The BC government says a million new jobs will open up in the province over the next ten years. More than 15 percent of those jobs will be on VanIsle.
That’s good news after two years of COVID. Things have been tough on the job market. It’s also good news for folks who have had their industries cut back, like fish farming and logging.
More than half of the jobs will open up because people are retiring. The last of the Baby Boomers are hitting retirement age now. The rest will be new jobs created because of economic growth and pandemic recovery.
It’s no surprise that many job openings will be in healthcare. Nurses and other health and hospital workers are burnt out. Many have left their jobs to do something else in the past two years. As the province gets back on its feet, building up our healthcare system with new people will be essential.
Other hot job markets will be construction, transportation and warehousing, and skilled trades.
Nearly 80% of the new jobs will require some kind of post-secondary education. Not necessarily university, but some sort of training to help folks specialize. The province says they’ll continue funding training programs to support people who want to get into new fields.
VanIsle has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada. Statistics Canada said the country’s unemployment rate was 5.9% in January 2022. But on VanIsle, it was 4.4 percent.
Though it’s great that these jobs are coming, there are still a few things to watch out for.
As housing costs go up, it will be important that new jobs pay well enough to live here. Either that, or the province has to do something about the skyrocketing cost of housing.
Education also costs a lot. If folks need training to fill these jobs, the province will need to step up to make sure they can get it without breaking the bank.
Vancouver Islanders have proven over the years that we’re adaptable. We like a challenge. And we’re no strangers to hard work.
We’ll kick ass in the job market over the next 10 years if we can find the right mix of housing and education.
