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After years of mass layoffs, the oilsands is expected to add 3,400 new jobs by 2020, according to the latest forecast that says depressed oil prices had a “deeper and longer impact” on the workforce.

The oilsands is expected to employ 67,200 workers in four years, a jump of six per cent or 3,400 jobs, employment forecaster PetroLMI said Wednesday in its latest report.

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A prolonged period of low commodity prices, along with declines in capital spending and wildfires in Fort McMurray have delayed a recovery in Alberta’s oilsands, said Carol Howes, spokeswoman for PetroLMI.

The oil and gas industry has shed an estimated 44,000 direct jobs since prices began to fall in late 2014. The oilsands sector saw a small chunk of those losses, about 2,400 direct job cuts in two years.

According to the report, job losses in the sector are expected to be more than offset by 2020.

“We had expected, like many others, the recovery would happen a lot sooner than it has,” Howes said. “The price of oil remained lower for longer, and another factor was the Fort McMurray wildfires, which had an impact on production.”

In its February forecast, PetroLMI projected the oilsands would have seen slight job gains in 2016, but cost-cutting continued in the sector as the price of oil remained at depressed levels.