Wood Buffalo, Grande Prairie and Regina hottest job markets: Study

St. John's and Edmonton round out top 5

Wood Buffalo, Alb. — home to Fort McMurray — is the hottest job market in the country, according to a study released by Express Employment Professionals. Grande Prairie, Alb., Regina, St. John’s and Edmonton round out the top five.

“The provincial unemployment rates simply don’t give you an accurate picture of the job scene on the ground in Canada. This study shows there are hot job markets across the country, even in provinces with high unemployment rates,” said Bob Funk, CEO of Express Employment Professionals. “The west leads the nation in terms of job markets, but you can also find areas of high demand for labour in Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.”

There are hot job markets from seven provinces in the top 20 rankings nationwide. Alberta has five of the top 10 rankings. In Ontario, Cambridge, Guelph and Mississauga are in the top 20 job markets. To compile the results, a list of the 100 most populous municipalities was cross-referenced with the average of the number of available jobs on July 15, 2014, and Aug. 15, 2014, as identified by the federal Job Bank maintained by Employment and Social Development Canada.

“Retail sales persons and sales clerks” dominate as a category across Canada as the most available types of jobs throughout the country, found the study.

“In the current employment environment, eliminating the option of relocation can be a deciding factor in finding a job,” said Funk. "There is no doubt that moving is stressful, but new opportunities are available if you are open to new locations."

Top 20 job markets in Canada

Rank

Municipality

Province

Population

Jobs per 1,000 people

1.

Wood Buffalo

AB

65,565

13.71

2.

Grande Prairie

AB

55,032

11.61

3.

Regina

SK

193,100

9.56

4.

St. John's

NL

106,172

9.49

5.

Edmonton

AB

812,201

8.63

6.

Saint-Hyacinthe

QC

53,236

8.52

7.

Drummondville

QC

71,852

7.91

8.

Red Deer

AB

90,564

7.33

9.

Saskatoon

SK

222,189

6.82

10.

Calgary

AB

1,096,833

6.32

11.

Lévis

QC

138,769

6.04

12.

Blainville-Sainte Thérèse

QC

79,535

6.02

13.

Cambridge

ON

126,748

5.57

14.

Guelph

ON

121,688

5.40

15.

Moncton

NB

69,074

5.25

16.

Mississauga

ON

713,443

5.24

17.

Granby

QC

63,433

5.04

18.

Vancouver

BC

603,502

4.77

19.

Strathcona County

AB

92,490

4.72

20.

Victoria

BC

80,017

4.72

The full Top 50 Hot Job Markets study is available online.

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