The need for skilled migrant workers in Western Alberta is greater than ever, now that it has been estimated that the province lies atop some 175 billion barrels of oil, the second largest quantity world-wide.

Western Alberta has seen significant foreign investment in recent years, and oil sand production has been pushed to one million barrels per day. Moreover, a recent report from the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board has indicated that output is expected to triple over the next ten years, making Alberta one of the biggest producers of energy in the world.

However, the current shortage of skilled workers in Alberta is proving to be a major hindrance to the development of the province’s booming oil industry, potentially posing a major threat to its economic growth.

Although 57,000 skilled workers from throughout Canada were recruited to the province last year, as well as a further 20,000 migrants from abroad, Alberta will require a minimum of 400,000 new migrants over the next ten years. Ideally, however, a further hundred thousand professionals would be hired to ensure that the industry was able to reach its potentially enormous levels of output.

Unemployment in Alberta is currently at an all-time low at just 4 per cent; a favourable statistic, but one which suggests that skilled workers simply must be sought from abroad. To fill the current void in employment throughout the oil industry, Canada is now looking to increase the number of temporary worker permits to the Alberta province, aiming principally at Europe, Asia and the Middle East.