Just two years ago, people from all over Canada were moving to Calgary for work.
But an oil price crash combined with the Fort McMurray wildfire has pushed its unemployment rate far higher than any other city.
Canada added 67,200 new jobs in September, including 13,000 in Alberta, but Calgary鈥檚 unemployment rate ticked up from 9.0 per cent to 9.5 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. That鈥檚 up from 4.9 per cent two years earlier.
While two provinces had higher unemployment rates overall -- Newfoundland and Labrador at 12.9 per cent and Prince Edward Island at 10.9 per cent -- the only urban area that now comes close to Calgary鈥檚 joblessness level is Barrie, Ont. (8.7 per cent).
ATB Financial Chief Economist Todd Hirsch said he expects the unemployment rate in Calgary will likely stay around nine per cent and 鈥渃ould even hit 10 per cent between now and Christmas.鈥�
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to stay pretty close to that level for most of 2017 before it gradually improves,鈥� he added.
released Thursday predicted the Alberta economy will contract 2.3 per cent in 2016 but grow by the same amount in 2017, if oil prices continue to rise.
The crude oil benchmark price broke $50 a barrel Thursday for the first time in months, after hitting a low of $35 in January. While promising for Calgary鈥檚 resource-focused economy, it remains far from the $100 a barrel that had the economy booming in 2014.
BMO said the Fort McMurray wildfires made things worse, accounting for about a half a percentage point of lost growth in 2016.
However, Alberta could have been even worse off without 鈥渁 burst in public-sector hiring,鈥� according to BMO. Edmonton鈥檚 unemployment rate actually fell last month to 7.7 per cent.
Others say Alberta鈥檚 minimum wage hike to $12.20 an hour in October has contributed to the loss of jobs. Sharlene Massie, CEO of About Staffing, is one of them. 鈥淭he only choice the employers have is to not hire as many as they normally would,鈥� she said.
The Western Region of Restaurants Canada say nearly four out of five plan to cut staff and hours to deal with the minimum wage hike.
With a report from CTV Calgary鈥檚 Rahim Ladhani
