Brandt to create more than 1,000 new jobs across Canada and U.S.

REGINA -

The Brandt Group of Companies announced Wednesday it will hire more than 1,000 new employees across its locations in Canada and the U.S. by the end of 2021.

The Regina-based company said the new positions will grow Brandt’s workforce by 30 per cent overall, with the largest individual increases in Regina, Saskatoon and Hudson, IL locations.

According to a press release, half of the new hires will be in Saskatchewan with another 40 per cent spread out across Canada. The remaining 10 per cent will be in the U.S.

Brandt is the largest John Deere industrial equipment dealer in the world and also manufactures attachments for the machines. Most of the steel fabrication takes place in three Regina plants.

Brandt CEO Shaun Semple said agriculture and construction are driving business.

“Agriculture is very hot right now and we’re seeing expansions and lots of equipment purchases. On the construction side with all the work from home that’s going on out there, we’re seeing construction of housing across Canada at record levels and that really fuels the dealership side of our business,” said Semple.

The hiring spree is the latest in a string of economic announcements for Regina, which includes two canola crushing plants and a straw pulp mill.

“We’ve had three announcements over the last six weeks, about 1,500 construction jobs in those three announcements and another 300 or so permanent employees plus the Brandt jobs,” said Tina Beaudry-Mellor, chief economic growth officer for Economic Development Regina. “That’s tremendous results for the city of Regina.”

New positions at Brandt will include skilled trades, sales, finance, marketing, customer support, IT and more.

“We’re hiring engineers, we’re hiring factory workers, we’re hiring admin, we’re hiring accountants, it really is an increase in business overall,” said Semple.