CPABC in Focus is the premier way to reach BC’s professional accounting community. CPABC in Focus is published in British Columbia six times a year, and is sent to more than 33,000 CPA members, candidates, and students.
Demographics. Population in BC has increase 1.2% to 4,751,612 residents. 90% of BC’s residents live in Mainland/Southwest, Vancouver Island/Coast, and Thompson-Okanagan.
2017 Forecast. Uncertainty over commodity prices plus potential international trade policy changes plus a slower housing market equals cautious optimism for BC's economy in 2017.
Work. There are 73,300 new jobs in BC. This is the greatest job increase in British Columbia in at least 10 years. Approximately 94% of new jobs in BC were created in the Mainland/Southwest development region. Youth unemployment is highest in the Kootenay, Northwest BC, and Northeast development regions due to job cuts. Unemployment in BC is now at 6.0% and youth unemployment in BC is at 8.7%. There are 2.3 million total jobs in BC. 64% are in Mainland/Southwest, 15.4% are in Vancouver Island/Coast, 10.4% are in Thompson-Okanagan, and 9.5% are in other development regions.
Invest. 341 major projects valued at $76.7 billion are currently in construction. The value of all major projects in BC fell 2.7% to $437.6 billion. Business bankruptcies in BC dropped 3.2% to 149 reports. Thompson-Okanagan saw the highest increase in business bankruptcy reports.
Live. Educational Attainment in BC. 69.4% of BC's labour force has a post-secondary certificate/diploma or higher. Consumer Insolvencies in BC. Personal Bankruptcies in BC: 1.2 per 1,000 adults. Consumer proposals in BC: 1.6 per 1000 adults. Northeast BC saw the largest increase in the number of consumer insolvencies.