Office of the Premier
Brenda Bailey, Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, has issued the following statement on the release of Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey for July 2024:
“Across Canada, people are facing big challenges due to high interest rates and slower global economic growth. Despite job declines across the country, B.C. continues to hold steady with 63,900 jobs gained during the past year, including the second-largest increase in private-sector employment.
“B.C.’s unemployment rate is 5.5%, the second-lowest unemployment rate among provinces and significantly below the national average of 6.4%.
“B.C.’s average hourly wage is $36.59, the highest among provinces in July. Since 2017, we have had the highest GDP growth among large provinces at 16.9%.
“Today’s Labour Force Survey data shows jobs in construction have increased 29,100 over the past year, including 6,000 new jobs last month. This past month, we also saw increases in health care and social assistance (+4,900), and agriculture (+2,800).
“With challenges affecting our province as well as the national and global economies, B.C. is taking action to build an economy with good job opportunities today and for our kids and grandkids so they can build a good life here.
“To create more than 200 jobs and advance the development of cutting-edge bioprinted tissue therapeutics for people, B.C. is entering into a nearly $200-million partnership with Aspect Biosystems and the Government of Canada.
“B.C. boasts of the fastest-growing life-sciences sector in Canada. Helping B.C.-based life sciences and biomanufacturing companies, such as Aspect, anchor and grow in our province is enhancing health-care outcomes for British Columbians and creating hundreds of new high-paying, highly skilled jobs.”
“Meanwhile, we have launched North Island College’s seaweed industry pilot project, an innovative program that aims to diversify the economy of northern Vancouver Island by delivering training opportunities for an emerging industry. Training in seaweed cultivation, processing and marketing will equip people with the skills needed for jobs in the seaweed industry, supporting economic opportunities in this rural coastal area.
“We are also supporting mass-timber manufacturing jobs. Through the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund (BCMJF), a contribution of as much as $7 million has provided an incentive for Mercer Mass Timber (MMT), a subsidiary of Mercer International, to invest in the future of its Okanagan Falls facilities, which MMT acquired one year ago.
“The BCMJF will support the Okanagan Falls facility to purchase new advanced manufacturing equipment and make factory upgrades that will improve production efficiencies and scale up manufacturing of a wider variety of mass-timber products, supporting 28 local jobs to meet its production needs.
“The BCMJF has committed as much as $103 million toward almost 100 projects, representing almost $870 million in total capital investment in communities throughout the province. Funds committed so far will help create more than 1,400 jobs and protect more than 1,900 existing manufacturing jobs in B.C.
“Our government has been following our industrial blueprint and working collaboratively across all sectors to seize opportunities, drive growth and create jobs in a clean economy that works better for people.”
Learn More:
To learn more about the North Island College Seaweed Industry pilot project:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2024PSFS0039-001268
To learn more about the BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, visit:
https://gov.bc.ca/ManufacturingJobsFund
To learn more about Clean and Competitive: A Blueprint for B.C.'s Industrial Future, visit:
https://news.gov.bc.ca/files/Clean_and_Competitive.pdf
To find out more about the Stronger BC Economic Plan, visit:
https://strongerbc.gov.bc.ca/plan/
