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BC Tourism and Hospitality Labour Market Information Research Project

Background

The tourism and hospitality industry was a strong economic driver in BC and prior to COVID-19 was a large employer, accounting for more than 12% of total provincial employment. The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in significant cutbacks and business closures in the industry.  There is much uncertainty regarding current labour markets and the short-term and longer-term impact of the pandemic on the industry’s demand for and supply of labour.

In September 2020, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture announced the establishment of the Tourism Task Force to seek innovative and creative ideas from stakeholders, experts and the public about how to help B.C.’s tourism industry recover in the short, medium and long term. The Task Force’s Final Report, published December 9, 2020, called for a focus on improving “partnership and collaboration to better gather data on the industry and more specifically on the impacts of COVID-19 on the workforce to inform future decision making and initiatives.”

In January of 2021, the BC Tourism and Hospitality Labour Market Information Research Project launched in order to help the industry plan and prepare for pandemic recovery

Objective

To determine the tourism and hospitality industry’s short-term and long-term workforce needs in each region of British Columbia and province-wide as the industry recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic

The BC Tourism and Hospitality Labour Market Information Research project will address gaps in labour market information by:

  • Tracking, analyzing and communicating monthly employment activity with an online Employment Tracker
  • Developing regional and provincial labour market forecasts
  • Offer insights to the labour supply pre/post COVID-19 with a workforce profile

Employment Tracker

The BC Tourism and Hospitality Employment Tracker was launched in July 2021.

The Employment Tracker is an interactive, online tool that industry can use to report on and explain employment statistics in the BC tourism and hospitality sector. The tracker will be updated monthly. Sign up for monthly updates here.

REPORTS

Click on the following links to access the reports listed.

Final Report

WORKFORCE PROFILES, including the provincial profile, regional profiles, and sector profiles.