The 2022 B.C. Labour Market Outlook, issued by the Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills, projected that 636,000 workers will leave the workforce over the coming decade and only 474,000 young people will enter the workforce to replace them.
Educators and counsellors can also use the report to plan the courses that will be needed to inform students about career opportunities that will be available both close to home and across the province. Maybe that’s why the provincial government, through the offices of Workforce Development Minister Andrew Mercier, has just announced a $5-million investment to support young folks entering the trades or who are already in the process of completing their apprenticeship.
While 50.6% of people between 15 and 65 in B.C. are women, only 10.1% of all apprentices in B.C. are women. More on that topic below. Again, while 13.3% of people between 15 and 65 in B.C. are Indigenous, 8.5% of all apprentices in B.C. are Indigenous, and 1.5% are Indigenous women. The Labour Market Outlook also includes information not only about choosing career paths but where in the province certain trades career paths are most likely to be available.