Provincial forecast calls for one million Jobs in British Columbia by 2031

The British Columbia Government released the latest Labour Market Outlook on Monday and if you're about to head into the labour market or are currently there, the next ten years would seem to be one's destined to offer job opportunities.

The ten year forecast for the province is outlining a path ahead that will deliver over 1 million jobs from now until 2031, with the market update noting that upcoming retirements will make for much of the growth.

B.C.’s workforce will be required to build new skills and knowledge to keep pace with the 1,004,000 job openings forecast through to 2031. Of this total, 63% will replace people who are leaving the workforce permanently, such as retirees. The remaining 37% will be new jobs created by economic growth and COVID-19 pandemic recovery.

Towards what kind of jobs will be in demand the report charts that as follows:

The largest number of job openings are expected in the health-care, social assistance and education industries. Many of these openings will provide services such as early childhood education, counselling, child protection and community housing and food services. Science and technology jobs will also be in high demand with 111,000 job openings projected and 85,000 job openings expected in skilled trades, which will offer careers ranging from cooks and automotive service technicians to construction workers and hairstylists.

Key to the job growth will be the need for education, and towards those employment prospects the Province has made note of its work to expand post secondary training.

Over the past four years, the Province has steadily expanded access to post-secondary training in several high-opportunity occupations, including the addition of: 

 2,900 tech-related spaces, set to produce approximately 1,000 additional tech graduates each year by 2023

500 new nursing seats, building on approximately 2,000 seats in nursing programs at public post-secondary institutions

1,150 new early childhood educator seats (ECE), adding to approximately 1,800 seats in ECE programs at public post-secondary institutions

27,000 more apprenticeship and foundation training seats this year at public and non-public institutions.

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Port facilities in Prince Rupert and the prominence of natural resources industries mark for much of the potential job growth for the North Coast to Nechako corridor. An area of the province that is expected to generate15,200 of the jobs over the next ten years.

The industries forecasted to grow the fastest are Warehousing and storage; Transit, sightseeing and pipeline transportation; Online shopping; Truck transportation and support activities; and Ports. 

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On the ten years of growth to come, Ravi Khalon, Minster of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation noted how the upcoming economic plan from the government will look to attract and retain talent to support those jobs into the future.

“I’ve heard from business leaders, First Nations, labour groups and non-profits throughout the province that B.C.’s competitive advantage is its people. That’s why our upcoming economic plan will put forward a generational commitment to attract, develop and retain talent to support the jobs of the future. By continuing to invest in people, we will build a stronger, more inclusive workforce and prepare British Columbians to compete on a global stage.”

You can review the full report here.

More notes from Victoria can be explored through our Legislature archive page.