Labour Market Monitor - Cape Breton
December 2011
The Labour Market Monitor is a monthly report providing a summary of labour market news and events for the Cape Breton Economic Region of Nova Scotia. The Cape Breton Region includes Cape Breton, Inverness, Richmond and Victoria counties.
Labour Market News by Industry
Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
Georgia Pacific announced that it will idle its Inverness County mining operations in Melford and Sugarcamp for an indefinite period. The result will be a layoff of 34 workers at the two sites, expected to take effect in mid December of 2011. The company had previous layoffs of 12 people in November and an additional 15 in October of 2011. The company has said that the current layoff can be attributed to North American market conditions and the weaker U.S. dollar. The company has stated that it is an indefinite idle, and has not termed it a closure or shutdown. After the layoffs, there will be eight employees remaining to maintain the work sites. (Cape Breton Post - December 2)
Construction
The Province of Nova Scotia announced a $610M capital budget for 2012-13 that will fund 150 projects. The plan includes $281M for highways, $158M for building projects and $57.2M for information technology. The provincial government estimated that the capital spending would create 4,500 full-time jobs. (Cape Breton Post - December 10)
Work is underway on improvements to wharf infrastructure at several harbours in Victoria County. Funding for the work includes $1.2M provided by the Small Craft and Harbour Branch of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. (Cape Breton Post - December 12)
Manufacturing
Four companies have submitted bids to purchase the New Page Port Hawkesbury Limited property and assets. The investment banks overseeing the sale will evaluate the offers until December 30 and select a preferred buyer. The choice of preferred buyer will be presented to Nova Scotia Supreme Court officials for approval on or before January 20, 2012. Paper Excellence Canada Holding Corporation and Pacific Western Commercial Corporation were two companies making final offers that are seeking to operate the mill if successful in their bid. (Port Hawkesbury Reporter - December 21)
The Province of Nova Scotia announced a $300K loan to Billdidit Inc. of Sydney. The investment will allow the company to expand the development of its unique accessories for drummers and add new products, including some which are non music related. (Chronicle Herald - December 21)
Retail Trade
Dockmates, a family clothing store located in Glace Bay, will close by the end of January 2012. The closure will affect two full time employees. (Cape Breton Post - December 30)
Accommodation and Food Services
The Keltic Lodge in Ingonish is one of three Signature Resort properties which will receive upgrades as part of a $3.1M investment of funding announced by the Province of Nova Scotia. The investment is intended to enhance the customer experience, and includes items such as new carpets, bed, furniture and televisions. The Province of Nova Scotia also announced an extension of the contract with New Castle Hotels and Resorts to manage the properties. (Chronicle Herald - December 20)
Public Administration
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has confirmed that the Service Canada Community Offices in the communities of Isle Madame and Cheticamp will remain open until March 31, 2013. HRSDC conducted community consultations as required by Canada's Official Languages Act two months ago, and will now take a 15 month period to review the results of the consultations. (Port Hawkesbury Reporter - December 21)
Note: In preparing this document, the authors have taken care to provide clients with labour market information from reliable sources that is 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