Labour Market Monitor - Halifax
July 2011
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
Employment levels rose in the Halifax area over the past 12 months as nearly 1,000 workers found part-time employment. Full-time employment decline only slightly during that time. Although the area's participation rate has declined since last July, increases in the size of the working age population continued to fuel labour force growth. The area's unemployment rate was 6.4% in July 2011, up from 6.2% a year earlier.
For more information, please visit the Statistics Canada website at: www40.statcan.gc.ca/l01/cst01/lfss05b-eng.htm
| Halifax | July | |
|---|---|---|
| Region: 250 | 2010 | 2011 |
| Labour Force (000) | 240.2 | 241.5 |
| Employed (000) | 225.2 | 225.9 |
| Full Time | 186.7 | 186.4 |
| Part Time | 38.6 | 39.5 |
| Unemployed (000) | 15.0 | 15.5 |
| Participation Rate (%) | 71.9 | 71.3 |
| Unemployment Rate (%) | 6.2 | 6.4 |
| Data is 3 month moving average from the Labour Force Survey, Statistics Canada | ||
Construction
Manga Hotels (www.mangahotels.com) of Mississauga plans a $2-million renovation project over the next year on its recently purchased 104-room Radisson Suite Hotel in Halifax. Maxim Construction of Dartmouth will collaborate with Manga workers on the renovations. The two companies are also involved in earlier announced plans to build a 120-room Marriot Courtyard near the airport, beginning in September,2011. (Chronicle-Herald, July 5).
The Nova Scotia government will construct a $12.9-million facility in the Burnside Business Park to house the medical examiner's service. Work will begin in August, 2011 and will take about 14 months. (Chronicle-Herald, July 26)
Manufacturing
Unique Solutions (www.uniqueltd.com), a Dartmouth company with 32 employees, plans to hire 11 more. The company has received a cash infusion from a United States company which will allow it to open more than 300 of its body scanning kiosks across North America by 2013. The scanners, used by cloths shoppers, are put together in Dartmouth from components made in Philadelphia and China. (Chronicle-Herald, July 28)
A half-million dollar Fisheries and Oceans contract has gone to Canadian Maritime Engineering Ltd. (www.cmelimited.com) to carry out the refit of the coast guard ship Edward Cornwallis. The company will carry out the work at Bedford Institute of Oceanography. (Chronicle-Herald, July 28)
Wind turbine manufacturer Seaforth Energy Inc. (http://seaforthenergy.com) will add six jobs as it scales up production by buying a third blade mould with assistance from the provincial government. The company has 20 employees, seven of whom have been hired in the last nine months. According to the company, the wind turbine business is booming, and it is hard to keep up with demand. Advanced Precision, a Dartmouth machining and fabrication company, is one of several companies supplying Seaforth with parts. (Chronicle-Herald, July 29)
Trade
Aqua Creations Tropical Fish on Quinpool Road in Halifax will close at the end of July,2011. Competition from suburban big-box outlets and a decline in traffic along the commercial strip were cited as reasons. Five workers will lose their jobs. (Chronicle-Herald, July 6)
Barnes & Castle, Banana Republic, and Pier 1 Imports will open in Dartmouth Crossing in the coming months. (Chronicle-Herald, July 11)
Consumer electronics chain Best Buy is opening a store in the Bayers Lake Business Park in Halifax in July, 2011. (Chronicle-Herald, July 19)
An Ultramar gas station on Chebucto Road, is the latest of three similar gas outlets to close in the Halifax area. An Esso station on Quinpool Road and a Shell station on Purcells Cove Road have also closed in recent times. The stations having difficulties tend to be small with low sales volumes, whose high property values outweigh the advantages of remaining open. Traditional gas stations are also facing competition from new retailers such as Atlantic Superstores, Sobeys, and Canadian Tire, according to the Retail Gasoline Dealers Association of Nova Scotia. (Chronicle-Herald, July 19)
Cellular phone and service provider Virgin Mobile has opened its first store in Atlantic Canada, at Mic Mac Mall. There are more than 4,000 national locations (Chronicle-Herald, July 22).
Professional and Scientific
Intelivote Systems Inc. (www.intelivote.com), a Dartmouth electronic voting company with 11 employees, has received investment money from the province to help it plug into a huge market in India. (Chronicle-Herald, July 19)
Research in Motion (RIM) will cut about 2,000 jobs from its operations worldwide in an effort to cut costs and achieve efficiencies across its global operations. However, the company says its impact on employees at its Bedford office will be relatively small. The company, with the aid of government assistance, established itself in the area in 2005, and employs about 540 people locally. The company is experiencing fierce competition in the smartphone and other markets. (Chronicle-Herald, July 26)
Business, Building and Support Services
Dominion Diving Ltd. has had its contract with Exxon Mobil Canada for work on the Sable Offshore Energy Project extended for another five years. The company has 47 employees. (Chronicle-Herald, July 19)
Education
Unionized support staff members at Dalhousie University, including 840 clerks, secretaries, technicians, information technologists, and library assistants, have accepted a rollover agreement with improved job security provisions and one percent raises for at least one year. Negotiations will continue in the fall on several contentious issues including a proposal to increase employees' pension contributions by more than five percent. (Chronicle-Herald, August 5)
Health Care and Social Assistance
Students and recent graduates of a child and youth care course at Eastern College in Dartmouth are concerned that their new credentials won't allow them to qualify for jobs in provincial group homes. However, a spokesperson for provincial child welfare says there have been no recent policy changes, and non entry-level positions in residential facilities have always required higher levels of skill and experience than recent graduates of private schools would possess. Graduates could apply after gaining practical experience elsewhere, or seek employment in other related positions both with the province and at other facilities. (Chronicle-Herald, July 12)
The IWK Health Centre will eliminate about 62 full-time equivalent positions as part of its 2011-12 business plan. More than half of the cuts will be through retirements, and about 20 administrative and management positions will go. The rest will be decided over the coming weeks. There will be some job sharing and changed roles for some staff. About 15 licensed practical nurses have been hired as part of the cost saving plan, whereas all IWK nurses had previously been RNs. (Chronicle-Herald, July 27)
Accomodation and Food Services
La Cicina Café Pizzeria and Spaghetti House and the Modern Orchid SouthEast Asian restaurant have recently opened in Dartmouth Crossing. (Chronicle-Herald, July 11)
Other Services
Best Little Hair House, a hair and esthetics salon, has opened at 6509 Chebucto Road, Halifax. (Chronicle-Herald, July 11)
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: Working in Canada