Amid global energy crisis, labour shortage constrains growth of Canada's oilpatch

BNN: 'Labour shortages in Canada's oil and gas industry could curb its ability to quickly step in to fill a gap in supply left in the wake of U.S. sanctions against Russia, industry insiders say. The sector has been struggling with a lack of workers since last year, when rebounding oil prices first spurred an uptick in drilling activity in the Canadian oilpatch. By last fall, the number of direct and indirect jobs in the oil and gas services sector was up 130 per cent year-over-year — an increase of more than 20,000 jobs — while the unemployment rate in the sector had fallen from 17.7 per cent in September 2020 to 3.7 per cent, according to industry statistics.'