A new report from the Business Council of B.C. suggests that young people in the province are increasingly being shut out of the labour market.

The organization warns that this trend could have major downstream impacts on their future earnings, as well as B.C.’s bottom line.

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The report, generated using figures from Statistics Canada, concludes that 51,000 fewer young people in B.C. are working compared to 2019.

The percentage of young people who are either working or looking for work has dropped 10 points, becoming the lowest in Canada.

The council’s director of policy, Jairo Yunis, says that the share is at its lowest point since December of 2002.

“Research has shown that young people who spend an extended period of time outside of the workforce earn less for decades afterwards; they have a hard time staying consistently employed later in life, they rely more often on government income support,” Yunis told CityNews.

He adds when the young people can’t get that start in BC, the province loses future workers, taxpayers and economic growth.

“Going out and into the world after graduating, there’s not a lot of options unless you do grad school,” said Julia Fish, a UBC student.
“I’m just looking to do grad school, either like a Master’s or Medicine [program], because there’s not a lot with just an undergrad [degree] anymore.”

Yunis explains that young people are suffering from what’s called the discouraged-worker-effect that sees youth not looking for work as they believe it’s just not available.

“We’re seeing a growing number of young British Columbians just giving up on the labour market entirely. Young workers are net contributors to the tax base; they consume less public services than older folks, so that makes the tax burden for us, who are participating in the labour market or perhaps trying to start a business, that tax burden is going to be higher,” he said.

The council says that the reasons for the trend are myriad, pointing to a relatively high regulatory burden, higher tax rates, and a high minimum wage for why businesses aren’t hiring as many young people as they used to.

However, B.C.’s Jobs Minister doesn’t see it that way.

“It is a reflection that we’re dealing with challenging times, the tariffs, we’re dealing with the war, all of that is having an impact on businesses, and it’s having an impact on the employment rate and people,” said Ravi Kahlon in an interview with CityNews.

He explains claims that B.C.’s youth unemployment rate is near the national average — adding that investments in skills training and reducing regulations prove the NDP has a handle on things.

“We’ve made some of the largest red-tape reductions in Canada’s history, with eliminating interprovincial trade barriers, and we’re doing more through the ease of doing business review.”

Yet, students at UBC say things feel bleak.

“At the end of the day, I would definitely choose to move somewhere where I would have a better job, versus staying in B.C. and not getting much,” said Kayla Wong, a UBC student.

 “I have sent plenty recently, I think maybe 30 applications and haven’t received any feedback yet,” said Samuel Kuo, another UBC student.

“Actually, I tailored my CV, my resume, for each of the applications, and I would say, maybe I’m just not the right person who they are looking for.”

– With files from Sidney Parker.