It’s been a tumultuous decade for thousands of workers in Canada’s oil and gas industry, but a new report notes employment across the sector has reached its highest level since
February 2015.
More than 212,000 people were working in the oilpatch in October, an increase of 14,500 jobs in the past 12 months.
Industry experts and leaders believe the need for skilled workers will climb as energy demand rises around the world, and the industry grows in a disciplined manner.
“Oil production in Alberta is hitting new highs, the same with gas production. We’ve got the TMX (Trans Mountain expansion) that needs to be filled. We’ve got LNG facilities,”
analyst Jeremy McCrea of BMO Capital Markets said Monday.
“There is a lot of optimism . . . and as a result, a lot of these oil and gas companies are hiring people.”
A BMO report issued Monday notes employment within the Canadian exploration and production subsector, which includes jobs in roles such as geologists and engineers, reached
112,000 in October, representing a 10-year high.
In the oil and gas services industry, which includes companies that drill and complete wells, employment increased by 16.6 per cent — or 10,700 jobs — from a year earlier, according
to data from Careers in Energy.
Meanwhile, jobs in refining fell by 14 per cent from a year ago, while pipeline employment was down almost 28 per cent, although the overall industry saw a seven per cent increase.
The Canadian oil and gas industry was battered by thousands of layoffs following the collapse of global crude prices in 2014. An ensuing wave of consolidation during the pandemic
has squeezed parts of the sector in recent years.
