By Geoff Smith (@GeoffSmithLNN on Twitter)

AHS remains Lethbridge’s largest employer, but private sector growing

Mar 6, 2018 | 9:44 AM

LETHBRIDGE – A regular survey of large employers in Lethbridge finds that those in the private sector are leading growth in the area.

Economic Development Lethbridge (EDL) conducts the survey every two years, and for the first time included communities contained in the Census Metropolitan Area in the fall 2017 survey. Coaldale, Coalhurst, and Picture Butte are now included.

The new list counts 49 employers of 100 or more people, up from 45 in 2015. The largest single employer continues to be Alberta Health Services, with 3,368 employees. The top ten is rounded out by the University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge School District No. 51, City of Lethbridge, Lethbridge College, Government of Alberta, Holy Spirit Catholic School Division, Sunrise Poultry (the largest private sector employer on the list), Covenant Health, and Palliser Regional Schools.

“It’s the first time in the years we’ve been doing the survey that the private sector major employers have grown by a larger margin than the public sector,” EDL chief executive officer Trevor Lewington said in an interview. “That’s important to know, I think: that business is driving growth.”

Sunrise listed 625 employees for the survey. The next two private sector employers are also in food manufacturing: Maple Leaf Foods/Lethbridge Pork (425) and PepsiCo Foods (400). Lewington cited agri-food as a core of the economy, up 24 per cent from the last survey.

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Some changes on the list are due to companies choosing to take part in the survey that didn’t previously, or vice-versa. One notable absence this year, due to the bankruptcy of the company, is Sears Canada.

The total workforce employed by entities on the list totals more than 21,400, or 35 per cent of all workers in Lethbridge. 21 per cent, or 13,142, work for the ten largest employers.

“Part of the stability and predictability of the Lethbridge economy comes from the fact that more than 20 per cent of the workforce is being paid by those fairly stable, fairly large public-sector organizations,” Lewington observed. 

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