CARLTON TRAIL COLLEGE
Regional Labour Market Report Shows Continued Demand for the Trades: Demographic shifts will continue to drive workforce training

Carlton Trail College has released a report presenting regionalized, labour market information. This report was the result of a needs assessment project that sought to better understand projected skills shortages and workforce issues at a regional level within east-central Saskatchewan.   

"While federal and provincial agencies do a good job projecting larger labour market trends and issues, we wanted to connect with business and industry in our area to find out about their specific needs," said Deanna Gaetz, Business and Skills Training Manger for Carlton Trail College. "This information not only helps the College's work as we educate and train our future workforce, it also provides valuable information back to regional employers about what skills and jobs will continue to be in demand."    

Employers across the region were asked about their current and projected human resource needs, the demographics of their workforce, recruitment strategies and challenges as well as their perspective on candidate skills, education and training. Their responses were blended with demographic, industry and employment data from sources such as Statistics Canada, the Ministry of Immigration and Career Training and the Saskatchewan Bureau of Statistics.  

Some of the regional findings include: 

• 21% of regional employers estimated over half of their workforce was 55 years of age or older.
• The preferred levels of workforce education and/or training within the region included a high school diploma, along with a trade certificate and/or college diploma.
• 7 of Saskatchewan's top 10 occupational groups that are forecasting labour shortages are vital to regional industries.
• 43% of regional employers anticipate a skills shortage in their industry over the next three-to-five years.
• The young, median age within regional First Nations communities signifies an important source of future labour.

"It's important to remember this is just a snapshot," said Gaetz. "Even though we anticipate demand for skilled labour to remain strong over the long term, with our current economic uncertainty, we don't know how industries will adapt."

Download the Regional Labour Market Report (March 2020) here.