Saskatchewan is tied with Quebec in having the second lowest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate among the provinces at 5.4 per cent. The current national average is 5.9 per cent according to Statistics Canada.
Saskatchewan’s labour force saw a five per cent dip compared to January 2017, but there are 1,500 more jobs. This includes a full-time employment growth of 4,900 positions.
Major job gains include 2,300 hospitality positions, public administration is up 2,000 jobs and building and support services grew by 1,700 positions.
However, there is uncertainty on the horizon. Regina & District Chamber of Commerce CEO John Hopkins says this comes from issues beyond Saskatchewan’s borders.
“There’s some cautions out there in terms of what’s going to happen with Kinder Morgan, that’s probably one of the biggest issues that’s out there,” Hopkins said.
The BC government wants another review completed on the Trans Canada’s Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion, despite federal approval being granted. Federal officials are in British Columbia attempting to find a resolution to this ongoing issue.
READ MORE: Federal officials dispatched to tackle B.C., Alberta pipeline battle
Premier Scott Moe took to Facebook to weigh in on the issue, calling on Ottawa to use its jurisdiction to move the project forward.
“The British Columbia NDP is playing politics with potentially hundreds of jobs in our province’s capital and thousands of jobs across our country,” Moe said.
“These jobs employ real people with families whose livelihoods depend on them. The BC NDP is threatening these jobs with obstructionist attacks on the federally-approved Trans Mountain Pipeline.”
Regina’s Evraz steel mill is making pipe for the expansion. A freeze on the project in BC could cost Regina jobs.
The future of this pipeline is not the only issue causing economic uncertainty here at home.
“Having said that, perhaps NAFTA’s even bigger. What’s going to happen with that? There’s a lot of instability out there about what the outcome of that’s going to be,” Hopkins said.
READ MORE: Justin Trudeau on NAFTA: ‘No deal’ might be better than a bad one for Canada
Talks continue between Canada, Mexico and the United States concerning the future of the free trade agreement. Thousands of jobs on both sides of the border are directly linked to NAFTA.
Comments