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Canada′s hottest job markets are out west: Study

Unemployment numbers can paint a misleading picture of labour markets in Canada, according to a new study from Express Employment Professionals.
 
Billed as the first study of its kind, the company compared municipal population numbers with the number of job openings listed in an Employment and Social Development Canada job bank. Only the 100 most populated municipalities in the country were included.
 
The hottest job market in Canada is in Wood Buffalo, Alberta - home of the oil sands - with 13.7 job openings per 1,000 people.
 
Express Employment Professionals Chairman and CEO Bob Funk suggests that provincial unemployment numbers can be somewhat inflated, since people may be unwilling to relocate to where the jobs are.
 
"There is no doubt that moving is stressful, but new opportunities are available if you are open to new locations," Funk said.
 
According to the ranking, seven provinces have cities in the nationwide top-20 list, though Alberta alone has five in the top-10.
 
Calgary is the largest city to appear in the top-20, ranking number 10. Vancouver ranked 18, while Toronto failed to reach the top-50.
 
The highest ranking cities in Ontario are Cambridge and Guelph, ranking 13 and 14 respectively with about 5.5 job openings per thousand people.
 
In New Brunswick, where voters are set to vote in a provincial election on Sept. 22, the only city to appear in the top-20 is Moncton, coming in at number 15 with 5.3 job openings per 1,000 people.
 
Express Employment Professionals is based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma but operates 35 franchises across Canada. It′s the largest franchised staffing company and the second largest privately held staffing company in North America, completing $2.5 billion in sales and employing 400,000 people in 2013.
 
Top-20 Canadian job markets, according to Express Employment Professionals:
 
Wood Buffalo, Alberta: 13.71 jobs available/1,000 population
Grande Prairie, Alberta: 11.61
Regina, Saskatchewan: 9.56
St. John′s, Newfoundland: 9.49
Edmonton, Alberta: 8.63
Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec: 8.52
Drummondville, Quebec: 7.91
Red Deer, Alberta: 7.33
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: 6.82
Calgary, Alberta:6.32
Lévis, Quebec: 6.04
Blainville-Sainte Thérèse, Quebec: 6.02
Cambridge, Ontario: 5.57
Guelph, Ontario: 5.40
Moncton, New Brunswick: 5.25
Mississauga, Ontario: 5.24
Granby, Quebec: 5.04
Vancouver, British Columba: 4.77
Strathcona County, Alberta: 4.72
Victoria, British Columbia: 4.72