The CEO of a northern Saskatchewan community development organization says northern Saskatchewan may be the most unemployed region in Canada.
Randy Johns, of the Keewatin Community Development Association, says his organization recently compiled some statistics specific to the north.
He says what they found was a grim look at the current state of employment, north of the NAD line.
“We have quite likely the lowest employment level in the country at 37.4 percent and we differ quite a bit from the rest of the province in those respects,” he said.
Johns was a presenter at the Northern Labour Market Committee meeting, currently underway in La Ronge.
Several northern business leaders have gathered at Eagle Points Resort for the two-day meeting where discussions on training and employment will take precedent.
While Johns couldn’t give an exact way to address the employment rate, he hopes the information he gathered will help leaders make the necessary changes.
“It is important for us to do these things and see where we are at in the north,” he said.
The committee meetings wrap up on Wednesday.
(PHOTO: Randy Johns presenting at the Northern Labour Market Committee meeting. Photo by Braden Malsbury.)