Calgary's oil boom is bringing unprecedented growth to Alberta and prominently positioning Canada on the main stage of the world's energy superpowers.

Blooomberg News reported last month that the population of Canada's main oil-producing region has soared 37 percent to about 3.7 million in the past decade as companies such as ExxonMobil and Statoil ASA have attracted workers from China, Venezuela and the Phillippines to develop the largest oil reserves outside of the Middle East.

"Most people around the world believe that it has been a fairly parochial jurisdiction," said Alberta Premier, Alison Redford. "We are now going through a generational change in politics and business. We have an ability to embrace the world in a way that we've never done."

Although it is one of just two landlocked provinces, the oil boom has attracted global attention, according to Bloomberg, and consequently the immigrant population of Calgary is growing faster than any Canadian city as oil companies are looking to fill an estimated 100,000 jobs over the next eight years.

Alberta has led economic growth in Canada in recent years and per capita domestic product at C$70,824 (U.S.$69,462) and is 75 percent higher than Quebec's and tops in Canada.

How much of a transformation has it been? Agriculture, including cattle farming, wheat and barley, had been the foundation of the local economy and today accounts for only 15 percent of the province's economic output. The main economic driver is now the oil and gas sector which generates about one-third of government revenue and employes 1 of every 6 workers.

The oil boom has helped make the province Canada's third-largest economy just behind Quebec, which has twice the population.

And this seems to be just the beginning. According to the Calgary Herald, there's a shortage of skilled labor. The province is anticipating over the next decade a 114,000 shortfall between the jobs available and those able to fill them, a 48 percent increase over the 2009 jobs forecast.

The boom times bring growth opportunities for many industries outside of the oil and gas sector too. The Alberta government’s latest occupational demand and supply outlook sees 606,000 new jobs being created by 2021, with 492,000 new workers joining the labour force to fill them. Shortages are expected in the trades, among health-care workers, financial services, retail, public service and the restaurant and tourism industries.

Some industries are ramping up hiring, especially in the oil and gas sector; Imperial Oil recently announced it was proceeding with its Kearl oilsands expansion. And concurrently, government, businesses and schools are working to anticipate and address demand before it arrives.

While the province’s first priority is making sure all Albertans are employed, “even if every Canadian has a job, we will be short,” Alberta's Human Services spokesman Yonathan Sumamo says.