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Labour Force
In Prince Edward Island, there is a high degree of stability, single digit turnover and an enviable work ethic. As well, Prince Edward Island is a desirable relocation destination and has demonstrated the capacity to encourage skilled workers to return to the province.
Labour Costs
Recent data indicates that Prince Edward Island has some of the lowest labour costs in Canada. Statistics Canada shows that PEI’s average weekly salary in February 2011 was $718.11. Compared to the national average for the same period of $874.83, this difference could translate into considerable savings for companies settling on PEI. Source: Statistics Canada, Survey of Employment, Payrolls, and Hours.
A few statistics:
- PEI has an 11.2 percent unemployment rate (April 2011). Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey.
- 54.8 percent of the PEI workforce has post secondary training. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey.
- The work force is loyal. The average job tenure is 9.3 years. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey.
Training partners on Prince Edward Island include:
Holland College
Holland College is the community college of PEI and offers specialized courses in aviation maintenance, business, culinary, health, law enforcement, marine, tourism, trades and technology, sport and recreation. Adult upgrading and English as a second language courses are also available.
The college’s new Centre for Labour Force and Innovation has been designed to meet the labour market needs of the new economy. The Centre focuses on four essential elements in the development of strong workforce skills:
- training in Bioscience technologies;
- a central location for materials related to research and development activities;
- a learning hub to help PEI industry plan and develop employee skills and create specialized programs to meet the needs of emerging sectors such as Bio-Science;
- transitional programming tailored to meet the needs of those preparing to enter or reenter the labour force.
Holland College offers a wide variety of competency-based programs, several of which have been developed to accommodate local employers. Examples are:
University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI)
The University of Prince Edward Island offers undergraduate degree programs in business administration, engineering, arts and sciences, nursing, and music. In addition, there are preparatory courses for medicine, dentistry, law and architecture as well as graduate degrees in education and veterinary medicine.
UPEI offers a full range of courses in Arts, Business, Sciences, Music, Education, Nursing, and much more. Much of the university’s original research activity centres around:
- Aquatic Health Sciences
- Cognitive Science/Neuroscience
- Comparative Biomedical Sciences
- Environmental Sciences
- Human Development and Health
- Island Studies
- Molecular and Materials Science
- Computer Science Specialization in Video Games
Other Educational Institutions
The Aviation and Industrial Training Centre and the Atlantic Welding and Metal Fabrication Institute are examples of training centres that offer programs related to specific industry needs, including upgrading general business and industry-specific skills. This training ensures that employees are highly qualified and trained to satisfy employers' current requirements.
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