About Cariboo

The Cariboo region covers much of the northern Interior of the province, ranging from the semi-arid Cariboo plateau in the west to the valleys of the Cariboo and Rocky Mountain ranges. The Fraser River, which is the province's longest river, has its source in this region. Prince George is the largest urban centre in the region, which also includes smaller cities such as Williams Lake and Quesnel.

There are two regional districts in Cariboo:

• Cariboo
• Fraser-Fort George

The people

Cariboo's population was 160,400 in 2008, comprising nearly 4% of the provincial total. Fraser-Fort George has a population of 95,900, most of whom live in Prince George (population 74,100).

The regional district of Cariboo has a population of 64,500. Williams Lake and Quesnel are both located in this regional district.

There are more children than seniors living in Cariboo, but the gap is shrinking rapidly

Cariboo's population is relatively young compared to other parts of the province. Seven out of 10 residents of the region are of working age (between 15 and 64 years old). Nearly 18% of the population is under the age of 15. Only 12% of the region's residents are senior citizens.

Where are the people located?

More than a third of the region's residents live in rural areas

Cariboo has a large rural population, with more than a third (36%) of its residents living in unincorporated areas. Two out of three residents of the Cariboo regional district live in rural areas. In contrast, Fraser-Fort George, which includes Prince George, has a much more urban character. Just 16% of the region's residents live in rural areas.

Nearly two-thirds of the jobs are in Fraser-Fort George, which is home to 60% of the region's population

Sixty percent of the region's population lives in Fraser-Fort George, and an even larger share (63%) of the regional workforce is employed there. Thirty-seven percent of the workforce is located in the regional district of Cariboo.

The workforce

There were 83,100 people working in Cariboo in 2008. Among the working aged population, men slightly outnumber women. Women make up a smaller share (46%) of the regional workforce than their share of the provincial workforce (47%).

Most (80%) of the region's workforce was employed full-time, about the same as the provincial average.

Self-employment is slightly less common in Cariboo than in the province as a whole. In 2008, just under 18% of the region's workers were self-employed, compared to nearly 19% for the province as a whole.

Cariboo tends to have a higher-than-average unemployment rate

Unemployment rates in the region are usually higher than in other parts of the province. During the period from 1995 to 2008, the jobless rate in Cariboo averaged 9.4%, more than two percentage points higher than the average rate in BC (7.2%).

The economy

Twenty-eight percent of the jobs are in goods-producing industries

Goods producing industries employ 28% of the region's workforce, while 72% of the jobs are in the service sector.

Within the goods sector, manufacturing (12%) is the biggest employer, followed by construction (6%) and forestry, fishing & mining (6%).

Eight out of 10 workers in manufacturing are employed in the wood (60%) or paper (21%) industries. Metal fabricating is another key manufacturing activity in the region, although it employs a much smaller share (about 6%) of the total workforce in this industry.

Manufacturing, construction, forestry and mining are key players in the regional economy

In forestry, fishing & mining, two out of three jobs are in forestry and logging. Mining operations in the region include the Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine, as well as Mount Polley and the QR mine, where gold, silver and copper are extracted.

The region's agriculture industry is dominated by cattle ranching and farming, but other activities include greenhouse, floriculture & nursery production, as well as some other types of crop and livestock production.

Mining and agriculture are bigger employers in the more rural Cariboo regional district than in Fraser-Fort George, but the number of people working in forestry and logging is evenly split between the two regional districts.

Seven out of 10 workers are employed in the service sector

As is the case in most regions, wholesale & retail trade is the biggest service sector employer (16%). Health and social assistance employs 14% of the region's workers and 7% have jobs in accommodation & food services.

The education industry employs 6% of the region's workforce. Post-secondary institutions in the region include the University of Northern British Columbia and the College of New Caledonia.

How does the region's economic structure compare to BC's?

Cariboo is much more dependent on goods-producing industries than is the case for the province as a whole. Goods industries employ 28% of the workforce in this region, which is significantly more than the sector's 22% share of total employment in BC. With the exception of construction, every goods-producing industry in the region employs a larger-than-average proportion of the workforce.

Although just four percent of BC's workers are located in Cariboo, the region is home to 11% of the provincial workforce in forestry, fishing & mining. Most are employed in forestry, but mining is also a significant source of employment in Cariboo.

Six percent of the province's total agricultural workforce, and a similar share of workers in the utilities industry, is in Cariboo, which is also home to 5% of BC's manufacturing workforce.

Given the region's greater-than-average dependence on the goods sector, it is hardly surprising that most of the service industries account for a smaller-than-average share of total employment. There are some exceptions, however: health & social assistance (5%), wholesale & retail trade (4%) and public administration (4%).

Cariboo accounts for a larger than average share of total employment in most goods industries

Prince George is the largest urban centre in northern BC, and treatment facilities in the city serve its population as well as people living in other parts of northern BC. This is one reason for the relatively large number of people working in the region's health & social assistance industry.

What's happened since 1995?

Cariboo's population is shrinking

Cariboo's population is shrinking. There were 5% fewer people living in the region in 2008 than in 1995. As a result, its share of BC's total population has fallen to just under 4%.

Employment in Cariboo increased 5% between 1995 and 2008. While this is well below the 30% increase for all of BC, it is noteworthy that the number of jobs in the region has grown at a time when the working-aged population has been declining.

Employment in goods industries, especially those that are resource-based, is always volatile. These industries follow boom and bust cycles, and this is reflected in the ups and downs in the number of goods industry jobs in Cariboo during this period.

Employment in the goods sector has been volatile, while the number of service sector jobs has been rising since 2003

The current trend in the goods sector is downward, partly because BC's forest products industries (especially wood and paper manufacturing) are in a bit of a slump. These industries account for a significant share of total goods production in the region.

Employment in forestry, fishing & mining has increased, but there are fewer jobs in other goods industries

Despite the recent downturn, employment in forestry, fishing & mining has increased 14% since 1995, well above the 5% increase in total employment in the province. However, there are fewer jobs in construction (-11%) and manufacturing (-16%).

The fastest-growing industries are in the service sector

The fastest-growing industries are in the service sector. These include business, building & support services (+63%), health & social assistance (+63%), and accommodation & food services (+59%).

A note of caution: employment estimates are based on survey data. With relatively few people living in the region, some of the volatility in the data may be due to the way they are estimated.

What's the outlook to 2013?

Although the region's share of the total BC population is expected to continue to decline, employment in Cariboo is forecast to grow at about the same rate as in the rest of the province. Employment in the region's goods-producing industries is expected to grow a little faster than average, while the job growth in the service sector is forecast to be a little slower than average.

Cariboo's share of BC's total population is expected to decline, but the region is forecast to hold its own in terms of job growth

 

Table 9
Population and Labour Force Characteristics, Cariboo

	Cariboo	Cariboo	British Columbia	Cariboo
2008 Data	('000)	Percent of total		as a percent of BC total
Population characteristics
Population ('000)	160.4	100.0	100.0	3.7
Working Age (15-64)	112.9	70.4	69.8	3.7
Aged 65 and older	19.0	11.9	14.5	3.0
Under 15	28.4	17.7	15.7	4.1
Labour force characteristics
Employment ('000)	83.1	100.0	100.0	3.6
Employed full-time	66.1	79.5	79.9	3.6
Self-employed	14.8	17.8	18.5	3.5
Employed females	37.8	45.5	46.8	3.5
		Average, 1995-2008 (%)
Unemployment rate	9.4		7.2

 

Table 10
Employment by Industry, Cariboo

	Cariboo			BC
	Employment ('000)	Distribution of employment (%)	Percent of BC total	Distribution of employment (%)
All industries	83.1	100.0	3.6	100.0
Goods	23.4	28.2	4.7	21.7
Manufacturing	10.2	12.3	5.4	8.1
Construction	5.4	6.5	2.4	9.5
Forestry, fishing & mining	5.0	6.0	11.0	2.0
Agriculture	2.0	2.4	5.9	1.5
Utilities	0.8	1.0	5.6	0.6
Services	59.7	71.8	3.3	78.3
Wholesale & retail trade	13.3	16.0	3.7	15.3
Health & social assistance	11.4	13.7	4.6	10.6
Accomodation & food	6.2	7.5	3.5	7.7
Education	5.1	6.1	3.2	7.0
Tramsportation & warehousing	4.3	5.2	3.4	5.5
Public administration	3.7	4.5	3.6	4.4
Other services	3.6	4.3	3.6	4.4
Finance, insurance & real estate	3.2	3.9	1.8	6.4
Professional, scientific & technical	3.2	3.9	1.8	7.5
Business, building & support	3.1	3.7	3.1	4.4
Information, culture & recreation	2.5	3.0	2.1	5.1