The job market in Western Canada cooled slightly in the past year while job markets in Eastern Canada held steady, according to Express Employment Professionals’ list of the top 50 hot job markets in Canada. In 2014, seven out of the 10 hot job markets in Canada were out west while in this year they split evenly between the east and west.

The report found Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, is Canada’s hottest job market, followed closely by the neighboring municipality of Drummondville, Quebec. Saint-Hyacinthe is located in the Montérégie region of Quebec, southeast of Montreal. The area’s economic base includes a strong dairy community, Quebec's largest agricultural fair, a community college and a biotech forestry plant. And in June, a new bio-methane plant opened in the area.

The actual number of jobs in these regions has not changed dramatically since 2014; but when compared to the cooling out west, the rate of job availability per 1,000 people has held steady.

“This year’s survey has again produced surprising results — finding hot job markets in traditionally higher unemployment regions,” said Bob Funk, CEO of Express Employment Professionals. “Saint-Hyacinthe, Quebec, has replaced Fort McMurray, Alberta, as the hottest job market in the country. We are also seeing a clear cooling of once overheated job markets in the West along with the more stable Eastern job markets.”

Express Employment Professionals researched the rate of job availability by cross-referencing Statistics Canada population data with publicly advertised job postings on the federal Job Bank. A list of the 100 most populous municipalities was cross-referenced with the average number of available jobs on July 15, 2015 and August 15, 2015, as identified by the federal Job Bank — maintained by Employment and Social Development Canada — in order to calculate a figure of jobs per 1,000 population.

The top 10 job markets in Canada and jobs per 1,000 include:

1. Saint-Hyacinthe: 8.55

2. Drummondville: 8.07

2. Grande Prairie: 8.07

4. Brossard: 7.94

5. Regina: 7.79

6. Wood Buffalo: 7.53

7. North Vancouver: 6.80

8. Edmonton: 6.75

8. Blainville-Sainte-Thérèse: 6.75

10. Mississauga: 6.08