CANADIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Construction drives Canadian job growth

Wednesday, 14 November 2007

According to a new Statistics Canada study, the construction industry in Canada has seen an increase of 62,400 workers since October 2006. The growth represents a 5.8% increase in the overall size of the Canadian construction labour force.

By contrast, overall employment growth in the Canadian economy was 2.5% during the same period.

Much of the growth in employment is being driven by Canada’s western provinces: Alberta and British Columbia. Alberta, with it’s massive resource base, is experiencing a shortage of construction workers and trades people that is hampering the ability of local industry to move large-scale projects forward. British Columbia’s private and public sectors are investing heavily in infrastructure development in advance of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver-Whistler. B.C’s unemployment rate is a very low 4.4%.