Manitoba employers don't feel threatened by bids to lure tradespeople to Alberta, saying that the wages aren't all that different and the cost of living is soaring in the booming western province.

In fact, some workers who headed west are being lured back home, one Winnipeg company said.

In the past week, several Alberta businesses have bought advertisements and distributed flyers in Manitoba that offer top wages, opportunities for advancement and promising futures.

But in some cases, salaries are virtually the same.

For example, a Calgary-based asbestos removal company boasts of a starting salary of $14, which is $2 more than Dave McNichol would pay his rookies at his Winnipeg company.

"They won't get anybody," McNichol said Thursday. "They might get some people that might want to try it, but most people really can't do this kind of work."

McNichol said that asbestos removal is a specialized field, and Winnipeg companies won't be willing to let workers go to Alberta for a few extra dollars an hour.

"We pay market value, and so [do] my competitors. And once you've got someone that can do this work and that has the experience and skills, you're not going to let him go for a couple of bucks," he said.

In other examples, the difference in pay for school bus mechanics and sawmill workers is several cents an hour while up to $3 separates the hourly wage for RV technicians and electricians.

One of the few Calgary employers that might make it worth the move is a trucking firm that offers drivers up to $7 an hour more than they can earn in Winnipeg.

Workers 'happy to come back'

However, earning more may not be enough for some workers, once they factor in the cost of living.

Several highly paid plumbers have returned to Manitoba in the past six months, said Brian Klinkhammer, owner of Furnaceman New Homes in Winnipeg.

"We've brought five people back from Alberta who have been happy to come back," Klinkhammer said.

Peter Whiteman, executive director of the Construction Labour Relations Association of Manitoba, noted that there's no reason for workers to look for work outside the province at this time.

"In Manitoba, we've got a number of infrastructure projects happening and there's lots of work to be held here," Whiteman said. "So I don't think we'll see a lot of workers from Manitoba leaving the province to go to Alberta."