“It is encouraging to see that 17,000 jobs were created in Alberta last month, which brings our unemployment rate to its lowest level in a year.
“This comes after the Conference Board of Canada and BMO projected this week that Alberta will lead Canada in economic growth. It’s not time to pop champagne corks, but this is hopefully the beginning of a bounce-back for Alberta’s economy and job market.
“We can't take our eye off the ball on recovery and diversification. We need to keep working to grow critical sectors and attract investment. We’ve already had some recent notable successes, such as mCloud moving their headquarters to Calgary to create more than 100 jobs and Infosys bringing at least 500 jobs to Alberta. The company plans to establish Calgary as one of its ‘tech and innovation hubs.’
“Additionally, Edmonton-based Jobber is hiring 200 Albertans, doubling their workforce. Symend quintupled their workforce in 2020 and plans to double it again this year.
“This follows records in venture capital investment in 2020, and 2021 is shaping up to be an even better year. We are building momentum towards a bright future.
“Our energy sector will always be critical to prosperity in our province. There are more head offices in Calgary than before the pandemic, many of them companies in the energy sector.
“There is still more work to be done. We need to get Albertans vaccinated. We need to keep working to build our economy in new and existing sectors. We need to keep building, and Budget 2021 provides record support for jobs and growth. It will set the stage for economic recovery.”