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Dependence on Interprovincial Migrant Labour in Atlantic Canadian Communities: The Role of the Alberta Economy

Author

Listed:
  • Doug Lionais

    (Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, Canada)

  • Christina Murray

    (Faculty of Nursing, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE C1A 4P3, Canada)

  • Chloe Donatelli

    (Shannon School of Business, Cape Breton University, Sydney, NS B1P 6L2, Canada)

Abstract

(1) Background: In the face of persistent and chronically weak labour markets, Atlantic Canada has become increasingly dependent on mobile oil work in Northern Alberta for employment and income. In the regions, most intensely engaged in this form of employment, mobile oil work has largely replaced the dominant industries of the previous century. This geographic shift in Canadian investment and production has created uneven labour markets, with high demand for labour in the Northern Alberta and high unemployment in de-industrialized communities in Atlantic Canada. (2) Methods: There is little quantitative evidence on the flows of mobile workers from the East to the West and the impact of this movement on the Atlantic Canadian economy. Data for this paper were obtained through a special arrangement with Statistics Canada in the fall of 2015 and winter of 2016, from the Canadian Employer–Employee Dynamics Database (CEEDD). (3) Results: Analysis of CEEDD revealed that the oil and gas industry of Northern Alberta has a significant impact on the economies of Atlantic Canada with an increasing dependence for interprovincial workers. (4) Conclusions: To the extent that mobile work has served as a replacement for traditional industries, mobile work is re-structuring the social and economic makeup of Atlantic Canadian communities. The more reliant Atlantic Canadian communities become on oil-related mobile work, the more precarious their economies will become as global markets for oil and gas change and targeted actions on climate change increase.

Suggested Citation

  • Doug Lionais & Christina Murray & Chloe Donatelli, 2020. "Dependence on Interprovincial Migrant Labour in Atlantic Canadian Communities: The Role of the Alberta Economy," Societies, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsoctx:v:10:y:2020:i:1:p:11-:d:310579
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    2. Katie Mazer, 2019. "Making the Welfare State Work for Extraction: Poverty Policy as the Regulation of Labor and Land," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 109(1), pages 18-34, January.
    3. Laporte, Christine & Schellenberg, Grant & Lu, Yuqian, 2013. "Inter-provincial Employees in Alberta," Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series 2013350e, Statistics Canada, Analytical Studies Branch.
    4. Harvey Johnstone & Doug Lionais, 2004. "Depleted communities and community business entrepreneurship: revaluing space through place," Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 217-233, May.
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