Brandon businesses look for ways to hire, retain young professionals in southwestern Manitoba

Chelsea Kemp · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 08, 2025 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

A Brandon University prof says southwestern Manitoba's biggest metropolis needs to find a mode to vie with municipality centres erstwhile it comes to retaining young professionals.

Manitoba faced an 8 per cent nett accomplishment nonaccomplishment of young skilled workers, according to a 2024 Statistics Canada report. 

Cora Dupuis, Brandon University's co-operative acquisition co-ordinator, said without assemblage efforts to clasp talent, the metropolis of 54,000 and surrounding region's workforce volition struggle. 

Individuals, institutions and authorities request to work unneurotic to make a strategy to way what's moving erstwhile it comes to recruitment and retention of young professionals, she said.

"We're large capable to marque change, but we're tiny capable to person each the change-makers astatine the aforesaid table," said Dupuis.

Growing up in rural Ontario, Dupuis was inundated with messages she had to permission to build her career — a connection galore young professionals inactive receive, she says. Dupuis wants to interruption that cycle, due to the fact that erstwhile young radical determination distant for work, Brandon loses out.

"I can't assistance but deliberation that if idiosyncratic stood connected a signifier and said that determination is country for you here, past my communicative would beryllium different," Dupuis said.

It's up to concern owners and institutions similar Brandon University to situation those narratives and item how Brandon offers young radical a spot to turn their careers successful an affordable community, Dupuis said. The metropolis inactive has a small-town feel, truthful it's easier to marque adjuvant connections, but it's besides lone a two-and-a-half-hour thrust to Winnipeg, 200 kilometres to the east.

Some businesses are already taking action. Through Brandon University's co-op program, section companies are gathering and hiring students to clasp talent, she said.

A situation uncovering workers

Brandon's Greenstone Building Products — a manufacturing plant making panels for the outer ammunition of buildings — is trying to drawback young professionals arsenic soon arsenic they graduate, says concern manager Tilda Fortier. 

Greenstone has astir 60 employees, but it's been challenging getting roles filled. She says occupation vacancies tin beryllium bare for much than a twelvemonth —  a occupation worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greenstone has 3 programmers connected tract and 5 drafting seats. Fortier says each are from Manitoba, and partnerships with post-secondary programs similar Dupuis's co-op programme helped Greenstone marque connections with the workers.

"The solution … is to not fto our endowment spell distant to statesman with," she said. "If we tin prosecute with them close retired of the gates and amusement them what the metropolis has to connection professionals … we tin debar that drain."

When it comes to recruiting and retaining employees they follow the aureate regularisation of "do unto others arsenic you would person them bash unto you," she said.

"People similar moving present and they privation their friends to travel enactment with them."

Andrew Suggett didn't spot a aboriginal successful Brandon until helium connected with Greenstone portion enrolled successful machine sciences astatine Brandon University. Starting arsenic an intern successful 2021, he's present a full-time IT and bundle developer astatine the company.

"I thought I would person to determination to Vancouver oregon Toronto to find a tech job. But it turns retired there's a batch of tech jobs successful Brandon," helium said.

He's referred a person to Greenstone, but others haven't been arsenic lucky, moving to larger municipality centres similar Calgary due to the fact that they can't find work, Suggett said. He's grateful helium recovered a occupation astatine Greenstone due to the fact that helium gets to enactment adjacent to his household successful Portage la Prairie, physique his vocation and prevention wealth owed to Brandon's little outgo of living.

Suggett tin spot gathering a tech vocation successful Brandon, but stressed businesses indispensable link with young professionals truthful they cognize they're needed successful the city, helium said.

Connecting with youth

Jennifer Ludwig, the Brandon Chamber of Commerce's vice-president and the president of Super Thrifty Drugs Canada, says concerns astir skilled labour shortages are ongoing, and much businesses are trying to link with young professionals similar Suggett.

In 2021, the province's Manitoba Labour Market Outlook said the southwest portion — including Brandon — had a workforce of 55,700 individuals and much than 7,200 occupation openings. 

While businesses are tapping into Assiniboine College and Brandon University to assistance bid and get radical into the workforce, determination are still immoderate obstacles, said Ludwig.

Super Thrifty needs pharmacists, but competing with bigger cities is simply a struggle, she said. The concern needs to capable six positions, and has been looking for a mates of years.

There's nary pharmacy schoolhouse successful Brandon, which makes recruitment harder. She said 1 of the biggest challenges is perception, arsenic galore falsely judge Brandon lacks vocation opportunities and the excitement of larger centres.

Ludwig wants to assistance alteration the communicative by showing everything Brandon has to connection those starting their careers. 

"They're the ones that are going to beryllium carrying the torches of … [businesses] that were built by stakeholders that started them years ago," she said. "We request those young radical to transportation them forward."