B.C. has lost 40,200 jobs in the first four months of 2026.<\/p>\n
Statistics Canada released its labour force survey for April earlier today, showing that the province was down 4,300 jobs in April and that the unemployment rate had ticked up by 0.1 percentage point to 6.8 per cent.<\/p>\n
However, the rate of job loss has slowed down from prior months. B.C. lost 19,200 jobs in March and 20,200 in February.<\/p>\n
The B.C. Conservative Party was quick to send out a fiery statement on the results, stating that out of those 40,000 jobs, over 30,000 of them were full-time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not statistics. These are mortgages, rents, groceries, and futures,\u201d reads the release.<\/p>\n
Gavin Dew, the official opposition critic for jobs, economic development and innovation, blamed the job loss on a \u201cpublic safety crisis,\u201d AI reshaping the entry-level labour market, and an\u00a0 \u201cincoherent position on land title\u201d that has \u201cshattered investor confidence in British Columbia.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no youth employment strategy. There is no AI workforce strategy. There is no strategy at all \u2014 just press releases and photo ops while the job numbers collapse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Ravi Kahlon, B.C.\u2019s minister of jobs and economic growth, also sent out a statement following the labour force survey \u2014 painting a much different picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the war in Iran and tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump continue to impact people, businesses and economies around the world, British Columbia is staying strong in the face of uncertainty,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cInvestors are continuing to show confidence in our economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kahlon added that the province expects $88 billion worth of major projects<\/a> to move forward under its Look West strategy, which could create tens of thousands of jobs over the next three years.<\/p>\n He said B.C. added nearly 12,000 jobs to the construction and manufacturing sectors in the month of April.<\/p>\n However, Jario Yunis, the Director of Policy for the Business Council of B.C., posted on X<\/a>, noting that B.C.\u2019s private sector employment is down 60,000 since the start of the year, \u201creinforcing a longer-term trend of private sector weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n