Labour Market Monitor - Halifax
December 2011
The Labour Market Monitor is a monthly report providing a summary of labour market news and events for the Halifax Economic Region of Nova Scotia. The Halifax Region includes all of Halifax County.
GENERAL EVENTS
According to the latest labour force survey statistics from Statistics Canada, Nova Scotia gained 4,400 jobs in November, while 18,600 jobs were lost nationally. A senior economist with Statistics Canada stated that an increase of 2,800 jobs or more is considered a sizable employment change for a province the size of Nova Scotia, despite the fact that the gain in jobs were part-time. Most of the employment increase came in the province's service sector, followed by public administration, and then health care and social assistance. Women 25 and over landed the majority of the jobs, while men 25 and over acquired 1,300 of the new jobs. (Chronicle Herald - December 3)
Based on the provincial government labour statistics, despite a sluggish overall employment rate, certain occupational sectors are expected to experience strong job growth in Nova Scotia. The health-care sector is the fastest-growing sector, followed by sales and services, with natural and applied sciences positions expected to be the third largest source of new jobs in the province. Other positions include skilled trades workers, early childhood educators and assistants, and visiting housekeepers to name a few. Job seekers can explore specific opportunities online at http://nscareeroptions.ca or at www.workingincanada.gc.ca (Chronicle Herald - December 27)
According to the latest Manpower employment outlook survey, Halifax is expecting a slow hiring climate in the first quarter of 2012, but companies are increasingly looking for older and retired workers to fill positions. In Halifax, older workers can typically find contract positions and temporary work in general reception, customer service and in back-office positions. A report from PricewaterhouseCoopers noted that about 60% of Canadian CEOs planned to hire older workers, with many companies stating that they have trouble recruiting and retaining people under 30. (Chronicle Herald - December 28)
LABOUR MARKET NEWS BY INDUSTRY
Utilities
The new president and CEO of Dartmouth's Seaforth Energy Inc. announced this month that it will alter its priorities by focussing on manufacturing, installing and maintaining the AOC 15/50 wind turbine. Previously the company installed and maintained energy systems for other people and offered services related to other forms of renewable energy. The company recently began a $2.9M research and development project to expand its product line. Seaforth Energy was founded in 2008 and currently employs 20 people at their plant in Woodside, who are involved in the design, manufacture and sales of wind turbines. (Chronicle Herald - December 21)
Construction
The proposed Courtyard by Marriott, a 120-room hotel and 5,000-square-foot conference room, has been delayed until April or May 2012 due to parking concerns. Manga Hotels had expected to start construction this fall, with Dartmouth's Maxim Construction, but is trying to buy additional land from Halifax Regional Municipality in order to expand parking for its conference facility. The hotel would be located near the airport and the Aerotech Business Park. (Chronicle Herald - December 17)
Manufacturing
The Halifax Irving Shipyard (www.irvingshipbuilding.com) has received many applications since winning the bid for $25B worth of combat vessels under the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy. The shipyard already has an immediate need for electricians and ironworkers to complete work already underway on the Coast Guard's mid-shore patrol vessels and the refits on the Navy frigates. Work on the combat vessels is not expected to begin for 18 months, but Irving will work closely with the Nova Scotia Community College and a variety of post-secondary institutions to address their need for trained workers. Besides the need for workers in the various skilled trades, Irving will also require managers, engineers, planners, accountants and supervisors, as well as many others. A report prepared by the Greater Halifax Partnership and the Conference Board of Canada, predicts that the Halifax contract will see a peak of 11,500 jobs. (Chronicle Herald - December 8)
Halifax-based aerospace company, IMP Group Ltd., completed the refurbishment of its first CP-140 Aurora aircraft this month. The company has a $1.5B contract to refit 10 airplanes by 2015, as part of a fleet overhaul. IMP has a workforce of more than 1,500 workers, who are also working on other contracts such as the retrofit of Royal Norwegian Air Force's fleet of six P-3 Orion aircraft, the maintenance on the Sea King helicopters and the Cormorant search and rescue fleet. (Chronicle Herald - December 10)
NovaScotian Crystal Ltd. is increasing its capacity by two-thirds by adding a second furnace, which will operate out of a Canal Street warehouse in Dartmouth. According to the president of NovaScotian Crystal, the company has been scrambling to meet the demand for its product over the past 2 years. The company found that with only one furnace, they would be out of production for seven to eight weeks per year, and their craftspeople were left with a lot of down time. NovaScotian Crystal was struggling to keep solvent almost three years ago, however the company is now turning a profit and currently employs around 45 employees. (Chronicle Herald - December 17)
The Dartmouth branch of Helly Hansen Canada Ltd. is seeing double-digit growth in its wholesale sales due mainly to demand from the oil and gas sector in Alberta. Its rainwear sales have been particularly high due to heavy rainfall amounts across the country. The company's Dartmouth facility, which employs 150 people, manufactures over 60% of the gear sold by Helly Hansen. (Chronicle Herald - December 20)
Transportation and Warehousing
Icelandair Cargo returned to Halifax after discontinuing its service to Halifax Stanfield International Airport (www.hiaa.ca) back in 2008. The addition of Icelandair will enable seafood shippers and other exporters to ship up to 20,000 kilograms of cargo to Europe each week. There are now six cargo carriers and more than 20 passenger airlines that stop at the Halifax airport, which has seen annual increases in its cargo and passenger traffic in recent years. (Chronicle Herald - December 8)
McKesson Canada is moving its Halifax distribution centre to Moncton by the end of January 2012, in order to take advantage of the city's centralized location and to consolidate the two centres into a new 167,000-square-feet facility in Moncton's Caledonia Industrial Park. Once Halifax's facility in Lakeside Industrial Park is closed, the Montreal-based national pharmaceutical company will have 2 distribution centres in Atlantic Canada. McKesson will also move its Atlantic Canada regional office from Halifax to Moncton as well. About 50 people will be affected by the move, although some positions will be transferred to Moncton. The company will still employ about 70 staff in Dartmouth, with its CareEnhance team. (Chronicle Herald - December 29)
Binnacle, a Halifax yachting supplier, was awarded a $952K Defence Department contract to supply 115 two-man training sailboats for use by Canada's cadet organization. Binnacle will deliver the first of the boats by March 31, which are made by Zim Sailing of Rhode Island. (Chronicle Herald - December 30)
Finance and Insurance
Jennings Capital Inc., a boutique brokerage house, has set a February 29 deadline for finding a buyer for its Halifax operation. Eight retail brokers work out of the Halifax branch. A company spokesperson declined to comment on why Jennings was exiting the Halifax market. (Chronicle Herald - December 6)
Educational Services
The Nova Scotia government is covering the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design's (NSCAD) $2.4M deficit, provided that the fine arts school finds ways to collaborate with other universities and cut costs. The bulk of NSCAD's financial problems can be traced back to the school's decision to proceed with construction of its Halifax waterfront campus without federal funding. NSCAD has three campuses in Metro Halifax and has about 1,000 full- and part-time students enrolled at the university. (Chronicle Herald - December 14)
Health Care and Social Assistance
The health and wellness minister announced changes this month to Nova Scotia's midwifery program, which should relieve stress on midwives and expand access to their services in the province. A provincial midwifery practice specialist and three registered nurses trained in midwifery will be hired to assist the midwives at three locations in the province. In Halifax the number of funded midwifes will increase from three to five positions at the IWK Health Centre. More information on midwifery can be found at http://mcns.chebucto.org/. (Chronicle Herald - December 07)
Accommodation and Food Services
Tribeca Bistro and Bar closed its doors on January 1, 2012 after the city fire marshal lowered the number of patrons allowed in the bar. The Granville Street business is the fourth downtown live music venue to close in the past 12 months. According to Tribeca's booking manager the club's popularity hadn't waned, but the capacity of the club went from 192 to 120 people. The bar had trouble making ends meet after the liquor board informed Tribeca that they required full staff even with less capacity. The music industry in Nova Scotia generates $75M in financial spin-offs annually. (Chronicle Herald - December 17)
Public Administration
Halifax Regional Police (www.halifax.ca/police/) hired 11 new officers this month, all recent graduates of the Atlantic Police Academy in Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The new officers will all start work as constables, raising the force's number of sworn personnel to 522. Halifax Regional Police now has 434 constables, 63 sergeants, 12 staff sergeants, 10 superintendents, two deputy chiefs and one chief. Halifax RCMP has 204 officers, with 147 of them being constables. (Chronicle Herald - December 6)
Note: In preparing this document, the authors have taken care to provide clients with labour market information 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 Human Resources and Skills Development 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