City of Summerside

The City of Summerside provides a way for job seekers to connect with employers

by Heidi Riley

Summerside is PEI’s second largest city, with a population of 16,000. It is home to 850 businesses employing 10,000 people. The city is working to facilitate and secure investment in the area with the goal of increasing the area’s population and the number of jobs.

At a recent UPEI event, Neil Moore, Research Analyst with the City of Summerside’s Department of Economic Development, talked about the many sectors operating in the Summerside area.

Neil welcomes job seekers to contact him to have a conversation about employment opportunities in Summerside. “Carving out your career path can be tough. I can help you understand Summerside and connect you to jobs that may not even be advertised.”

Neil provided some examples of businesses and employment opportunities in Summerside:

Aerospace: Almost 700 employees work in companies such as MDS Coatings, Honeywell, Standard Aero, and TronosJet. “Aerospace was one of the hardest-hit industries due to COVID-19, and is now making a cautious recovery,” says Neil. “There are administrative and technical opportunities at those companies.”

IT: Hundreds of employees work in IT companies such as Fully Managed and StarPort (managed services), IO Solutions Contact Center (business process outsourcing), RadNet (radiology information systems), WorkLinks (cloud-based payroll software), Funky Finger (video game design), Maximus DeltaWare (ehealth), Mydoma Studio (application for interior designers), and BluWave-ai (energy scheduling using Artificial Intelligence algorithms). “All except one are looking for workers right now,” says Neil.

Financial: Sharon O’Halloran CPA Inc. employs bookkeepers and accountants. “They’ve been looking to increase capacity and welcome interest from those with finance backgrounds.”

Construction: Curran & Briggs Limited and Strategic Construction offer employment opportunities as equipment operators, foremen, project management, carpentry, and labourers.

Cleantech: Summerside Sunbank, a $68 million 21 MW solar farm, along with the city’s current windfarm, is slated to provide 70 percent of Summerside’s energy needs. There are also plans for a new net-zero eco-park.

There are also many fishing, farming, and tourism businesses. “For example, the new Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham, located beside Credit Union Place, opened in December 2022.”

“Summerside is growing very fast. Building permit values are more than double their usual amount,” says Neil. “More immigrants are settling in Summerside than ever before. And business vacancy rates went from 11 percent in 2018 to 3 percent today.

“Many employers in Summerside are currently hiring or plan to hire soon. There are lots of opportunities here and things are always changing. Use me as your employment concierge.”