A Guide to the BC Economy and Labour Market
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  Characteristics of The Workforce  

Women are less likely to be in the workforce

Slightly more than half of the province’s population is female, but women hold less than half of the jobs in the province. This is largely because the participation rate (the percentage of the population aged 15 and over that is either working or looking for work) of women is much lower (62%) than the rate for men (72%). With fewer women available for work, they make up a smaller share of the total workforce.

Nine out of 10 women with jobs are employed in service industries

Women are much more likely to work in service industries than in the goods sector. Nine out of every 10 women who have jobs are employed in service industries. Although just a tenth of working women have jobs in the goods sector, one in three working men is employed in a goods-producing industry.

Women outnumber men in the service sector; in the goods industries, most workers are male

  Figure 18  
Figure 18

Women outnumber men in the service sector; in the goods industries, most workers are male.

Source: Statistics Canada

While there are many reasons for this difference, it is partly related to the nature of work in some goods-producing industries. Although a growing number of women are working in non-traditional jobs, women may be less likely than men to choose a job that requires a lot of physical strength, or involves long periods of time spent away from their families. These types of jobs are more commonly found in the goods sector than in service industries.

Nearly a third of the province’s workforce has union coverage

Thirty-one percent of BC workers have union coverage. In the service sector, 32% have union coverage, while 27% of those working in the goods sector are covered by collective agreements. The public sector16 is by far the most highly unionized. Three out of four public sector workers have union coverage, compared to about 18% of those who work in the private sector.

Some service industries have relatively few unionized workers. In professional, scientific and technical services, for example, just 5% have union coverage and only 8% of workers in accommodation and food services work in unionized establishments.

In general, union coverage is most common in industries such as education, health care, transportation, mining and manufacturing, where workers are likely to be employed in large establishments or organizations. Union coverage is usually less common in industries with a high degree of self-employment, or where most workers are employed in smaller establishments.

Public sector workers are most likely to be unionized

  Figure 19  
Figure 19

Public sector workers are most likely to be unionized.

Source: Statistics Canada

Self-employment is most common in the goods sectors

About 19% of workers in the province are self-employed. Self-employment has historically been most common in the goods sector, especially among farmers, fishers and loggers. In the goods sector, the self-employment rate remained close to 20% throughout the 1990s but has climbed in recent years. The incidence of self-employment is much lower in the service sector, and has remained fairly stable since the turn of the century.

Men are almost twice as likely to be their own bosses as are women. Nearly a quarter of the male workforce was self-employed in 2008. This compares to one-seventh of all employed women.

One in five BC workers is self-employed

  Figure 20  
Figure 20

One in five BC workers is self-employed.

Source: Statistics Canada

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Four out of every 10 employees in the province work in businesses with fewer than 20 employees

Of the 1.9 million British Columbians who have a job but are not self-employed, 39%17 work at an establishment with fewer than 20 employees.

Another 34% of employees have jobs at establishments where there are between 20 and 99 workers. Nineteen percent are in larger businesses (100 to 500 employees) while 8% work at establishments with more than 500 employees.

Very large establishments are more common in the service sector

  Figure 21  
Figure 21

Very large establishments are more common in the service sector.

Excludes self-employed workers
Source: Statistics Canada

Very large establishments are more common in the service industries (9%) than in the goods sector, where just 6% of workers are employed at establishments with more than 500 co-workers.

Large establishments in the service sector include hospitals, schools and other educational institutions. In the goods industries, these establishments are most likely to be factories or other processing facilities. However, in both goods and service industries, three out of four people have fewer than 100 co-workers.

Where are the jobs located?

Eight out of 10 jobs in BC are located in the Lower Mainland (61%) and Vancouver Island (17%) areas. This is hardly surprising, as these two regions18 also contain most of the province’s population. About 11% work in Thompson/Okanagan—the region around Kamloops, Kelowna and Penticton. Cariboo (4%), Kootenay (3%), North Coast & Nechako (2%) and Northeast (2%) each employ a relatively small percentage of the province’s workers.

Most of the jobs are in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island areas, reflecting the geographic distribution of BC’s population

  Figure 223  
Figure 22

Most of the jobs are in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island areas, reflecting the geographic distribution of BC’s population.

Source: Statistics Canada

The northern and interior regions rely more heavily on goods production as a source of employment

  Figure 23  
Figure 23

The northern and interior regions rely more heavily on goods production as a source of employment.

Source: Statistics Canada

The northern and interior regions of the province, where many of the mineral and forest resources are located, are most reliant on goods production as a source of employment. Roughly three out of 10 jobs in Kootenay, North Coast/Nechako and Cariboo are in goods-producing industries. In Northeast, the goods industries are even more dominant, with nearly four out of ten people working in the goods sector.

Goods account for a much smaller percentage of total employment in the most densely populated regions, where the service sector is more dominant. Service industries provide eight out of ten jobs in Vancouver Island/Coast and Mainland/Southwest.

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  1. The public sector includes people working in public administration, education (other than private schools), hospitals and other institutions. 

  2. Percentages do not add to 100 due to rounding. 

  3. A map showing the boundaries of BC’s eight development regions can be found in Appendix 4

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A Guide to the BC Economy and Labour MarketA Guide to the BC Economy and Labour Market