(File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Job Growth

Northern Saskatchewan near the top of list for recent job growth in Canada

Oct 22, 2021 | 3:53 PM

Some of the best job growth in the country is happening in Northern Saskatchewan.

According to Statistics Canada, around 1,800 positions were added in Prince Albert and other communities last month.

This was tied for the tenth most among all regions in Canada with the only places with higher numbers being major urban centres. This includes Calgary, Edmonton, Hamilton, and Toronto.

There are 66 regions Statistics Canada records data for.

The other four in Saskatchewan, Regina-Moose Mountain, Saskatoon-Biggar, Swift Current-Moose Jaw, and Yorkton-Melville, all saw lower totals.

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Yorkton-Melville was the only one, besides Prince Albert and Northern, to see an increase.

Joel Bruneau, department head of economics at the University of Saskatchewan, told paNOW he doesn’t believe this rise is entirely COVID-19 recovery-related.

“The industries that drive the northern economy seem to be doing pretty well and that seems to be driving this recent trend.”

This includes the forestry and mineral sectors as lumber and uranium prices are ‘way up.’

The sectors seeing the biggest monthly increase were construction and manufacturing as they alone accounted for approximately 1,200 spots.

The wholesale and retail trade and educational sectors also each added 500 positions.

At the start of the pandemic, the region saw a big drop in the number of jobs.

In March 2020, around 97,600 individuals across Northern Saskatchewan had a job. By June 2020, the number was down to approximately 89,500.

Unlike major cities, which were hit very hard and continue to rebound, the region was able to recover much quicker.

In July, around four months after the pandemic started, around 3,700 jobs were added.

The number of positions has been hovering above 94,000 ever since, officially peaking over 100,000 last month marking the first time this has happened since September 2016.

Bruneau adds when regions with smaller populations see a big rise, it’s usually because of big projects, however, in this case, he can’t think of any.

“That suggests it’s fairly widespread. It’s across the entire north.”

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow