A Jobs & Environment Solution: Diversify The Economy for a Thriving Future

As elsewhere in the world, BC's economy is evolving quickly. New opportunities for growth focus less on large corporations extracting natural resources and more toward the knowledge-based and service sectors. Many BC rural communities are well positioned to capitalize on this economic shift, attracting people and businesses by the quality of life they offer.

Rural BC High-Tech Prospects are Bright

British Columbia's high-tech industry already employs 41,000. In 1995, its employment grew by 22% and revenues by 34% (to $5.1 billion). Industry leaders predict BC has the potential to add 10,000 high tech jobs per year and say that this sector could employ more workers than the forest industry within just 5 years. High-tech jobs are 'footloose'. They can be attracted by the environmental quality and rural lifestyle of BC's smaller communities, as has been the case in Oregon. This offers residents of regional BC the opportunity to work in the new economy.

The Yellowstone Experience
Studies undertaken in the Yellowstone Region in the United States show that the primary reason that over 40% of new arrivals chose to move there was for the lifestyle provided by a healthy environment and natural beauty. By contrast, less than 35% chose their new home primarily for a job. These telecommuters, affluent retirees, and urban migrants are looking for a quality rural environment. In so doing, they have been responsible for more than 96% of the new jobs in the region and 89% of the growth in labour income over the past 20 years.

Relocation and Retirement to Fuel Rural Growth

Retirees too are attracted by the quality of life and lower cost of living in smaller centres. These people bring with them substantial assets and pensions. Such revenue sources are already making a significant contribution to the economy in southern BC towns from Courtenay to Cranbrook. Indeed, studies show that retirement income can now make up as much as 30-60% of a local region's personal income. This is money that stays in the community and creates more local jobs-from financial management services to home maintenance-and which tends to stabilize local income during cyclical fluctuations in the economy.

The Service Sector in BC's New Economy

BC's leading economic engine is the service sector, which gained 400,000 direct jobs from 1977 to 1996. During the same period, the forest industry-despite its high-low cycles-has remained essentially static and in 1997 employed 5,000 less people than in 1996. (106,000 direct jobs 1977; 101,000 direct jobs in 1996)

The service sector employs some of the most technically sophisticated workers in the economy. It includes business services (accounting, advertising, computers, information technology); legal, education, and health services; engineering and management services; and repair services. These are well-paid jobs and many are easily exported to rural communities.

For instance, BC's film industry-a new actor in the province's service sector-is thriving, and from 1993 to 1996 its revenues increased by 88% to $540 million. 25,000 people were employed in BC in 1996 by this industry, and 8,500 of these jobs were full time-an increase of 41% from the previous year.

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