An analysis by the Labour Market Group paints a troubling jobs picture for North Bay.
LMG studied the jobs situation for North Bay from 2011 to 2016, the last Census period, and found the city lost 2,595 jobs over that period.
Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli says that works out to a 6.7 per cent drop in jobs in North Bay.
Fedeli wasn’t surprised by the LMG report saying it reinforces a similar study by the Fraser Institute a few months ago which examined the job situation in the city.
The Tory MPP says the right-wing think tank found that over a 10-year period North Bay lost nine percent of its jobs.
Fedeli says the poor jobs picture isn’t because employers aren’t hiring or people aren’t looking for work.
He says layoffs aside, another factor in the job losses is people retiring and employers not being able to find replacement workers with the right skills.
“Many employers in North Bay are still looking for people and people are still looking for work, but they don’t match up,” Fedeli said.
“And this is what’s called the skills gap. People are not being trained for the job openings in North Bay.”
However Fedeli says it’s possible to reverse this trend.
He says one way is for employers to play an even bigger role with education so this group stays ahead of what to teach students.
Fedeli says Canadore College does a great job filling this need but adds it falls short in some areas through no fault of its own.
“Canadore does a great job reacting to the needs of the employer and in fact forecasts their needs and gets those education training facilities setup,” Fedeli said.
“But we still have a mismatch.”
Fedeli says what would help is if the provincial government improved post-secondary funding.
He says colleges and universities in the north face costing challenges not encountered by the schools in Southern Ontario.
He says northern post-secondary schools are further apart, more remote and have higher operating expenses like winter heating.
The LMG report looked at 20 sectors to see where jobs were lost and added.
Fedeli says among the hardest hit areas were public administration, retail and wholesale, transportation, warehousing, healthcare and social assistance.
On the plus side, accommodations, food services and manufacturing added to their workforce during the last Census period.
