Grande Prairie: Resourceful and growing

The city of Grande Prairie, Alta., is rising to the enviable challenge of being in the midst of an incredible growth spurt, fuelled by the strong local economy.

AQAWhile the oil and natural gas sector continues to face labour shortages, with total hiring requirement ranging between 125,000 and 150,000 jobs over the next decade, the tight labour market is particularly challenging for communities such as Grande Prairie, Alta., that act as service centres for the industry.

Located about a four-hour drive northwest of Edmonton, near Alberta’s border with British Columbia, Grande Prairie is home to more than 60,000 people and an important hub for companies developing the Duvernay and Montney areas. With unemployment currently sitting at less than half the Canadian average, the city needs to be creative about attracting and retaining workers.

Bill Given has helped Grande Prairie grow and prosper for more than a decade, first as city councillor and, since 2010, as mayor. He shares the city’s strategies for bringing families, entrepreneurs and businesses to his community.

How would you describe the economic health of Grande Prairie?

Very active and robust — almost explosive. There’s so much opportunity that the biggest challenge in our economy is meeting the demand for everything, including professional services, health care, retail and restaurants. If you leave the city for a week or two, when you return you’ll always find something new that’s been built or opened. This vitality shows the community is successful and going places.

What’s driving economic growth in your region? There’s no doubt that growth is largely driven by the natural resources sector, particularly oil and gas. The natural gas industry has a long history here and we’re central to a number of conventional oil fields. We’re also sitting on large unconventional natural gas reserves that are being explored. From our perspective it’s interesting to watch the broader discussion about fracking. In Grande Prairie it’s something with a long history that we’re comfortable with, and leading practitioners are developing the technologies right here. Many people have family and/or friends working in the sector, and everyone understands it’s not

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Statistics Canada data shows unemployment in Grande Prairie is well below the national average. Are you in the middle of a labour shortage? Year-to-date unemployment is at 2.8%, so yes, we’re in the middle of a labour shortage. We have employers in all sectors from retail to health care to natural resources looking for skilled employees. There are help-wanted ads across the community and even radio stations are advertising job openings along with business ads. Companies are not just marketing products and services, they’re marketing themselves because there are so many jobs to be filled. The good thing about all that employment diversity is that it means jobs for families — for each spouse and for teenagers. What job skills are in greatest demand? It’s hard to pinpoint the area of greatest demand, as growth is historically quite balanced. Between 2008 and 2013 the largest growth area was business, finance and administrative at 16%; followed by health occupations at 14%; and primary industry, including oil and gas, also at 14%. There’s no question natural resources are a pivotal part of the economy and driving other sectors. As more people come to Grande Prairie we will need more doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, bankers and office staff.

How is this labour shortage reflected in family incomes?

It’s had a significant impact. When there’s a labour shortage, demand for workers brings increased wages. When you look at the metrics, median household income in Grande Prairie is $90,151, whereas the median household income for all of Canada is $61,072. Not every job pays $30 per hour, but compared to other places in Canada a similar job will likely pay a higher wage here. But the streets are not paved with gold. Don’t expect to walk in and get a job that pays well if you have no skills in that sector.

How many jobs have been created in Grande Prairie over the past few years?

8,000 new jobs between July 2009 and July 2014, mostly in fulltime employment. This represents annual employment growth of about 3.3%. We may see some acceleration from changes in the temporary foreign worker program. In 2013 Grande Prairie had nearly 600 temporary foreign workers. Taking that many people out of the workforce has a substantial impact and has caused some businesses to re-examine expansion plans. We need to encourage

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