About Northeast

As its name implies, Northeast lies in the northeast corner of the province. It shares a border with Alberta and Yukon, and is part of the Peace River Basin. The northern Rockies are rugged and relatively dry throughout much of the year, receiving rain only at the peak of the summer. Winters can be extremely cold. Further south, the Peace River area is characterized by rolling hills and grasslands.

There are two regional districts in Northeast:

• Northern Rockies
• Peace River

The towns of Fort Nelson, Fort St John and Hudson’s Hope all owe their existence to the lucrative fur trade during the 18th and 19th centuries. Homesteading in the Peace River area began in the early 20th century with new communities such as Pouce Coupe and Dawson Creek popping up along the river. The extension of the Alaska Highway into the region in 1941 also brought people into the area.

The people

Northeast was home to 67,100 British Columbians in 2008. It is the most prosperous northern region, largely due to its position as the centre of BC’s oil and gas industry.

The Northern Rockies regional district has a population of just 6,300 people, three-quarters of whom live in Fort Nelson (population 4,700). Most of the region’s residents are located in the Peace River regional district (population 60,700), where the biggest urban centres are Fort St John (18,800) and Dawson Creek (11,400). All of the other towns in the region have a population of less than 3,000.

There are more than twice as many children as senior citizens living in Northeast

Like other northern areas, the region has a comparatively young population. Seven out of 10 residents are of working age and nearly 22% of the region’s residents are children. Seniors make up just 8% of the region’s population. Northeast is home to fewer senior citizens and more children, relative to its population, than any other region of the province.

Where are the people located?

More than a third of the region’s population lives outside municipal boundaries

More than a third (36%) of the region’s residents lives in rural areas (outside municipal boundaries). Although Northern Rockies has a very small population, three-quarters of the people live in the town of Fort Nelson, so the region has a proportionally larger urban population (74%) than the more populous Peace River regional district. In Peace River, which is home to 91% of the region’s residents—and the same percentage of the region’s workforce—just over a third (37%) of the population lives in a rural area.

Nine out of 10 workers are located in the Peace River regional district

The workforce

There were 38,000 people working in Northeast in 2008. Of these, 83% had full-time jobs, a larger percentage than in any other region of the province. The average rate of full-time employment for all of BC was 80%.

Self-employment is quite common in the region, with nearly 21% of the workforce being self-employed. This compares to just under 19% for the province as a whole.

Women make up a much smaller share (43%) of the workforce in Northeast than in any other region. The average for all of BC is 47%. The relatively low percentage of female workers is likely a reflection of the region’s industrial structure, which is dominated by mining and forestry, industries that usually attract more male than female workers. As well, males outnumber females in the region. There were 22,300 working-aged women living in Northeast in 2008, considerably less than the male population (24,700) aged 15 to 64.

Men significantly outnumber women in Northeast’s workforce

Northeast’s unemployment rate is usually, but not always, lower than BC’s

Unemployment rates in Northeast are generally lower than in most other parts of the province. Between 1995 and 2008, the jobless rate in Northeast averaged 5.7%, well below the 7.2% rate for all of BC. In fact, Northeast’s average jobless rate was lower than in any other region during this period. However, there is a lot of variability in the region’s unemployment rate, and it has not remained below the provincial rate throughout the entire period. For example, around the turn of the century, the jobless rate in Northeast was higher than BC’s.

The economy

Goods producing industries account for a larger share of total employment in Northeast than in any other region. Thirty-nine percent of the region’s workforce was employed in the goods sector in 2008. This compares to 22% for all of BC.

Four out of 10 people work in goods-producing industries

The importance of the goods sector in Northeast’s economy is largely due to its oil and gas industry. Virtually all of BC’s oil and gas resources are found in this region. The province is not a major producer of oil, but natural gas is produced in significant quantities from gas fields in northeastern BC.

Mining, oil & gas extraction is the biggest employer in the region

One in five people working in the region is employed in forestry, fishing and mining. Most of these workers are engaged in primary mining activities, but a small number work in forestry and logging.

Unlike other types of mining, gas production is not labour intensive. Most of the work associated with extracting gas from the ground is done by pumps and other equipment, so employment in the industry only partly reflects the importance of natural gas in Northeast’s economy.

Most of the mining jobs are in “services incidental to mining.” These include people who work in exploration and drilling activities rather than primary extraction.

Exploring, drilling for, and extracting natural gas isn’t the only mining activity in the region. Coal mining operations in the region include the Brule, Trend and Wolverine mines, which are located near Willow Creek and Tumbler Ridge. Other mines include the Kemess gold-copper mine and Fireside, which is a barite mine located just south of the Yukon border.

Eleven percent of the region’s workers are employed in construction, which includes engineering construction activities related to the oil and gas industry as well as building construction activities.

Other goods-producing industries account for smaller shares of total employment in the region. Manufacturing, which employs just over 3% of the workforce, is dominated by the forest products industry. Wood, paper, and food & beverage manufacturing together employ eight out of every ten manufacturing workers in Northeast.

Although agriculture employs just under 3% of the region’s workers, farming has been an important activity in the Peace River area for many years. It’s primarily a grain growing area (canola, wheat and barley are all produced in the region), but other crops include alfalfa, hay and forage seeds. Cattle ranching and farming, as well as hog and pig farming also occur in the region.

The WAC Bennett Dam, which is BC’s biggest hydroelectric dam, is located in Northeast, as is the Peace Canyon Dam, also one of the biggest generating facilities in the province.

Wholesale & retail trade, health & social assistance and education are the main service-sector employers