Provincial Employment Potential Information

The following table identifies employment conditions within New Brunswick.

Labour Market Bulletins

An analysis of the local labour market and an assessment of local employment-related events.

• May 2013 | (PDF, 233 KB)
• April 2013 | (PDF, 266 KB)
• March 2013 | (PDF, 233 KB)
• February 2013 | (PDF, 234 KB)
• January 2013 | (PDF, 280 KB)
• Annual Edition 2012 | (PDF, 630 KB)

Provincial / Territorial Labour Market News

Week of Jun 03 – Jun 07, 2013

• After having acquired the former Le Bel-Air restaurant, Edmundston entrepreneurs Normand Levesque and Keta Ringuette have now acquired the former La Praga Hotel and Restaurant. The couple plans to open by the end of the year a restaurant and bar at the Le Bel-Air building and a hotel at the La Praga location.
• Wireless carrier Fido will open retail locations in Moncton, Fredericton and Saint John and offer service in more than 30 third-party stores in the province such as Future Shop, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Superstore. According to its director of marketing Cameron McFayden, Fido has more than two million customers across Canada.
• Kindred Home Care, New Brunswick's largest independent home care company, announced that it will be purchasing the New Brunswick operations of Revera Home Health. Kindred, which employs 380 workers across the province, will absorb the 120 workers from Revera with no lay-offs expected. Kindred has stated that it expects the deal will create employment opportunities across the province.
• The New Brunswick government has announced that it will be eliminating 40 teaching positions in the school system this year. It was reported that New Brunswick has about 7,000 teachers.
• Horizon Health Network, as part of the first round of job cuts, has issued 63 lay-off notices. Though a total of 131 positions were eliminated, many were already vacant and will not be filled. The layed off workers include registered nurses, laboratory technicians, occupational therapists, speech language therapists, social workers, and maintenance workers.
• The MCW Group of Companies has announced that R.E. LeBlanc Consultants of Moncton will be joining their organization. The MCW Maricor team has over 70 employees in Atlantic Canada and is involved in mechanical, electrical and energy consulting.

Week of May 27 – May 31, 2013

• The town of Sussex will spend $650,000 this year on municipal infrastructure. The money will be spent on sewer upgrades and road paving.
• An efficiency review is currently underway throughout the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and Infrastructure. Union officials have indicated that so far the review has resulted in staffing changes that have impacted approximately 20 employees. Early retirement, travel to alternate locations for work, and exchanging full-time work for seasonal employment were some of the impacts cited.
• SWN Resources Canada will undertake a seismic exploration program in Kent County this summer as part of their shale gas exploration program. The work is expected to take approximately 3 months to complete.
• Seven New Brunswick researchers have received $500,000 from the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation. The funding will be used to hire research technicians in their respective fields.

Week of May 20 – May 24, 2013

• Kent Homes, a Bouctouche-based company that builds modular homes and commercial modular space, has a contract to build 100 dorm rooms and employee entertainment complexes for the Manitoba Hydro Bipole lll Converter Station near Gillam, Man. The company will hire an additional 30 new employees. Further information on these opportunities can be found at jdirving.com/careers.
• A $30M seniors complex, Silverwood Estates, in Sussex has received town council approval. Developers are in the process of finalizing municipal service agreements and awarding tenders. Construction is expected to begin next month. The development also includes an early childhood education centre, hotel and retail space. The overall project is expected to take a couple of years to complete, and once up and running will provide employment for 100 workers.
• The decision to move the Co-op grocery store to the empty Sussex Place Mall location has raised interest from other retailers. Atlantic Commercial Properties Inc. confirmed that the Brick has expressed interest in opening a location at the mall. Preparation work is taking place on the future Co-op store which is expected to open in the fall.
• Twin Rivers Paper Company, a pulp and paper mill employing 310 unionized workers in Edmundston has been acquired by investment firms Blue Wolf Capital and Atlas Holdings. Workers and the community expect that the investment firms will invest to modernize the Edmundston facility. The company operates three facilities in Edmundston, Plaster Rock and Madawaska, Maine.
• The new Sunnymel poultry abattoir in Clair will reach full production within weeks. The plant, which currently employs 192 workers, began operations in November 2012. It has been operating at reduced capacity with two eight-hour shifts while the processing equipment are being calibrated. The company expects to reach full production of 12,000 chickens processed in an hour, thus employing a complement of 210 workers within a few weeks.
• The municipal council of Cap-Pelé has announced a project of $350,000 to repair sidewalks within the village. Monarch Construction has been chosen to do the repairs which are to begin soon and be completed before the summer season.

Week of May 13 – May 17, 2013

• The federal government has contributed $80,000 to the Atelier Tournesol of Edmundston in support of a pilot project helping special needs persons through a 6-month employment training and skills development program. Eight participants will complete the program in June.
• The Syndicat des travailleuses et travailleurs de L'Acadie Nouvelle has endorsed a 4-year contract worked out with the management of the daily French language paper L'Acadie Nouvelle. The union representing approximately 50 workers reached an agreement with Acadie Media to recover higher wages and better benefits forfeited in recent years when the paper faced important financial challenges. The contract covers the period from Jan. 1, 2012 to Dec. 31, 2015.
• Soleno, a Québec-based corrugated polyethylene pipe manufacturing company in McAdam received a $125,000 provincial subsidy to expand it's production line. The company also intends to invest a further $250,000 to upgrade production equipment. The company hopes to hire between four and eight additional employees and create spinoff opportunities for local companies that support the plant.
• Fredericton MP Keith Ashfield announced, on behalf of Defence Minister Peter MacKay, that the Military Family Resource Centre at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown will undergo a $1.89M renovation and expansion. Simpson Building Contractors Ltd. of Fredericton was awarded the contract.
• Developers plan to build a 130-unit residential care facility along John Street in Moncton in a long-abandoned section of the former CFB Moncton following approval. The complex is part of a three-phase development that would eventually offer various housing options for seniors.
• The re-construction of the Garrison District Ale House in downtown Fredericton is expected to begin in a few weeks with a reopening planned for August. Fire destroyed part of the structure in January resulting in 35 employees loosing their jobs. The owner expects to employ a similar number of workers once it reopens.
• Corridor Resources has announced plans to drill new gas wells in the Sussex area next year. The company has invested around $500M in New Brunswick to date resulting in 30 gas producing wells.
• A Québec promoter is attempting to buy the former Smurfit-Stone property in Bathurst in order to start a ship building enterprise. Ronald Carré of Econometric National Plus says that the enterprise would build ships designed to carry tractor trailer transports. According to the promoter possibly 1000 to 1300 workers could be employed. The mayor of Bathurst is hopeful that this project will become a reality although some environmental issues have yet to be explored.
• Apex Industries Inc. of Moncton has received over $2M in provincial and federal funding for the purchase of new equipment. The equipment will help improve the company's competitiveness in the aerospace and defense sector. The provincial government is investing $750,000 in the project, while the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency is offering a repayable contribution of $1,512,500.