A review of the local job market leads to several questions, a few answers and some head scratching.
According to a Work BC report, between 2006 and 2011, Squamish had the fastest growing labour market of all communities in the Lower Mainland.
But high housing costs, low immigration and tighter restrictions on the temporary foreign worker program combined “to create the ‘perfect storm’ of labour shortages in the Sea to Sky Corridor, especially in the Tourism and Hospitality sector.”
When it comes to the top three job categories, the 2016 Squamish Community Profile announced that 26 per cent of local wage-earners work in sales and services, 20 per cent are employed in trades, or as equipment operators and related occupations, while 12 per cent are employed in business, finance and administration.
The 2011 census revealed that just over a quarter of Squamish residents commuted to jobs out of town.
Release of the journey to work data contained in the 2016 census is pending this fall, so it will be interesting to see if those numbers have increased.
In a recent email exchange, former Squamish mayor and long-serving councillor Corinne Lonsdale offered her own assessment of the situation.
She believes District of Squamish officials may soon “have second thoughts about all these condo and townhouse developments that add to the commuting population, that do not create sustainable long-term, good paying jobs or encourage retail development because commuters, for the most part, do their shopping in the Lower Mainland where they work.”
Last fall, BC Business magazine ranked Squamish as the best place for work in the province based on various factors, including average household income, average shelter costs, and five-year population growth.
However, we have to ask ourselves what those folks were smoking when they included the cost of accommodations in the equation. Two years ago, a report issued by the B.C. Non-Profit Housing Association ranked Squamish’s rental situation as “poor.”
In a recent poll of downtown Squamish business owners, 63 per cent said they expected to hire more full-time staff in the next three years but one of the biggest challenges was finding employees, in particular, chefs and cooks.
The average hourly wage paid for skilled/professional staff was $32/hour. Semi-skilled and entry-level remuneration averaged $19/hour and $15/hour, respectively.
Another take on the local wage spectrum comes from a Colliers International ad for retail space in Garibaldi Village. The company estimates that by 2020 the average household income of shoppers living five minutes from the retail centre will be $119,394.
Households located 10 minutes away will be earning $111,700, while families 20 minutes removed will be pulling in $114,309.
At the moment, those numbers point to a demographic that hardly looks like it will be living hand-to-mouth.
But in three years will that robust salary range be enough to live comfortably in this boomtown?
