A labour market review predicts the Bow Valley’s demand for workers will remain high heading into summer.
Although there is a predicted slowdown for Alberta’s economy, with dropping oil prices and some economists predicting a rise in unemployment rates in the province, officials with the Bow Valley’s Job Resource Centre say they are as busy as ever.
A labour market review by the Job Resource Centre indicates the total number of job orders from Bow Valley employers for the six-month period ending Jan. 31 was consistent with last year – with a total of 3,246 positions – and continues to be busy since then.
“We haven’t seen a slowdown in Banff. Whatever is happening up north, or Edmonton and Calgary where a lot of those places live off the oil and gas industry, we haven’t seen in Banff and Canmore,” said Michel Dufresne, director of Bow Valley Job Resource Centre.
“What we’re hearing from our colleagues around the province is people are being cut back and laid off. What we’re hearing from businesses, except for the weird winter we’re having that’s affecting the ski business, we hear nothing related to the Alberta situation.”
The Job Resource Centre received 1,658 job orders from 329 Bow Valley employers for a total of 3,246 positions for the six-month period from Aug. 1, 2014 to Jan. 31, 2015. The total number of job orders was consistent with last year’s numbers for the same time period.
As usual, demand was highest in the food and beverage industry, with 30 per cent of job advertisements in the category. Trades and labour positions, such as apprentices, hotel maintenance, labourers and landscapers, made up about 18 per cent of the demand.
While there are other challenges with restrictions on the temporary foreign worker program, Dufresne said he expects a slowdown in Alberta’s economy may benefit Bow Valley employers in terms of the number of available workers.
“With the slowdown in Alberta, my take on it is that will mean less competition for workers,” Dufresne said. “We’re not in direct competition with Fort McMurray, but certainly there is some competition there. This summer there will be a lot less hiring up there and that usually helps us.”
The labour market review stated that average wages in Banff and Canmore increased by about eight per cent over the same period last year, while average housing rents in Banff increased 16 per cent overall and were 18 per cent higher in Canmore than the year before.
According to the review, the cost to rent a studio-bachelor suite in Banff rose 43 per cent, while average rents for one- and two-bedroom units increased by 17 per cent. Average rents in Canmore for three-bedroom units were up 25 per cent.
Based on the Job Resource Centre’s job boards, the average starting wage was $16.13 per hour, an eight per cent increase over the same period in 2014.
