B.C. makes job gains for 11th straight month

B.C.’s Jobs minister says he expects the impact of the provincial health orders on restaurants and fitness centres to be reflected in next month’s jobs report.

Ravi Kahlon said Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey for March showed B.C. added 35,000 jobs, making 11 straight months of job gains, and he says the proivnce has now surpassed the pre-pandemic employment levels.

“British Columbia has the highest job-recovery rate in Canada,” Kahlon said. “While this report is another sign our approach to an innovative, sustainable and inclusive economic recovery is working, some sectors are still struggling, and we are not out of the woods yet.”

B.C.’s unemployment rate stayed at 6.9 per cent, the same as in February.

“We fully recognize many sectors like the hospitality and fitness industry are hurting,” Kahlon added. “That’s why our government acted quickly to implement the new Circuit Breaker Business Relief Grant for those operations that were suddenly impacted by the new orders.”

Kahlon said businesses in the tourism sector will also continue to struggle until it is safe for visitors to return.

“We know that women, Indigenous people and people of colour continue to experience higher rates of unemployment,” he said.

Nationally, 303,000 jobs were added in March, pushing the rate down from 8.2 per cent in February to 7.5 per cent

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Here are the jobless rates last month by province (numbers from the previous month in brackets);

Newfoundland and Labrador 12.4 per cent (15.3)

Prince Edward Island 8.1 per cent (9.2)

Nova Scotia 8.6 per cent (8.1)

New Brunswick 9.2 per cent (8.9)

Quebec 6.4 per cent (6.4)

Ontario 7.5 per cent (9.2)

Manitoba 6.8 per cent (6.8)

Saskatchewan 7.3 per cent (7.3)

Alberta 9.1 per cent (9.9)

British Columbia 6.9 per cent (6.9)

(With files from The Canadian Press)