During the recession, B.C. saw the biggest drop nationally in employment for “apprenticeable” occupations such as electricians, interior finishing trades and food services trades, according to Statistics Canada data released this morning.
Between October 2008 and October 2009, B.C.’s employment for its apprenticeable occupations dropped 14.4%, nearly three times the national average employment loss of 5.7%. According to Statistics Canada, the nationwide job losses were mostly in mining and coal extraction, transportation and warehousing, and manufacturing and construction.
In B.C., the hardest hit were electricians, whose employment dropped 33.4%; interior finishing trades, where employment fell 30%; food services trades, where employment dropped 29.7%; and heavy equipment and crane operators, including drillers, who saw employment fall 28.3%.
But after B.C.’s dramatic employment losses in these occupations, the province saw a strong turnaround between October 2009 and October 2010, with employment in its apprenticeable occupations rising 5.6% – the second highest rate in the country, after Quebec at 12.1%.