Minister of Jobs, Economy, and Innovation Doug Schweitzer (photo courtesy of the Alberta Government)

By Liam Verster

Getting Albertans back to work

Economic Diversity in the Peace Country has helped get people back to work: Schweitzer

Sep 6, 2020 | 11:00 PM

The Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation says, while Alberta is still slowly recovering from the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the crash in the price of oil, the economic region that includes Grande Prairie and the Peace Country is doing well.

Labour Force figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday shows the economic region that has seen the most growth recently, is the Banff – Jasper – Rocky Mountain House and Athabasca – Grande Prairie – Peace River region, where the unemployment rate dropped from 14.4 per cent in July, 2020, to 12.1 per cent in August. Minister Doug Schweitzer attributes that change to the diversity of the local economy.

“You’ve got the forestry industry, you’ve got agriculture, you’ve got natural resources as well that give that hedge. And we’ve seen too, through this pandemic, there’s still that global demand for food, there’s also an increased demand for forest products and the fibre that comes from forest products. So we do have some strengths here in Alberta, and it’s about building on that foundation.”

He adds that young Albertans, between the ages of 15 and 24, have an unemployment rate of 27 per cent, and the province needs to put plans in place to make sure they can get work, and stay in Alberta.

“You talk to young people, and they look at me saying ‘Your generation had the opportunities, what about us? What can you do to make sure we have the same opportunities that other generations had?’ So for me that drives it home that we have to make sure we implement this plan at the earliest possible opportunity, so our young generation stays in Alberta, knows they have a home here, know they have a future in this province.”

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Schweitzer adds that, even though there has been some improvement in the labour force and employment rate in the past few months, the Province is still urgently pushing policy changes now that will lay the foundation for attracting and retaining business in the future.

He says the province is still finalizing it’s Economic Recovery Plan, and that they plan to follow the lead demonstrated by small businesses across Alberta when the government rolls it out.

“Small businesses, they’re hustling right now, they are doing everything possible to keep their businesses afloat, to keep their employees paid on the payroll. And we as a government owe them, and owe every single Albertan, the same amount of intensity, the same amount of urgency, to getting our recovery plan in place, so we have a strong foundation for people to know that they should invest in Alberta, and hire Albertans and get them back to work.”

In the meantime, some short-term plans are being rolled out, including a $6.3-million partnership with the Federal Government to research and invest in green and energy-efficient construction.

“We’re putting in place new, innovated tools for people to test new construction products that are going to be environmentally sustainable, as well as creating jobs here in Alberta. Products that can be scaled not only for Alberta use, but also for global use as well. So that was an encouraging announcement that we made [Friday]. That will be 50 jobs right here in Alberta now, that will also lead to the opportunity for thousands of Albertans to be trained in new technologies for the construction industry.”

Schweitzer says this plan will not only get people back to work, but also attract more companies to Alberta, where they can to test their new technologies and products.

He says the province will also be rolling out it’s Invest Alberta plan soon, which is designed to attract investment and job growth through the private sector. The CEO for this project is going to be hired later this September, who will then be in charge of going out and trying to attract investment into the province.

The specific details of the Economic Recovery Plan, which is a more long-term plan to get Albertans back to work, are expected to be released in the coming weeks.