Labour Market Monitor - Cape Breton
September 2011
The Labour Market Monitor is a monthly report providing a summary of labour market news events for the Cape Breton Region. The Cape Breton Region includes Cape Breton, Inverness, Richmond and Victoria Counties.
General Events
The minimum wage in Nova Scotia will increase to $10 per hour as of October 1, 2011. The minimum rate for inexperienced workers (less than 3 months experience) will rise to $9.50 per hour. (Inverness Oran, September 28, 2011)
Labour Market News By Industry
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
The province of Nova Scotia released a seven point plan designed to keep the woodlands operation going during the New Page shutdown in order to help facilitate a possible resale of the mill. The plan includes expanding the province's silviculture program for 2011 and 2012 to provide work for approximately 300 people which comprise existing silviculture contractors and crews, as well as work to stockpile wood for future use. (Port Hawkesbury Reporter, September 14)
A catch and relocation plan for harbour marine life prior to the Sydney harbour dredging project began on September 19. The three month program will see 42 fisherpersons employed to move as much marine life from the seabed as possible before the dredging work begins. Those working on the marine relocation program will be paid based on an eight hour day, with skippers earning $41 per hour and helpers paid $30 per hour. (Cape Breton Post, September 20)
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
Petroworth Resources has been granted approval by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Energy to drill an exploratory onshore oil well in Lake Ainslie. The company plans on drilling a vertical exploration well to a depth between 1200 and 1500 feet. The approval includes requirements to do water sampling before and after drilling, and also includes plans to address waste, noise and air quality. (Cape Breton Post, September 21)
Manufacturing
The Stirling Pharma Inc. pharmaceutical plant in North Sydney has been put up for sale by the receiver for the company. The 46,000 square foot pharmaceutical plant located in the Northside Industrial Park had been previously owned by Keata Pharma Inc and was acquired by Stirling Pharma Inc. in March 2010. The tender for the plant and its assets will close November 10, 2011. (Cape Breton Post, September 27)
Retail Trade
Sobey's announced that its Price Chopper grocery store on Kings Road in Sydney will close at the end of business on September 10, 2011. The announced closure follows a detailed market analysis and review of the Sobeys owned stores in the local area. The 37 employees at the store which will be affected by the closure will be offered comparable jobs at other Sobeys and Price Chopper stores in the area. (Cape Breton Post, September 1)
The Sydney Zellers location will become a Target store. The leases of the Zellers chain were acquired by the U.S. retailer Target earlier in 2011. (Cape Breton Post, September 28)
Transportation and Warehousing
The province of Nova Scotia announced that funding for the Cape Breton & Nova Scotia Railway will continue for the next three years. The agreement allows the railway to access up to $2 million in annual funding for working capital and maintenance costs. (Cape Breton Post, September 30)
Administrative and Support, Waste Management and Remediation Services
Lexon Communications, a new company formed by two workers facing job loss at the Signature Styles call centre, plans to establish a home based call centre operation in the local area. The company hopes to provide employment for up to 200 people working from their homes to respond to inbound customer service calls for one on Canada's largest wireless providers. The starting wages will be $11.38 per hour and workers will be able to choose the schedule that best works for them, but must work at least 20 hours per week. (Cape Breton Post, September 3)
Note: In preparing this document, the authors have taken care to provide clients with labour market information from reliable sources that are timely and accurate at the time of publication. Since labour market conditions are dynamic, some of the information presented here may have changed since this document was published. Users are encouraged to also refer to other sources for additional information on the local economy and labour market. Information contained in this document does not necessarily reflect official policies of the department.For more information contact: ns-info-ne@servicecanada.gc.ca or visit our website at Working in Canada