Labour Market Monitor - Halifax
June 2010
This is an overview of the Halifax Region which includes all of Halifax County. It consists of dense urban areas, as well as less populated communities. The Halifax County line starts along the coast just west of Hubbards and runs along the coast including Dartmouth, Lawrencetown, Tangier, Sheet Harbour, and Moser River. Communities along the top of the border include Enfield, Milford, Upper Musqoudoboit, and Dean.
The Labour Market Monitor is a monthly report focusing on Labour Market Information.
Labour Force Trends
The labour market in Halifax expanded in June 2010 compared with the same month last year. Employment increased by 2,300 on a year-over-year basis. The increases in full-time work (3,200), was partially offset by a small decline in part-time work. The labour force expanded by 1,800 during the same period. With labour force growth being outpaced by employment growth, the level of unemployment decreased by 500 on a year-over-year basis, and consequently, the unemployment rate declined from 6.3 percent to 6 percent this month.
For more information, please visit the Statistics Canada website at: www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/lfss05b-eng.htm
| Halifax | June | |
|---|---|---|
| Region: 250 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Labour Force (000) | 232.1 | 233.9 |
| Employed (000) | 217.5 | 219.8 |
| Full Time | 179.2 | 182.4 |
| Part Time | 38.3 | 37.4 |
| Unemployed (000) | 14.6 | 14.1 |
| Participation Rate (%) | 72.4 | 72.0 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 6.3 | 6.0 |
| Data is 3 month moving average from the Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada | ||
Labour Market News by Industry
Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction
Endeavour Financial Corp., of the Cayman Islands, is acquiring the remaining 45 percent stake in Bedford's Etruscan Resources Inc. (www.etruscan.com) for $79 million. Endeavour purchased 55 percent of Etruscan in September 2009, which has gold and diamond mining interests in Africa. According to Etruscan's CEO, it is unlikely that Etruscan will remain in Halifax as it makes more sense to operate out of Europe, where it would be closer to its African mining interests. It is anticipated the transaction will close by the fall of 2010, if approved by shareholders in August. (Chronicle Herald, June 29)
Construction
The $500-million King's Wharf project (http://kingswharf.ca) on the Dartmouth waterfront began construction this month after a number of delays. First to be built will be a 90-unit apartment building and an 80-unit condominium building. Just over half of the condominium units have been sold, with prices on unsold units ranging in price from $279,900 to $650,000. King's Wharf is designed to include 1,300 condominium and rental units, a 200-room hotel and 300,000 square feet of office and commercial space. (Chronicle Herald, June 11)
The first stage of a housing and commercial development in Bedford West is set to begin this month, made possible with the new $21.6 million interchange connecting Bedford West with Larry Uteck Boulevard over Highway 102. Stonington Park, the first of five major residential phases, will be built on what was previously inaccessible land. According to the developer, West Bedford Holdings Ltd. (www.theparksofwestbedford.ca), this will be the largest planned community in Atlantic Canada. Long-term plans include a business park, a walkway connecting both sides of the highway, and homes for as many as 18,000 people over a 526-hectare area. (Chronicle Herald, June 23)
Manufacturing
The Defence Department has signed a $28.1 million deal with PCL Constructors Canada Inc. (www.pcl.com/Locations/), to build a new submarine maintenance facility and to upgrade its synchrolift at the naval dockyard. Including subcontractors, it is expected that about 150 people will work on the project, which is expected to begin in July 2010 and be completed in two years. Edmonton-based PCL opened its Atlantic Canada Office in Dartmouth in 2002 and has about $180 million worth of work currently underway in Nova Scotia. (Chronicle Herald, June 23)
Dartmouth's Cherubini Group of Companies (www.cherubinigroup.com) was awarded a contract worth $15 million to $20 million to construct the steelwork for an Ottawa bridge. According to Cherubini's general manager, all the fabrication will be done locally and then shipped to Ottawa. Cherubini is looking to expand its waterfront facility in Woodside in order to increase capacity, so it can complete all of its contracts, many of which are driven by the federal government's stimulus funding. (Chronicle Herald, June 11)
IMP Aerospace (www.impgroup.com) has started working on the first of ten CP-140 Aurora aircraft this month. The multimillion dollar project will replace the wings on the military's 30-year-old marine surveillance aircraft and will employ about 100 IMP workers until 2014. Most of the work will take place at IMP's facility at Halifax Stanfield International Airport, but some work will also go to IMP Aerospace Avionics in Hammonds Plains and to IMP's Amherst facility. The company is doing similar work for the Norwegian military and with more than 15 countries using the same aircraft, IMP has numerous potential customers. (Chronicle Herald, June 22)
Financially-troubled Scanwood Canada Ltd announced that it is laying off 35 workers in Dartmouth, just three months after receiving a $4.7-million loan through the Industrial Expansion Fund. The layoffs will occur September 1st, reducing the amount of staff to about 210 employees. According to Scanwood's CEO, greater automation with Halifax's new packing line eliminated the need for as many employees. It was also revealed that the company is looking to open a U.S. operation, which will require the expertise of its local employees. An anonymous source claims more people will be cut, but Scanwood's CEO would not comment on future layoffs, just stating that the company faces stiff competition and has been losing money for a year and a half. (Chronicle Herald, June 30)
Trade
Nova Scotia's Bragg Group of Companies is selling its five Pierceys (www.pierceys.ns.ca) hardware and building supply business in the Halifax area to Rona Inc. (www.rona.ca). The building supply chain plans to retain the retail stores and their staff, but it will take a while before Rona signs appear. Pierceys currently has more than 150 full-time and part-time employees working at its Halifax, Dartmouth, Tantallon, Elmsdale and Cole Harbour locations. When the transaction closes on June 21, the Rona chain will have gained a large fleet of trucks, 12 stores in Nova Scotia, and 31 stores in total in Atlantic Canada. (Chronicle Herald, June 17) The Taj Mahal and Tomavinos Cellar Ristorante, recently reopened at 5175 and 5173 South Street. A fire destroyed the South Street block on January 12th damaging the restaurants, along with the Cafe Chianti restaurant, which relocated to 1241 Barrington Street in May. (Chronicle Herald, June 30)
Transportation
US Airways (www.usairways.com) announced this month that it will offer three flights daily from Halifax to Philadelphia with a 50-seat regional jet operated by partner Air Wisconsin. According to an airline spokesperson, Philadelphia is the airline's international gateway and with Halifax offering U.S. Customs pre-clearance, it will make trips through Philadelphia much smoother. (Chronicle Herald, June 02)
The new $15-million Gateway Facilities ULC cargo facility officially opened at the Halifax International Airport Authority (www.hiaa.ca) this month. The temperature-controlled area of the facility boasts almost 40,000 square feet of runway accessible space and is the largest facility of its kind north of Miami. FedEx Express, Worldwide Perishables and WestJet are already using the complex, which has been operating since January. (Chronicle Herald, June 05)
Information and Culture
Thirteen technicians with EastLink's (www.eastlink.ca) community television operations across Nova Scotia have been laid off as part of countrywide layoffs. According to a company spokesperson, the layoffs will not affect local content such as sports coverage and community programming. EastLink has about 1,500 employees across Canada. (Chronicle Herald, June 18)
Halifax's PowerPost Ltd (www.powerpost.ca), Atlantic Canada's leading post production facility, is undergoing corporate restructuring after a 40 percent drop in revenues last year. According to PowerPost's owners, factors such as the economic downturn, funding challenges, and the financial instability of media giant Canwest negatively impacted the company's finances. The local film and television industry say PowerPost's loss could have a huge impact on the health of the industry in Atlantic Canada. The company has already had to lay off staff and reduce space, with more changes to come. (Chronicle Herald, June 06)
Finance/Insurance
Wells Fargo Financial Corp. Canada has closed more than 120 store locations, including nine in Nova Scotia, and will no longer offer new consumer loans in Canada. The company will instead focus on servicing existing real estate, auto and consumer loans. A Wells Fargo spokeswoman couldn't say exactly how many Nova Scotian employees would be affected, but stated that there are more than 450 workers based in Canada to support and service existing customers. (Chronicle Herald, June 11)
Real Estate
According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's Spring 2010 Rental Market Survey (www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca ), Nova Scotia apartment vacancy rates dropped by one percent over the past year. The numbers fell to 2.8 percent in April 2010, compared to 3.8 percent in April 2009. Halifax area vacancies fell to 2.5 percent , New Glasgow and Truro also saw declines, while Cape Breton and Kentville recorded higher vacancy rates. The average rent for a two-bedroom unit in April for Halifax was $881 per month, Truro was next at $749, followed by Cape Breton at $640 and Kentville at $619 per month. (Chronicle Herald, June 16)
Professional, Scientific and Technical
Public Works and Government Services Canada awarded almost $9 million in environmental services contracts to five Halifax area engineering firms. Stantec Consulting Ltd was awarded a contract valued at $2.5 million, Conestoga-Rovers & Associates Ltd contract is worth $2.1 million, AMEC Americas Ltd contract is valued at $1.8 million, Dillon Consulting Ltd. will provide $1.5 million in services, while a contract worth $900,000 was awarded to SNC-Lavalin Inc. Few specifics were provided on the individual projects. (Chronicle Herald, June 16)
TISA Canada, a Dartmouth office of a Texas-based company, has won a contract worth nearly $1 million to conduct non-destructive testing on navy ships. According to the manager of the company's eastern Canadian branch, workers will X-ray welds and look for flaws in steel with ultrasonics, with magnets and with different electrical instruments. The contract is a three-year standing offer, to provide testing at the navy's dockyard in Halifax. Located at Raddall Avenue in Burnside, the business typically has six workers on staff. (Chronicle Herald, June 11)
Health
Nova Scotia has agreed to increase the amount paid to pharmacies for dispensing drugs in the Pharmacare program by 1.9 percent. Under the new deal, the maximum dispensing fee paid by the province for most prescriptions will rise to $10.62, however according to the Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia (www.pans.ns.ca) it costs a pharmacy between $14 and $15 to fill a prescription. The association had feared the Health Department would follow Ontario's lead in eliminating professional fees that generic drug companies pay to pharmacies, which some believe has driven drug costs up. (Chronicle Herald, June 30)
Nine new nursing homes built by Halifax-based Shannex Inc. (www.shannex.com) officially opened this month across Nova Scotia. The complexes house about 30 to 60 people and are part of a $262-million continuing care strategy that was announced in 2006. The new facilities are located in Bible Hill, Sydney, Cole Harbour, Kentville, Greenwich, Brookfield, Bridgewater, Amherst, and Debert. (Chronicle Herald, June 11)
Arts, Entertainment and Recreation
The Daniel Nestor Tennis & Fitness Centre (DNTC) will become part of the Rocky Lake Common (www.rockylakecommon.com) sports complex being developed by Rocky Lake Development in Bedford. The DNTC (www.DNTC.ca) will be the first all weather, indoor/outdoor clay tennis facility in Nova Scotia and will include a small stadium suitable for hosting Tennis Canada sanctioned international events. Expected to officially open in November 2010, the total property also hosts an indoor ice rink and will also include a gymnasium, and fields for soccer, football and lacrosse. In May, the indoor Courtyard Tennis and Fitness Centre closed in Bayers Lake. (Chronicle Herald, June 04)
Note: In preparing this Labour Market Monitor, Service Canada has 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. Readers 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 Service Canada.For more information please contact your local Labour Market Information Analysts for Halifax:
neill.evans@servicecanada.gc.ca
or
glenn.yetman@servicecanada.gc.ca
or visit our website at: www.labourmarketinformation.ca