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killed temporary foreign workers certified in Alberta’s optional trades can now apply directly to the government for permanent residency instead of having to apply with their employers, the province announced

Alberta is allowed to nominate 5,000 people. With limited numbers, Alberta’s focus will be on nominating people who currently work in permanent jobs

“We have to make sure we are ready for the coming labour shortages as economies around the world are competing for the same skills and the same people. This change will allow Alberta to nominate the most qualified and experienced tradespeople working in occupations that are needed in Alberta.”

Does higher productivity destroy jobs? Sometimes, but only in the very short term

We are optimistic about productivity because it isn’t only about efficiency; it is no less about expanding output through innovations that improve the performance, quality, or value of goods and services. What’s more, even productivity solely from efficiency gains can, in the aggregate, lead to higher employment if the cost savings are put back to work elsewhere in the economy. Companies can pass on those savings to their customers in the form of lower prices, leaving households and businesses with more money to spend elsewhere. They can also reinvest savings from more efficient operations in new job-creating activities.

The largest productivity gains since 2000 came from sectors that have seen substantial employment reductions (Exhibit 2). Computers and related electronics, the rest of manufacturing, and information sectors contributed around half of overall productivity growth since the turn of the century and reduced employment by almost 4.5 million jobs. More than 85 percent of them were lost even before the recession’s onset. The sectors that added the most employment during this period tended to be those with lower productivity—notably the health sector.

In a sign that labour shortages have returned to Alberta, a major industrial employer launched a hiring campaign Tuesday to attract 9,000 workers in 2011.

Ledcor Industries Inc. has already hired 3,800 workers so far this year.

“Whenever there are quotes about the size of projects, it’s often 50 per cent labour and 50 per cent material,” Walker said.

One big question is: why was the Silicon Valley labour market so tight? Why weren't more skilled workers available to Valley employers?

Two potential explanations spring to mind. One is that there was a structural shortage of skilled workers at the national level, and immigration rules prevented movement from abroad to clear the market. Another is that housing markets responded insufficiently to the demand for shelter in the Silicon Valley area, causing housing costs to rise too high to accommodate new workers. At the height of the tech boom, in 1999, the entire San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose metroplex approved permits for just 26,000 new housing units. In the same year, tiny Las Vegas approved 28,000. Atlanta approved over 60,000. Tight supply fueled high prices. From 1996 to 2001, home prices in San Francisco rose by more than they did during the 2002-2006 bubble. With housing costs soaring, it took very high wages to attract scarce workers. Entrepreneurship seems to have suffered as a result.

In Alberta, outside of health care, the most diverse workforce is found in the food and hospitality sectors

approximately 10% of Alberta’s workforce, or over 180,000 people were working in the tourism and hospitality industry, and a projected increase of new jobs was 11,000 by 2011.

According to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business’s research on Canada’s workforce training,[5] the hospitality industry had the lowest training budget of all other industry sectors with an average of $213 per employee in formal expenses and $792 in informal training costs.

ProActive Personnel is a staffing agency that specializes in temporary, permanent and contract placement throughout Western Canada.

job-creation plans

job retraining programs.

To me that's not good public policy because it's essentially paying for jobs

Predicting labour trends is notoriously tricky, partly because the economy sways and shifts much more quickly than the education or immigration systems that supply many workers. Sometimes, events can change overnight – one tsunami in Japan, for example, can cause countries around the world to re-think investment in nuclear industries.