Saskatchewan is making gains in Aboriginal employment but the Indigenous unemployment rate is still well above the provincial average.
Within the Aboriginal community, the unemployment rate is 11.5 per cent – almost three times the Saskatchewan average.
Energy and Resources Minister Tim McMillan says while Aboriginal unemployment remains too high, it is a big improvement from a year ago when the off-reserve Aboriginal unemployment rate was nearly 15 per cent.
He adds there is a lot of opportunity for those who want to pursue it.
“We are in a climate for employment today where if you have the appropriate skills, this is the best place in Canada to find a job whether you are Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal,” he says.
The NDP opposition says the unemployment numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Athabasca MLA Buckley Belanger says in northern Saskatchewan jobs are being lost by the thousands.
“When you see the numbers that show a job loss of 3,200 in the Prince Albert north region it certainly leads us to believe that the government is not thinking broadly enough,” he says. “It should be doing more strategic investment and more job training in the PA area.”
Eric Erickson is with Graham Construction, one of the biggest construction companies in Saskatchewan.
He says the company has had a great deal of success recruiting Aboriginal workers and employs more than 400, mainly on northern mine projects.
Erickson says his company is always looking for more employees.
“We have labour managers out there pounding on their doors to make sure we give them what they need to have long term employment,” he says.
Saskatchewan’s total labour force is nearly 600,000, a record for the month of August.
Last month’s unemployment rate was 4.2 per cent, a slight increase from July but still the lowest in Canada and well below the national average of 7.1 per cent.
Regina has the lowest unemployment rate of major cities at 2.9 per cent and Saskatoon comes in second at 4.3 per cent.