Archive for 'Human Resources'

50 Best Employers in Canada

For the past four years, BC Biomedical Laboratories has topped our list of the 50 Best Employers in Canada. But in 2006, we crown not one but two new champions. Among medium-sized companies (300 to 1,499 employees), the Winnipeg-based financial services firm Wellington West Capital took the top honour; Cintas Canada, meanwhile, ranked first among [...]

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Unemployment rises, but less than feared

Canada’s economy lost 7,400 jobs in June, far less than expected, even as the country continued to struggle through an economic downturn. The unemployment rate rose to an 11-year high of 8.6%, up from 8.4% in May, Statistics Canada said Friday. “Full-time employment continued its downward trend in June, offsetting gains in part-time,” the federal [...]

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Alberta’s oil sands show signs of life

Unlimited overtime pay was just one of the many perks John Halbauer enjoyed as a welder during Alberta’s super-sized energy boom. That’s disappeared, along with 11 of the 25-year-old’s 13 co-workers who got laid-off in January. “I was worried. I didn’t know if I was going to have to move back home or what,” the [...]

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Thousands descend on National Job Fair

Thousands of people have descended on the National Job Fair and Training Expo in downtown Toronto, bearing folders full of resumes and a shared hope of finding work. There were few smiles to be offered, but organizers said they sensed hopefulness in the hundreds of people who lined up to enter the fair at 10 [...]

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Canadian companies will have to cut payrolls, economists warn

Canadian companies have frozen wages and slashed costs in an attempt to survive the recession while avoiding the loss of skilled workers through mass layoffs. But as economic conditions deteriorate, companies may eventually have little choice but to cut jobs, economists say. “Generally we’re following the recession script,” said Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO [...]

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Northern Canada has youngest population

The Prairies and the North have the youngest populations in Canada largely due to an influx of jobs in these regions and higher than average fertility rates, according to national population figures released Thursday. Statistics Canada says Manitoba and Saskatchewan are the two provinces with the highest proportion of youth (19% in their populations. Alberta, [...]

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The 50 best employers to work for in Canada

The economy may be in a downturn, but the mood was decidedly upbeat last week at information technology company Protegra Inc. as employees gathered at its Winnipeg head office to plan strategy for the year ahead. Gathered in the boardroom, Protegra’s 63 employees enthusiastically joined in a discussion of developing new business, offering a range [...]

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Obama’s health care pledge may hurt Canada

Health care reforms intended to provide medical coverage to legions of poor Americans could have a serious, unintended fallout for Canada, worsening the already dire doctor shortage here, experts warn. The reforms promised by president-elect Barack Obama would offer insurance to 45 million U. S. residents who have no coverage. The resulting surge in demand [...]

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