RAIL INDUSTRY
Still, Nathan Higgins, senior vice-president and head of
rail for Hatch Mott MacDonald in Canada, told Re:locate that the sector was bearing up well. “The large Class 1 freight railways CN and CP are amongst the highest performers in North America, and have shown strong performance despite the general downturn in the Canadian economy,” he said. While oil shipments may be down, stalled development on
a number of key oil pipeline projects means that the energy sector is still dependent on rail. “The downturn in oil prices has had a significant effect on the carload quantities of rail shipments,” said Mr Higgins. “The reality is that the over- capacity of existing pipelines and the delays in approvals for new pipelines will mean that railways will continue to be a viable option for shipment of crude oil. “Although the price of oil has reduced quantities significantly,
there continues to be a market for crude oil and shipments by rail, and the required new infrastructure to enable that will likely continue, albeit at a slower pace.”
Light rail transit flourishing While freight is sluggish, however, light rail transit (LRT) projects in urban areas are creating significant volumes of work. “The public transit sector in rail is very busy, with most levels of government investing heavily in transit expansion,” said Nathan Higgins. “Metrolinx, in Toronto, is adding new LRT lines and
expanding their commuter rail network, including a major initiative to convert their motive power from diesel electric to fully electrified. Major LRT expansion in most major Canadian cities is proceeding using the public-private partnership contracting model.” The development of LRT infrastructure comes with other
associated projects. “Land-use planning including transit oriented development [TOD] has become a major priority for urban centres in Canada,” said Nathan Higgins. “For example, in Calgary TOD planning is being integrated with the development of transit infrastructure design in such a way that communities are created where residents can live, work, play, shop and learn in close proximity to efficient public transit, and where the automobile is an option rather than a necessity. “The trend is for populations wanting to live in more
dense urban settings but with a sense of community and with infrastructure that is built with a human scale and peace in mind.” Ben Llewellyn expands on the example of Calgary. “In
Calgary, there’s a CAD2.5 billion programme to build an LRT system. There’s not much going on in the field of construction at the moment, so a lot of people are going and working on that, gaining the experience to move on to other rail projects.”
A global talent pool The latest employment data from the RAC shows that the sector employed 33,167 people in 2013. The figure has been trending down, but only slightly – that number shows a drop of 2,569 from 2004, when the industry employed 35,736 people. Beyond its core workforce, rail also employs around 60,000 people indirectly. While the overall numbers have dipped, compensation is on
the rise. The average annual salary per employee in 2013 was CAD88,153, up from CAD66,804 in 2004. The sector paid out a total of CAD2.9 billion in wages for the year. As with many industries that depend on professionals with
STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) backgrounds, however, there are skills shortages. “They all need civil engineers. A lot of the people who come out and work here are British and Irish guys who have done rail projects in the UK. They’re all civil engineers,” says Ben Llewellyn. That largely comes down to shortages in Canada. “In the
UK, there’s a desire to work on rail. Over here, there isn’t. So that’s why employers have to go abroad to get the talent. People over here would prefer to go work on the mines or the oil and gas fields.” The shortage really boils down to compensation. “Mining
and oil and gas are the best-paid fields over here,” says Mr Llewellyn. And while universities like the British Columbia Institute
of Technology do provide rail-focused courses, they’re far less popular than courses oriented towards mining, energy and construction management. The main challenge comes from the fact that the talent pool
is relatively limited, with the sector dominated by five or so big players. “It’s bringing people from abroad, and companies actually being willing to sponsor them,” says Ben Llewellyn. Still, the packages tend to be modest. “Employers will pay
for the flight over and a small relocation package. They’ll help out with rent for a couple of months. Then it will just be the standard Canadian salary. Because Canada’s economy isn’t doing very well and the dollar’s quite weak, salaries aren’t that good – probably not as good as in the UK or the USA – so it can be a struggle to recruit the right people. “Employers have to sell the dream of living in Canada, which
is beautiful and a good country to live in.” And fortunately, because the US’s H1B visa system for skilled
migrants, which is massively over-subscribed, only operates for a short window every year and takes months to produce a visa, competition with the States for hires is low. The process in Canada can take as little as a month.
Remote locations The resource-oriented nature of much of the rail industry’s work means that many roles are based in remote locations. Ben Llewellyn says that this doesn’t tend to be a problem when it comes to hiring, however. “A lot of the work is fly-in, fly-out, so you’ll go over there,
you’ll work for two weeks, then you’ll get five days off. People are happy to do that, as they get paid extremely well. The locations they work in are mainly northern Canada, northern Alberta and northern British Columbia, up towards Alaska – the middle of nowhere. “These are the jobs which people from outside Canada can
get. If you’re in Canada and you want a job, it’s relatively easy. If you’re not from Canada and you want a visa, it’s becoming hard, mainly because the government is clamping down. For these remote locations, though, it’s relatively easy to get visas.” This is largely because the positions are more difficult to
fill with locals and Canadian nationals, says Mr Llewellyn. The Canadian rail industry might be suffering a little at
the moment, but there are still big projects going ahead, with a real need for international talent.
For Canada news and articles, visit
relocatemagazine.com/americas/canada
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