Alberta oil boom pumps $3 M a week into Cape Breton

Alberta paycheques worth millions of dollars are pouring into Cape Breton's economy each week, as oil workers send their dollars back home to the Nova Scotia island.

Hundreds of Cape Bretoners have headed out to work in the multibillion-dollar oil industry based around Fort McMurray, Alta., said Cliff Murphy, head of the Building Trades Council in Cape Breton. Others are spread throughout the booming western province.

"We had about 1,700 people in the building trades last year working in Alberta, and that would roughly mean about $3 million coming back into the economy of Cape Breton each week," he told CBC News on Tuesday.

Murphy estimated that, of all the people who headed to Alberta last year seeking better employment prospects than they could find at home, all but 30 returned to Cape Breton for Christmas.

Many of the workers bring a large part of their paycheques back to Nova Scotia because it's not worth it for them to sell their homes and move their families, he said.

"A lot of our members are mid-life, their mortgages are paid off."

Murphy said they're not interested in buying houses in booming Fort McMurray because real-estate prices are high and "nobody wants to get into a 25-year mortgage at this stage of the game."

• FROM MARCH 1, 2006: No work camps in Fort McMurray, for now

Rampant development in the oilsands-rich region has led to a shortage of housing, to the point that city officials are considering a plan to set up temporary work camps. Apartments are often jammed with a number of workers sharing tight spaces and hotel vacancies are rare.

Despite that kind of irritant, Murphy said it's almost impossible for companies in Cape Breton to compete for young employees when people fresh out of university can work in Alberta for $100,000 a year.

'You do what you have to do'

Jennifer Reid of Donkin has come to accept that husband Bobby must spend the winter in Fort McMurray while she stays in Cape Breton with their baby, Avery.

"It's something you learn how to deal with, with the support of my family and his mom," she said. "You do what you have to do, unfortunately."

Reid added that she couldn't imagine pulling up her roots, selling her house and moving west, no matter how much the Alberta economy is booming.

"I love Cape Breton," she said.

Alberta cabinet minister is transplanted 'Caper'

The member of the Alberta legislature representing Fort McMurray, Environment Minister Guy Boutilier, is well aware that his city's workforce is made up of many Cape Bretoners who are supporting families and the economy back home.

Boutilier grew up in Donkin on Cape Breton but left for Alberta after graduating from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S.

He planned to stay one year. He's still there 28 years later.

"I wish I could take the oilsands and plant it right back home in Cape Breton," Boutilier said.