U.S. veterans looking for jobs have a new employment opportunity — in Canada, working on that country’s section of the Keystone XL Pipeline.
Though the push to start building the Canada-to-Texas oil route has been delayed in the United States amid political and environmental disputes, the Veterans of Foreign Wars is part of a deal that would send veterans and transitional active-duty soldiers across the border to fill as many as 114,000 skilled-labor jobs. The jobs include work on the crude-oil pipeline as well as work on infrastructure and even skyscrapers.
The deal is being negotiated by the Edmonton Economic Development Corp. and VetJobs, a job-placement company in which the VFW has a stake.
VetJobs CEO Ted Daywalt said Tuesday he “jumped at the opportunity” to send workers across the border.
“I want to get the best jobs for veterans. If that means going to Canada, we will,” he said. “And it’s a lot safer than Iraq.”
Daywalt said he was “very upset” about delays on the U.S. section of the 1,700-mile-long pipeline, which nixed corporate commitments he had secured to hire 8,000 veterans. He hopes veterans can now find gainful employment in Canada.
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