Canadian HR Reporter

CANADIAN HR REPORTER April 4, 2016 NEWS 13 Commerce in Halifax. "Based on the (Conference Board) report, you can see that the highlights are Nova Scotia and, to a lesser extent, P.E.I. e other two provinces are structur- ally challenged by the oil and gas industry in Newfoundland and the general economic downturn in New Brunswick." Factors to watch Manufacturing is certainly one sector that has projected growth for the upcoming year, said Bernard. "Manufacturing is benefitting from the Irving shipbuilding con- tract. e work really got under- way in the second part of last year, so we're going to see the shipyard hiring more workers. So we're go- ing to see stronger activity coming out of the manufacturing sector," she said. "As well, the U.S. economy is doing better. Consumer demand in the U.S. is much stronger than it was in the last two years and (there's) strong job creation, so Nova Scotia has strong ties to the U.S. market. So there are a number of factors that are going to help the manufacturing sec- tor — it's not just the shipbuilding activity." In terms of construction, there are several projects under devel- opment in the province that could provide a boost, said Bernard. "Construction will be strong in 2016 and there are also a lot of new multi-unit housing de- velopments that started in 2015 and they're not completed yet, so we're also going to see strong resi- dential investment as well." e national shipbuilding and procurement strategy began to come into effect late in 2015, said Batherson. "So it's not only the benefits that come from the hundreds and hundreds of shipyard workers who are working at Irving's Hali- fax shipyard — it's also the other benefits that come from that level of spend through the entire supply chain," he said. "at's one aspect where we expect to see a lot of growth take place. "Secondly, there's a lot of com- mercial construction throughout Halifax. If you were in downtown Halifax right now, you would see our downtown literally littered with cranes." Another factor people are ex- cited about is Shell has a billion- dollar offshore exploration pro- gram underway, said Batherson. "They're drilling for oil so there's a billion dollars of invest- ment flowing through our econo- my over the next number of years," he said. "A lot of the forecasts that we've seen are factoring in that offshore oil activity that's taking place with the Shell program. "Also, BP has a billion-dollar offshore program that is in place, will be going through regulatory review in 2016, so we expect in the longer term that we'll have a sec- ond offshore exploration program underway by 2017." Tourism is another sector many in Nova Scotia are hopeful about for the upcoming year, said Davis. "All the governments, at least I'm assuming in their plans, do recognize the value of tourism in a direct impact on the provincial revenue. But, also, it's a developer of awareness of future business opportunities," he said. "Nova Scotia has a strategy where they say they're going to double tourism revenue to $4 bil- lion by 2024. It's aggressive but I find we're kind of lucky in terms of our natural resources, the coastal atmosphere that you have down here… it lends itself to an appeal for tourists. "And we're located close to Eu- rope, close to large markets in the U.S., so we're in a good position — we just have to take advantage of it." East-west connection With these opportunities on the horizon coupled with the down- turn in Alberta's oilpatch, will there be a trend of oil workers returning home to the Atlantic provinces after migrating or com- muting out west? It's a very likely scenario, said Davis — but it's more out of ne- cessity than because of an over- whelming amount of employment opportunities in the Maritimes. "It's more along the lines they're coming home because they have to rather than they're pursuing a huge opportunity here at home," he said. It could have a particular im- pact on New Brunswick, which is still not seeing any significant growth, said Bernard. "We haven't seen job creation pick up in New Brunswick, (which) has close ties to Alberta's energy sector. A lot of people who fly in and fly out of Alberta come from New Brunswick and they might have been affected by the downturn in the energy sector, so that could also affect the economy in New Brunswick." But, at the same time, those returning workers could pro- vide the skilled labour necessary for large-scale projects such as the shipbuilding contracts, said Batherson — making recruit- ment fairly easy for employers in those sectors. "I know a year or two ago, Ir- ving Shipbuilding and other ma- jor employers were concerned about being able to tap into a skilled trades-related work- force… but now with the change in the energy sector — not only in Alberta but also in St. John's — the drop in the price of oil has affected a lot of the activity that's taking place in Newfoundland and Labrador," he said. "ere is a larger talent pool that employers like Irving Ship- building can tap into that perhaps wasn't there a year or two ago. "It's always about watching those variables that take place that can affect the overall economic climate." New Brunswick still facing economic challenges ATLANTIC < pg. 1

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