Based on the Conference Board of Canada's most recent Metro Help-Wanted Index and the latest Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey, Saskatchewan is home to the two hottest labour markets in the country. The Conference Board says Regina and Saskatoon have the largest number of online help-wanted ads per unemployed individual among the largest metro areas. Together with their overall very low unemployment rates, this indicates that job prospects in the wheat province's two largest cities are second to none.
Outside of Saskatchewan, Quebec City had the third-strongest job market in Canada, consistent with its very low (5.2 per cent) unemployment rate. Although the unemployment rates in Edmonton (5.8 per cent) and Calgary (6.3 per cent) are higher than in Saskatchewan, these metro areas ranked fourth and fifth in terms of job market strength based on number of help-wanted ads per unemployed individual.
In an address to the Saskatchewan Real Estate Forum last month, Mario Lefebvre of the Conference Board of Canada said Saskatoon's jobless rate could fall as low as 4.4 per cent over the next five years.
from Western Investor June 2011
