CALGARY - Albertans know all too well that neither booms nor busts last forever.

That's why savvy companies are using the oilpatch downturn as an opportunity to play catch-up, positioning themselves for the energy economy's eventual comeback. Until recently, construction and service firms struggled to keep pace as oil prices above US$140-per-barrel fuelled frenzied development in the oilsands and fierce competition for labour.

Now with activity slowing down substantially, those companies can build some much-needed infrastructure at a lower cost than they would have mere months ago.

And they can boost their ranks with the best and brightest workers, who aren't as scarce - or as picky - as they used to be.

'Now's the time to get your infrastructure in place and get your team all geared up so that when it picks up again here soon, you're good to go," said Scott Stoppler, president of recruiting firm Executrade, which has offices in Edmonton and Calgary.

Bleak news has been dominating the headlines in Alberta recently. The provincial government has said it expects 15,000 jobs to be shed this year and it seems not a day goes by without another onslaught of oilpatch layoffs.

The trend in Alberta, the former engine of economic growth in Canada, mirrors a worsening jobs picture nationally, with growing unemployment and plant closures in the auto, forestry and manufacturing sectors.

On Friday, Statistics Canada is set to report a likely jump in the current 7.2 per cent jobless rate for February, after 213,000 lost jobs since November that pushed unemployment up a full percentage point. Many economists predict Canada's jobless rate could approach nine per cent before a recovery expected next year.

Stoppler expects recently announced economic stimulus packages will help staunch the flow of lost jobs, as workers who would have been employed by the energy industry join major public works projects such as power plants, sewers and bridges, ports and highways.

'Firms that do that heavy-duty infrastructure construction work are going to get very busy," said Stoppler.

Edmonton engineering company Stantec Inc. (TSX:STN) and Toronto-based construction giant Aecon Group Inc. (TSX:ARE) are a few of the companies poised to take advantage of $12 billion in new infrastructure spending announced as part of the federal budget in January.

And Aecon signalled an optimistic outlook in Western Canada with its recent acquisition of Edmonton-based Lockerbie & Hole, which caters largely to Alberta's energy industry.