Energy workers in the United States are being lured to Canada with the promise of high paid new jobs. In the western province of Alberta, the vast deposit of oil sands in the region are being tapped by energy companies, with Canada hoping to be able to increase production by 50% by the end of this decade. In order to do this, it is going to need more workers – up to tens of thousands of them – to agree to move to this rather cold and empty place, although the weak economy in the United States will certainly assist with this goal.
Canadian employers are swarming all over YouTube, radio advertisements and job fairs in the United States, as well as making use of headhunters, in order to persuade unemployed Americans to head north. With an employment rate of 10.2%, California is one state which has become a prime target, with recruiters from Canada next month heading to Coachella Valley job fair in order to woo construction workers left idle by the housing meltdown.
“California has a lot of workers and we hope they come up,” says Edmonton Economic Development Corp’s executive director, Mike Wo.
Nor is the United States the only place where Canada is hunting for workers. Provincial officials in Alberta have been trying to convince tradespeople from Scotland, Ireland and other European nations to move to the province, which is tipped to have a worker shortage of 114,000 by 2021.
Jon Huser