Labour Market Bulletin Kenora

Labour Market Bulletin, Second Quarter 2006
An Analysis of the Kenora/Dryden/Fort Frances Area Labour Market
Service Canada

An overview of the Kenora, Dryden, Fort Frances and surrounding areas.

Positive developments in the Northwestern Ontario labour market cushioned the negative during the second quarter of 2006.

There was good news for Atikokan as the provincial government announced it would not close the Atikokan Generating Station as previously planned.

Mixed news was reported in the mining sector. Junior mining companies remained strong, with several new and ongoing drilling and exploration projects underway, while streamlining of operations at the newly integrated “Red Lake Gold Mines” resulted in termination notices for some employees.

The crisis in the forestry industry continued to negatively impact on the Northwestern Ontario labour market with further job losses in the pulp and paper industry. On the brighter side, an expansion at the Ainsworth Oriented Strand board mill in Barwick resulted in new hirings.

Overall labour market conditions in Northwest showed signs of improvement in the second quarter. Following five consecutive quarters of job losses, employment rose more than two percent.

Highlights:

New helicopter flight school opens in Dryden.
Planned expansion at Weyerhaeuser Training Centre in Dryden.
New name and business line for Weyerhaeuser Company.
Bearskin Airlines adds ninth aircraft to its fleet.
Abattoir planned for Rainy River.
Treaty 3, provincial and federal governments sign trapping agreements.
Mining exploration in the Kenora district triples in five years.
Tentative softwood lumber agreement between Canada and U.S.
Labour market conditions in Northwest showing signs of improvement.
Employment Insurance claim load down.

The complete Labour Market Bulletin, including these Highlights, is available in Adobe Acrobat PDF format, print version (size: 132 kb)

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