EXECUTIVE SUMMARY - August 2018
Sustainable growth and development in the Parksville/Qualicum Beach Region require that residents can obtain and maintain fulfilling, family-sustaining work, and that employers can recruit and retain workers who contribute to productivity, profitability and long-term viability.
In early 2018, The Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce (the Chamber) and its partner, the Career Centre, identified two interrelated needs in the region:
• A lack of current and local labour market intelligence.
• No clear strategy to assist the region in ensuring a healthy, balanced labour market.
To address these issues, early in 2018 the Chamber secured funding from the Province of British Columbia to complete a Labour Market Analysis and a Labour Market Strategy.
The Labour Market Analysis is contained in Section 3 of this document, consisting of primary and secondary research, describes a region with a dramatic undersupply of the workers employers need. There are shortages of labour at all skill levels and in most, if not all, industrial sectors.
Shortages are evident in part time, full time and seasonal work, and in all geographic areas of the Parksville/Qualicum Beach Region. Particularly evident are shortages in the Accommodation and Food Services sector, the Health Care and Social Services sector, of skilled and qualified tradespersons across all sectors, and in the shellfish aquaculture industry. Workers in physical, lower skilled work, such as room attendants, constructions labourers and shellfish workers, are in a clear shortage situation.
There are several interrelated primary reasons underlying the current situation. These reasons include:
• a small pool of younger labour force participants living in the region.• a large proportion of the population – mainly older persons – who are not in the labour force.
• multiple barriers to working in the region, including housing and transportation.
• a high proportion of seasonal work.
• a lack of qualified persons in skilled occupations.
