VICTORIA, B.C.: A new report from the Business Council of BC reveals that British Columbia has the worst youth employment decline and the lowest youth labour force participation rate of any province in Canada, with the youth unemployment rate climbing to 14 per cent, matching levels last seen during the global financial crisis, while youth labour force participation has collapsed to its lowest point in a quarter century.
“Every unemployed young person is more than a number. It’s a student, a recent graduate, an apprentice, or a young worker trying to build a future in British Columbia,” said Kiel Giddens, MLA for Prince George-Mackenzie and Critic for Labour. “Young people are doing everything we’ve asked of them. They’re getting educated, learning trades, and preparing for the workforce. The problem is that the jobs aren’t there.”
Since 2019, youth employment in BC has fallen by 51,000 workers, a 14 per cent decline and the worst of any province in the country. BC’s youth labour force participation rate has fallen 10 percentage points, dropping from third highest in Canada to last.
“While the NDP talks about building an economy that works for everyone, thousands of young British Columbians are struggling to find work,” said Giddens. “Young British Columbians should not have to leave their communities or leave this province to find opportunity.”
Gavin Dew, MLA for Kelowna Mission and Critic for Jobs, Economic Development, Innovation and AI, said the findings are the inevitable result of nine years of NDP economic mismanagement. “After nearly a decade of NDP government, British Columbia has seen the worst youth employment decline and the lowest youth participation rate of any province in Canada. That’s not a statistic to explain away. It’s a warning sign that something is seriously wrong,” said Dew. “The Business Council of BC has identified weak private sector job growth as a major factor behind these numbers. The NDP’s failed economic policies are making it harder to create the opportunities young people need.”
The report points to three compounding failures: weak private sector hiring, a surge in entry-level workers competing for fewer positions, and rising employer costs that make hiring inexperienced workers increasingly unaffordable. Since 2019, private sector employment in BC has grown by just 2 per cent. BC’s minimum wage is now the highest in the country, and the province carries the second-highest employer payroll tax burden in Canada.
“Leading the country in youth employment decline is not an external challenge that can be blamed on someone else. It is largely the result of economic policies that have made it harder to invest, expand, hire, and create jobs in British Columbia,” said Dew. “The NDP government must explain why BC now has the worst youth employment and participation numbers of any province and what it will do to reverse this alarming trend. This report makes it even more insane that the NDP has no youth jobs plan and no AI strategy eight months after appointing a full-time Minister of State for AI.”
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