LAKELAND - The Alberta government announced there are more announcements coming in a press conference held on Sept. 3 – with a focus on youth and overall employment.
“The purpose of this announcement today is to inform the public that as a government, we are collaborating together across ministries to address these challenges and to meet them head on,” said Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Joseph Schow.
Billed as a new employment strategy for 2025 to 2030, the 32-page document summarizes existing programs and commitments across 14 government ministries, including the $26.1 billion over three years detailed in the 2025 Capital Plan.
According to the Jobs Strategy document, infrastructure projects in the 2025 Capital Plan are expected to create “an average of 26,500 direct jobs and 12,000 indirect jobs each year through 2027-28.”
Schow said the key areas the Alberta Jobs Strategy will focus on career awareness, career readiness, removing barriers, and employer focus.
“Further, we will be rolling out some initiatives focused on helping youth connect with employment, along with more to be announced later this month,” said Schow.
The promise of further announcements was repeated several times throughout the press conference with no further elaborating details given when pressed by reporters.
According to the document, Alberta’s population has grown by 17 per cent since 2016 and the province is expected to be home to 5.5 million people by 2030, with most of the population growth in the urban areas of the Edmonton and Calgary regions.
It says the number of people aged 15 to 24 has grown by over 13 per cent in Alberta over the past decade, with 590,100 people in the demographic in 2024. The youth unemployment rate in 2024 was 15 per cent, compared to seven per cent overall.
“We understand that getting youth into the workforce is essential. Getting them that first job, that opportunity to learn the skills that are important for future employment. And so we will be making direct investments within youth employment to reduce that youth unemployment rate and make sure that the future of Alberta is safe with a strong workforce that is well trained and getting into workforce early,” said Schow.
According to the document, the Jobs Strategy’s aims to reduce the average time it takes an unemployed Albertan to find work to 20 weeks, lower the youth unemployment rate to “within five percentage points of the overall provincial unemployment rate,” and increase employer satisfaction in hiring “so that at least 80 per cent of Alberta businesses do not consider recruiting skilled workers a significant challenge.”
Currently only 42 per cent of Alberta businesses are satisfied with the availability of labour.
