British Columbia has lost significant numbers of its young people to the booming Alberta economy, enough to affect B.C.'s labour market, according to the Business Council of British Columbia (BCBC).
In a report published May 2, BCBC economists Ken Peacock and Jock Finlayson found that the highest migration of British Columbians to Alberta happened in 1997 and 1998. But the higher B.C. unemployment rate at that time — 8.8% compared to today's rate, which has hovered around 6% — means that today's B.C.-to-Alberta trend is having a much bigger effect on B.C.'s labour market.
"Looking ahead, this trend is likely to contribute to a tightening of the BC labour market as economic growth gradually accelerates," the BCBC report says.
Over the past two decades, B.C. has seen a net loss of approximately 42,000 people, with around half of those moving to Alberta. Young people have been the largest age group to pull up stakes in favour of the Alberta advantage: in the last two years, B.C. lost a total of 7,500 people in the 15-24, 25-34 and 35-44 age groups. BCBC estimates that half that number ended up in Alberta.
The number of people who live in B.C. but work in Alberta is also growing. In 2009, according to Statistics Canada, 97,000 people worked in Alberta but worked in another province, compared with 62,000 in 2004. In 2009, 29,000 of those workers lived in B.C.
Working in Alberta has been a particular draw for young people: in 2009, 27% of people who work in Alberta but live in another province were between the ages of 18 and 24, while 25% were between the ages of 25 and 34.
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