Canada's Hottest Jobs, 2011

With the price of oil sky high, Canada and Alberta’s economy are starting to really take off. I believe Oil Sands construction and conventional oil and natural gas exploration are the biggest drivers in our economy right now. Mining continues to be a very hot sector for employment but the wheels of mining companies turn slower than those of Oil & Gas. So what jobs are really taking off? Our hottest job is for Heavy Duty Mechanics with a pay rate of $51.11 per hour plus $2000 per month for accommodation, and great benefits. Project managers might be the hottest job ad in the country with hundreds of new jobs being advertised weekly.
So mining, oil and gas and related industrial construction are quite hot right now, but what other sectors are seeing huge hiring and job posting? Manufacturing is up 87% over January last year but is not seeing the volume of job advertisements, possibly due to the ease of companies finding candidates. The Canadian economy is definitely rebounding which is shown by the Accounting, Retail, Health Care and Construction, Financial Service and Banking industries all leading employment in Canada with over 50% growth over last year.
Edmonton, Calgary and Toronto continue to be the leading cities for Job opportunity and the desire of candidates to go there. Fort McMurray is a close 4th in construction job searches, as this small oil sands boom town outpaces job searches for Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto.
69,000 jobs were gained in January 2011, but what are we going to see for February from Statistics Canada? I think we will see BC growing more jobs with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba all increasing their job opportunities. Speaking with a young Industrial Electrician last week my advice was “Go west, young man.”