The area has been mono-industry driven since the formation of the Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) in 1949 and the Wabush Mines in 1957. But with most businesses in the area derived from the mining industry, it has proven difficult for the town to diversify its income-generation. And with Wabush Mines closing its door and laying off 500 people in 2013, solely relying on mining is no longer a viable option.
There is also a lack of affordable housing and development in the area, as the majority of land is owned by the mine and a few individuals. As well, Labrador City has relied heavily on migrant workers to fill available mining or service industry positions - giving the town a reputation of being a ‘fly in fly out’ (FIFO) hub. Like many smaller regions, Labrador City struggles with population decline. Many of the town’s youth leave for post-secondary education and don’t return. Nevertheless, Labrador City is primarily a residential town and very much a family-oriented community.
Despite IOC’s policy to hire locally and its success in doing so before hiring FIFOs, there are still an important number of migrant workers coming in and finding it difficult to take root in the community for reasons to do with lack of affordable housing and high cost of living. The town struggles with lack of staffing for critical amenities such as daycares, clinics and training programs. This situation persists even though many immigrant workers such as members of the Filipino community come in to work in the service industry because they are willing to take lower paying jobs and live in tight housing situations in order to eventually get their permanent residency and move on to better working and living conditions. The French community has also been getting lost in the shuffle - it is getting increasingly hard to get services in French and French-speaking resources, despite there being a time when the majority of the town was mainly French speaking.
