Labour

Businesses in Alberta's Industrial Heartland (AIH) employ a labour force of approximately 7,000 people with companies that range in size from several employees to several hundred employees.  The skilled workforce in the region includes everyone from tradespeople to environmental specialists to human resources to engineers.

To ensure that Alberta's labour force remains abundant, highly skilled, and well trained, the Government of Alberta continues employ its ten year labour force strategy (Building and Educating Tomorrow's Workforce). This strategy aims to attract and retain employees and further develop Alberta's labour force through education and training. A variety of provincial and federal funding initiatives have been directed toward this strategy and will continue in the future.

Initiatives like the provincial labour force strategy, Edmonton Economic Development Corporation's Edmonton Workforce Connection, and others are paying off. Chemistry Industry Association of Canada's 2009-2010 Competitiveness Scorecard for the Chemical Sector reveals that the province of Alberta provides superior labour skills training, and industrial chemicals labour productivity consistently surpasses the US benchmark. For a more detailed look at the Competitiveness Scorecards for Alberta and Canada, click here.

For a forecast of the labour demand and supply over the next decade, visit the Construction Sector Council's website. Their forecast data now extends to 2018, and provides labour forecasts for more than 30 skilled construction trades, markets for trades and occupations, retirement patterns in construction trades, and potential for labour mobility.

Additional Labour Resources

• Alberta Finance and Enterprise
• Alberta Regional Labour Market News
• Alberta Wage and Salary Survey
• Labour Force Survey - Statistics Canada
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety
• Industry Canada