Fractional HR:A few days per month (with the ability to ramp up during busy seasons) typically covers:

• Contracts and offer letters

• Safety and HR policies

• Performance conversations and documentation

• Terminations and risk management

• Basic recruitment and onboarding support

For most businesses at this stage, fractional HR is the clear winner.

Scenario 2: 60-Person Professional Services Firm (Calgary)

• You’re in a competitive talent market.

• You want to get better at recruitment, career development, and retention.

• HR is too complex for the office manager, but you’re unsure if a full-time role is justified.

In-house HR:You may get someone strong, but if their experience is narrow, they might struggle with the mix of strategy, recruitment, coaching, and compliance your firm needs.

Fractional HR:With a fractional model, you can:

• Have a strategic HR lead guide leadership on structure and culture

• Tap into specialists for recruitment, compensation, or investigations as needed

• Ramp effort up during growth phases and pull back once systems are in place

Here, fractional HR often delivers more expertise per dollar, with flexibility to grow into an in-house role later if needed.

Scenario 3: 120+ Employee Organization (Alberta-Wide)

• Multiple locations, layers of leadership, and constant HR activity

• Ongoing needs in labour relations, investigations, performance management, and recruitment

At this size, a hybrid model often works best:

• In-house HR to handle high-volume, day-to-day needs

• Fractional HR to provide senior strategic support and specialized expertise (for example, complex investigations, restructuring, leadership development)

Beyond Cost: The Strategic Side of HR

It’s tempting to look only at the numbers, but there are non-financial factors that matter just as much.

1. Risk and compliance

• Are your contracts and policies current and Alberta-appropriate?

• Are performance issues and terminations documented properly?

• Are you ready if an employee makes a complaint or brings a claim?

Fractional HR teams are usually exposed to many employers and situations, which means they bring current, tested practices into your business.

2. Leadership support

   
   

HR isn’t just paperwork. It’s about supporting your leaders to:

• Have difficult conversations

• Give meaningful feedback

• Navigate conflict and change

• Build a healthy, high-performing culture

Whether fractional or in-house, you need HR that coaches and challenges your leaders—not just processes forms.

3. Continuity and backup

With a single in-house person:

• If they go on leave or resign, you’re suddenly without HR.

With a fractional HR team:

• There’s built-in backup and continuity, even if your primary contact is away.

How to Decide What’s Right for Your Business

Ask yourself:

1. How many employees do we have, and how fast are we growing?

   1. Under roughly 75 employees: fractional HR often makes more sense.

   2. 75–150 employees: hybrid models can work well.

   3. 150+ employees: in-house HR team, supplemented by specialists.

2. Do we have steady full-time HR work, year-round?

   1. If not, paying full-time salary for part-time work doesn’t make sense.

3. Are our HR needs mostly operational, mostly strategic, or both?

   1. Fractional HR can give you senior strategic thinking plus hands-on help without the cost of a full-time senior hire.

4. How comfortable are we with our current level of HR risk?

   1. If you’re losing sleep over HR issues, you likely need more experience in the mix, fast.

Where Stoppler Hughes Fits In

At Stoppler Hughes, we provide fractional HR support for Edmonton and Calgary businesses who are:

• Big enough that HR is too complex to DIY

• Not yet at the stage where a full HR department makes sense

• Wanting practical, business-minded HR, not bureaucracy

We act as your on-call HR department, giving you:

• A dedicated HR partner who knows your business

• Access to a broader team for specialized needs

• Flexible support that grows with you—from a few days a month to a more integrated model

Not Sure Which Option Fits? Let’s Talk.

If you’re weighing fractional HR vs. in-house HR for your Edmonton or Calgary business, you don’t have to figure it out alone.

We can walk through:

• Your size, structure, and growth plans

• The kind of HR issues you’re dealing with right now

• The level of support you actually need (and don’t need)

Contact us today to schedule a conversation about the most cost-effective HR model for your business.