By Liam Verster

Labour force surveys

Grande Prairie CoC launches surveys seeking local labour force statistics

Sep 21, 2020 | 1:21 PM

The Grande Prairie and District Chamber of Commerce is collecting data on the local workforce through two online surveys.

One of the surveys is for employers, while the other is directed at employees and those seeking work.

CEO of the Chamber of Commerce, Tanya Oliver, says through these surveys, they hope to get some insight into the local labour force.

“We’re seeking to understand both the local labour force strengths… and identify gaps and opportunities and skills training and workforce services,” said Oliver. “Then we’re also looking to gather critical information from job seekers and employees, including factors in making it difficult to find work, reasons for leaving or staying in a job, and factors that also gain and maintain meaningful employment.

“(We’re) just trying to understand all the pieces to the puzzle.”

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The Alberta Government releases employment and labour force statistics each month, but the region that includes Grande Prairie and the Peace Country is the largest economic region in the province. Oliver says these surveys will be able to provide a baseline for the local labour force stats, leaving out the areas that don’t apply to the local data like Banff or Jasper, which are included in the regional figures.

“With the abscence of quality data, it’s really hard to get our relevant labour market intelligence with the information that’s readily available. It’s not readily available and accurate for our specific part of the province,” said Oliver. “This will help us get that relevant local data to help inform other projects and help understand our area better.”

She says once the data is collected and compiled, it can be used as background information to help determine the way the labour market is trending, and guide any programs or initiatives the Chamber would take on in the future to help develop, attract, or retain the workforce.

“We don’t have anything specific in mind, but we will be using the result of these surveys and the result of our study to inform future projects. We are trying to understand the needs before we try to figure out what the solution is.”

In order to get the necessary data, the Chamber is asking residents of the City and County of Grande Prairie, the Municipal District of Greenview, and the surrounding local communities to participate in the surveys.

“Ultimately, the study itself is going to give us a regional overview, but it will also give the three major municipalities their own data, because it is such a diverse region that we have,” said Oliver. “The end results will drill down between the three bigger municipalities, and also some of the smaller communities, so we’re going to have a better understanding of our region as a whole, and the municipalities within.”

The surveys are open until October 31, and can be found on the Grande Prairie Chamber of Commerce’s website.

Once the data has been collected, it will be compiled into a summary, that the Chamber will share with the public, and the local and provincial governments.