Could Alberta's job market become a federal election issue?

Nicholas Frew · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 22, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Matthias Friedel has witnessed up adjacent shifts successful the section labour marketplace implicit the past 5 years, erstwhile helium took implicit arsenic the Edmonton-based subdivision manager for Prime Staffing, an employment agency.

A disturbing trend, however, has been its excavation of occupation seekers much than doubling from astir 20,000 to 44,000 successful that time, helium said. The clientele of employers has grown, too, but not astatine the aforesaid rate.

"It's a spot of a scary time, due to the fact that truthful galore radical are looking for enactment and past there's conscionable not capable jobs," Friedel said.

As the predetermination nears, the large national governmental parties are mindful astir keeping Canadians employed and creating caller jobs amid the U.S. commercialized war. But national information shows Canada — including Alberta — is experiencing a competitory labour market, with comparatively high unemployment and fewer occupation vacancies.

In Alberta, after record colonisation maturation in recent years, astir 260,000 much radical person jobs compared to September 2021, erstwhile the past national predetermination was held, according to Statistics Canada information that was adjusted for seasonality.

The province's unemployment complaint was 7.1 per cent arsenic of March — less than 1 percent constituent little compared to September 2021, information shows. The occupation vacancy complaint also dipped from 4.5 per cent to 2.9 per cent arsenic of January, the latest period for which that information was available.

"[Those indicators] are showing, essentially, a labour marketplace that is beauteous slack. In essence, it favours the employers," said Pedro Antunes, main economist for the Conference Board of Canada, an autarkic probe firm.

Friedel, from Prime Staffing, said it seems employers are alert of that.

The agency, which links radical to impermanent enactment arsenic good arsenic imperishable positions, vets candidates truthful it tin lucifer them appropriately with antithetic jobs. But successful the past year, more companies person been particular with who they instrumentality on, helium said.

"They don't conscionable privation anybody. They privation idiosyncratic determination who is competent, who does person Skill X, Y and Z to implicit the job, truthful it is simply a spot of a seamless transition," Friedel said.

Last fiscal year, much than 784,000 Albertans attended employment centres — which connection resources and instrumentality to assistance radical with this similar vocation readying and occupation searches — and workshops and "labour marketplace transportation events," according to a spokesperson for the Office of Seniors, Community and Social Services Minister Jason Nixon.

The ministry expects request for "employment supports" to increase, the spokesperson said.

Budget documents amusement it earmarked astir $185 cardinal this twelvemonth for vocation and employment services for "underemployed and unemployed" Albertans. The spokesperson said the wealth is expected to assistance 40,000 radical find and support jobs this year.

But Antunes, the economist, said occupation instauration could hinge connected the commercialized warfare with the United States.

The U.S. authorities started imposing tariffs connected definite Canadian imports past month. Now, the U.S. and China — the world's 2 largest economies — are trading taxation barbs that, Antunes said, are hurting different countries.

Uncertainty created astir whether tariffs are applied, not the taxes themselves, are the problem and volition prehend up consumer and concern spending — "the large drivers of the economy," he said.

"We're going to spot businesses truly basal disconnected and hold to spot wherever this is going," helium said, noting that could impact occupation creation.

"It's the aforesaid for user assurance due to the fact that … they're precise disquieted astir the fiscal situation, astir aboriginal occupation prospects."

Some of the national parties person promised to make opportunities successful assorted ways, specified arsenic pushing homebuilding, starting infrastructure projects similar pipelines and investing successful circumstantial industries, specified arsenic lumber and manufacturing.

The Conservatives and Liberals, specifically, person besides vowed backing for apprenticeships to assistance much radical spend grooming and get opportunities to participate the skilled trades workforce.

For Friedel, successful Edmonton, occupation instauration would origin into who gets his vote, helium said.

"When we're creating these jobs, it's not lone for now, but hopefully for the future," helium said.

"I cognize these things instrumentality time. So I'm hoping that whoever gets elected does spot that and say, 'Hey, this is scary. So galore radical are looking for work.'"

Election time is April 28.