B.C. projects over 1 million job openings by 2034: Report
March 6, 2025
British Columbia expects a massive labour shortage in the province over the next decade.
From 2024 to 2034, there will be 1.12 million job openings in the province, according to a report from WorkBC.
That number is 122,000 more job openings than projected in the 2023 edition of the outlook.
Around 104,000 of these additional positions are expected to be expansion jobs—job openings created through economic growth—that will need to be filled in the early years of the forecast period.
One reason many Canadians are struggling financially these days is the labour shortage that numerous sectors are experiencing, an expert from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) said in a previous CBC report.
Why does BC project a shortage of labour?
The majority (60%) of the expected job openings in B.C. over the next decade will be due to the number of workers retiring, according to WorkBC.
“As B.C.’s population ages over the next decade, we anticipate there will be 671,000 job openings to replace retiring workers,” it said in its 2024 Labour Market Outlook (LMO).
Meanwhile, the remaining 40% will be due to the growth in the province’s economy, according to the report.
“Employment in the province is expected to grow at an annual average of 1.4 %, with 3.3 million people being employed in B.C. by 2034,” said WorkBC.
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