Public colleges, institutes and universities throughout B.C. are being engaged as part of a plan to invest in additional tech-related seats, announced Melanie Mark, Advanced Education, Skills and Training Minister.

“It’s critical that British Columbians are equipped with the right education and training for good-paying jobs in a 21st-century economy,” said Mark, who today met with a number of tech employers in Vancouver. “We’re building up British Columbians by improving access to affordable education and training so they can take advantage of growing tech-sector opportunities.”

The minister toured the BC Tech Innovation Hub at Great Northern Way where she met with tech co-op students and participated in a roundtable discussion with employers and post-secondary partners about education and training tech talent.

“There are exciting possibilities for the tech sector ahead of us,” said Jill Tipping, president and CEO of the BC Tech Association. “B.C.’s future is a digital economy, and for the tech sector to thrive, we need to have a workforce to support it.”

Work is underway to significantly expand the number of tech seats for British Columbians in response to labour-market demand for skilled tech workers. B.C.’s tech sector generates more than $29 billion in revenue, supports over 106,000 good-paying jobs and is home to more than 10,200 companies.

The Ministry of Advanced Education, Skills and Training is developing a tech-talent plan to respond to the needs of the tech sector and improve northern access.

Over the past several weeks, the ministry has been engaging with individual public post-secondary institutions to determine the type of programing, number of seats, financial allocation and timing for implementation.

Principles for investment include increasing programming that is aligned with industry needs, creating pathways for transfer students and addressing regions of high demand.

Labour-market data indicates a strong demand for good-paying tech jobs in B.C. with over 83,400 tech-related job openings expected by 2027 for positions, such as computer programmers, information system analysts and software designers.