SKILLED WORKers

British Columbia is helping attract, train and retain skilled workers to meet labour demands:

• Sixty-six per cent of employees in British Columbia continued their education after high school; more than 21 per cent hold a university degree.
• British Columbia has a labour pool of more than 2.3 million.
• More than 300,000 people joined the labour pool between 1997 and 2007.
• In 2007, employment in British Columbia's high-tech sector rose to 4.8 per cent (81,140 people). This is more than the forestry and mining industries combined, and is the strongest growth rate in Canada.