Would-be Canadian immigrants who need a job offer to make their hopes of getting a visa a reality, may be wise to start their job hunt in the province of Saskatchewan.
New figures show that Saskatchewan posted one of the strongest rates of year over year job growth in Canada, with 5,200 more people working in the province in January 2016 compared to January 2015.
That’s an employment growth rate of 0.9 per cent, third best in Canada and ahead of the national growth rate of 0.7 per cent. Six provinces lost jobs over the past year, including Alberta which lost 38,100 jobs and Manitoba which lost 7,900 jobs.
What’s more, as of January 2016, Saskatchewan’s unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent – the lowest provincial unemployment. The national average unemployment rate is 7.2 per cent. In fact, Saskatchewan has maintained the lowest unemployment rate in the country for 27 of the last 28 months.
“Saskatchewan has still managed to maintain the lowest unemployment rate for a considerable time – due in large part to our strong, diverse economy,” Immigration, Jobs, Skills and Training Minister Jeremy Harrison said. “We are seeing many employers still looking for workers, including K+S Potash who are looking to fill 100 jobs in various positions as they complete the Legacy mine project at Bethune.”
Major year-over-year employment gains were reported for health care and social assistance up by 5,000 people; information, culture and recreation up 5,000 people; trade up 3,400 people; and professional, scientific and technical services up 2,300 people.