Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - Oct 2006
There is a growing chorus of concern among the business community in Atlantic Canada over the Maritimes' declining labour force.
Mike Lee, vice-president of human resources at Moosehead,, Canada's largest independent brewery, is experiencing difficulty finding young professionals for higher-level positions with the company, including its management team. "Our biggest issue is recruiting future leaders - the mid-management people, the younger people," said Lee in a recent interview. "They're engineering grads, professional people who have completed undergraduate degrees and have four or five years experience. These folks seem to be heading out West or they're just not available."
Both skilled and unskilled workers are leaving New Brunswick for high-paying jobs in places like Alberta. According to Statistics Canada, New Brunswick had a net loss of 2,047 people during the first six months of 2006. Alberta was the top destination.
"It's not just us," Lee said. "Where are the new companies in Atlantic Canada going to get their leaders?"
New Brunswick's newly elected Liberal government is focused on bringing workers back to the province. Premier Shawn Graham made depopulation a major issue during the recent election campaign. Business New Brunswick Minister Greg Byrne said the government will have to be aggressive." We are going to have to deal with training issues and we have to get a handle on where the shortages are and the skill sets we need to train for," Byrne said.
While their main objective is to repatriate New Brunswickers back to the province, the boom in Alberta shows few signs of abating and the Maritimes may have to turn to other sources, such as immigration, to fill their labour needs. Bob Manning, chairman of the Saint John Board of Trade, indicated that the labour shortage in New Brunswick is quickly moving from serious to critical.
"A lot of firms are telling me they are experiencing shortages now and others are bracing for problems in the near future," Manning said. "It's a serious problem today. I think within the next six months to a year it definitely will become an acute problem in the region."
"You have to factor in the quality of life," Manning said, when speaking of the advantages of the Maritimes over the Western provinces. He also pointed to the rapidly increasing cost of housing in Western Canada as major disadvantage of living in the region. Manning now sees �good, sustainable work in the region out past 10 years."
In addition to opportunities at a company like Moosehead, the energy sector in New Brunswick is expected to grow rapidly in the following years with the construction of pipelines, an LNG terminal and a possible $7-billion oil refinery in Saint John. This would indicate that New Brunswick is not only an attractive destination for those with post-secondary education, but for skilled tradespeople as well.
Source: Canadian Press, October, 12, 2006
