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In the mining sector alone, employers will need to hire as many as 8,000 people in the next year — engineers, geologists, geophysicists and skilled tradespeople, Paul Hébert, executive director of Canada's Mining Industry Training and Adjustment Council, said in an interview.

Alberta becoming the new oil mecca


By Ethan Caleb » Want to know the best place to find high-paying employment in Canada? In a scenario reminiscent of the oil-fuelled jobs boom in the Middle East over the last few decades, Alberta is laying out the red carpet for workers as its already booming economy aims for the stars.

The western Canadian province has some 179 billion barrels of reserves in Alberta's oil sands - second in the world only to Saudi Arabia. With oil and gas prices expected to remain high for years to come, and costs of extraction having dipped since 2000, local and international oil companies such as Total and Shell are rushing in to take advantage.

That means a huge demand for workers - and Alberta simply doesn't have enough of them.

Opportunities abound not only within the core oil sector, but has spilled over into every support industry as well.

Take an electrician for example. Many of those employed in the trade are heading to Alberta from Atlantic Canada, where salaries are around $18-20 an hour. In Alberta, the going rate for the same job is anywhere between $30 and $60 an hour.

"I haven't seen any paycheques that I can personally verify, but from what I hear it is unreal. They say it's nothing to make $5,000 a week," says Bill Dixon, executive director of the Moncton Northeast Construction Association in New Brunswick.

"It's hard to get your head around the fact that a pipe fitter can go someplace and make $160,000," adds Steve Graves, president of the Mainland Nova Scotia Building Trades Council.

The latest statistics confirm what is already well known: that Alberta's economy is simply red-hot - and getting hotter by the day.

The provincial unemployment rate is just 3.1%, the lowest in 30 years, and less than half the national average. In February 2006 alone, some 25,000 new jobs were created in the province. Ninety-six percent of provincial industry associations say they are either already facing major worker shortages or expect to within the next five years.

Some 40% of Alberta manufacturers are reporting a shortage of skilled labour and more than half of all employers surveyed say they're having trouble finding workers.

Worker shortages have spread to virtually every sector in the province, from retailing to manufacturing, high-tech and consumer services.

"I wrote a report in January 2005 talking about the shortage of skilled labour. But now there's a shortage of labour, period," says Todd Hirsch, chief economist at the Canada West Foundation.

"Whether it's skilled or unskilled, it almost doesn't matter who you are or what sector you're in. We're running into shortages."

If that sounds like glorious opportunity for job-seekers, it gets even better. Within a decade, forecasters say some 400,000 more jobs will be created in Alberta, with only 300,000 new workers available to fill them, implying a shortfall of 100,000 workers.

Mike Glennon, executive director of the Athabasca Regional Issues Working Group, says the 23 oilsands producers that his group represents are all scrambling to find workers in a region that ranks as the hottest of Alberta's many economic hot spots.

"It's a huge issue. Syncrude, for example, even on the operational side, is running 200 to 250 people short constantly," he says.

With $45 billion worth of oilsands construction on the agenda between 2005 and 2010, Glennon says the number of construction workers needed in the Fort McMurray region alone will swell to 26,000, up from 10,000 to 12,000 now. On the operations side, the workforce will swell to 9,000 from just 6,000 to 7,000 today, he adds.

Brian McCready, vice-president for the Alberta and Saskatchewan division of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said companies in Alberta are at the "critical point" now.

"Every manufacturer I talk to, they all need people," McCready said. "We need engineers. We need skilled labour. We need people that want to learn. So we're at a critical juncture."

He said annual wage increases in the province are around seven per cent, more than double the average in other parts of the country.

"It (the labour shortage) is a significant challenge for all industries, not just oil and gas," adds Greg Stringham, vice-president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

In response, companies are really laying out the red carpet for workers.

Canadian Natural Resources built its own airstrip, and is flying in thousands of workers directly from around the country to work on its Horizon oilsands project.

Producers are also actively recruiting workers in regions where forestry and manufacturing jobs are being lost, such as B.C., Saskatchewan and Ontario.

The province is also actively wooing immigrants, and expects to more than double its normal annual intake. Job fairs are also being held outside Canada, notably in the UK, Germany and France.

Long-term, the immigration strategy is the one that will make most sense, say some leading economists, among them Rick Egelton, chief economist at BMO Financial Group.

"We're (already) seeing a significant net inflow of people from outside Alberta coming into the province every month," he said.

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Originally posted by desi in ottawa

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060314.manpower0314/BNStory/Business/home

In the mining sector alone, employers will need to hire as many as 8,000 people in the next year — engineers, geologists, geophysicists and skilled tradespeople, Paul Hébert, executive director of Canada's Mining Industry Training and Adjustment Council, said in an interview.

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