3 reasons you should start your career in Manitoba or Saskatchewan
Low unemployment rates
1 Competition for entry-level jobs can be stiff and many new graduates across Canada are struggling to hatch their careers right now. While Canada’s national youth unemployment rate sits at 13.6 percent, Saskatchewan and Manitoba currently boast the second- and third-lowest youth unemployment rates in the country, at 10.5 percent and 10.7 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rates in many other provinces are well above average: about 16 percent in Ontario and Prince Edward Island, nearly 18 percent in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, and a staggering 19.2 percent in New Brunswick!
The unemployment rates for the general population are even better in Manitoba and Saskatchewan: while the national average sits at 7.1 percent,
Manitoba’s unemployment rate is 5.7 percent and Saskatchewan’s is 4.5 percent.
Jobs in many different industries
2 If you think jobs in Manitoba and Saskatchewan just mean only farming, think again. Although there are plenty of agriculture and agribusiness jobs in these two provinces, their labour markets are much more diversified than that.
Take mining, for example. Saskatchewan is the world’s leading supplier of two of the most-desired minerals in the world: potash and uranium. Manitoba also has significant copper, zinc, nickel and gold mining operations, just to name a few.
Producing 460,000 barrels of oil a day, Saskatchewan is also the second largest oil producer in Canada. What’s more surprising, however, is that the province’s finance and insur- ance sector makes up even more of its GDP than mining and petroleum combined. Home to head offices for Canada’s largest insurance company, mutual fund distributor and integrated media company, Manitoba has a thriving service sector too.
Smaller centers, greater experiences
3 For the most part, in lower-population provinces such as Manitoba and Saskatchewan, offices and operations tend to be smaller with fewer employees than in large cities elsewhere in the country.As a student or recent grad, you can use that to your advantage by taking on more responsibility, exposing yourself to a greater range of experiences and getting more one-on-one time with your superiors.