Shirley Bond, Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour, received a mandate letter from Premier Christy Clark on June 10, 2013, that included direction to "review the role and function of the Industry Training Authority (ITA)".

Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labour Shirley Bond has issued the following statement in response to the July 2013 Labour Force Survey:

Along with the majority of Canada, British Columbia experienced a decline in employment in July.

Over the next decade, there will be an estimated one million job openings in B.C. in many sectors, including liquefied natural gas, mining and mineral exploration, and shipbuilding. Of those job openings, 43 per cent will require trades and technical training.

British Columbia showed strong and stable growth with a gain of 8,900 jobs last month and a drop in the overall unemployment rate to 6.3 per cent.

B.C. is open for business and welcoming tourists in every corner of the province, especially in our spectacularly beautiful Kootenay Rockies region.

The B.C. government has successfully achieved its target of net-zero new regulations in 2012, and will continue to maintain that target through 2015.

The Open for Business application deadline, set for June 21, 2013, has been extended to July 12, 2013.