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SYDNEY, Nova Scotia — Cory Troke joined the exodus west two years ago, leaving scenic but job-scarce Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, after being laid off as a machinist.

Troke, 37, headed to the Alberta oilsands, apprenticing as a pipefitter and finding 19 months of steady work, flying in for two weeks, returning home for one.

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By October Troke was out of work again, and he was not alone. A downturn driven by tumbling crude prices is causing turmoil in an island economy that has grown dependent on workers commuting more than 3,000 kilometres west.

I personally know 40 to 50 guys that have been laid off since October

“I personally know 40 to 50 guys that have been laid off since October,” says Troke.

Cape Breton is another example how the 60% slide in oil prices since last June has rippled far and wide, affecting property markets in Alberta and North Dakota, helicopter sales in Houston, the Canadian dollar and national interest rates.

Once an industrial powerhouse fueled by now-closed coal mines and steel mills, the island has turned into an exporter of labour. Many young workers head to Fort McMurray in northern Alberta, lured by big paychecks awaiting at oilsands projects clustered around the city.