B.C. adds 25,000 jobs in May, but still falling behind Canada as a whole

B.C. adds 25,000 jobs in May, but still falling behind Canada as a whole

Published 3:30 pm Friday, June 5, 2026

B.C. Jobs and Economic Growth Minister Ravi Kahlon. (Photo courtesy B.C. government)

B.C. rode a Canadawide jobs wave in May, adding 25,000 for the month as part of the 88,000 added across the country.

Canada’s unemployment rate dropped to 0.3 points to 6.6 percent, while B.C.’s rate remained steady at 6.8 per cent due to an increased number of people in the labour pool.

Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says the numbers show a “significant uptake” in full-time jobs, and an “obvious, clear opportunity” for work in B.C.

This is also the message he heard from members of the B.C. Chamber of Commerce earlier in the week.

“I’ve heard from many of them that they still have employers that are looking for people,” Kahlon said.

B.C. Conservative Jobs critic Gavin Dew issued a news release criticizing some of the long-term trends shown by the numbers, including persistently high youth unemployment, which rose 14.4 per cent to 15.3 per cent in May, and the lack of new private-sector job growth over the past year.

“We are hemorrhaging the kinds of resource jobs that pay big wages and the kinds of retail jobs that often give young people their first step on the ladder,” Dew said.