The Kamloops job market appears to have stabilized after a spring of steady increases, with the local unemployment rate holding firm at 6.5%.
According to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statistics Canada, the jobless rate in the Kamloops Census Metropolitan Area remained unchanged from June to July.
While the rate held steady, the local economy did add around 400 jobs in July to push total employment to an estimated 63,300.
The plateau at 6.5% follows a volatile six-month stretch in Kamloops and rest of the Census Metropolitan Area, which encompasses parts of the Shuswap, Logan Lake and other areas to the west of Kamloops.
Kamloops boasted a remarkably low 3.8% unemployment rate in February—driven largely by a hiring blitz at the Highland Valley Copper mine—before climbing steadily through April (4.9%), May (5.9%), and June (6.5%).
When compared to similar-sized markets in the province, Kamloops is sitting comfortably in the middle of the pack.
Nanaimo, which shares a similar population and workforce makeup, saw its unemployment rate drop a full percentage point in July down to 6.4 per cent, continuing a steady recovery from a peak of 8.7% in April.
Meanwhile, Kelowna continues to struggle with one of the highest jobless rates in the country, ticking up slightly to 9.3 per cent in July from 9.2% in June.
Provincially, British Columbia added 17,800 new jobs last month, the second-highest increase in the country, taking the jobless rate down to 6.2% from 6.5% the month before.
“We’ve added 51,000 new jobs just in the last three months and our unemployment rate is the fourth lowest in Canada, below the national average,” said B.C. Forests Minister Ravi Parmar in an interview with Radio NL. “Given the circumstances of what we are dealing with, these are really solid numbers.”
Parmar noted that B.C. is currently leading all provinces in manufacturing employment, adding 3,100 new jobs in that sector alone last month.
Forests Minister Ravi Parmar speaking at the BC government cabinet offices in Vancouver/via Government of BC
However, the opposition BC Conservatives argue that warning lights are still flashing for the provincial economy, pointing to a stark jobs divide.
The opposition pointing to a divide between areas where the private sector drives the economy, such as Kelowna and Abbotsford-Mission — at an unemployment rate of 8.3% — compared to areas where the public-sector dominates, such as Victoria, where the jobless rate continues to hold steady at 5.0%.
“Government should be focused on creating the conditions for private-sector investment and job growth,” said Gavin Dew, opposition critic for Economic Development. “We need an economy where young people can find work, businesses can hire, and every region has the opportunity to prosper.”
The Conservatives also highlighted that B.C. has seen five consecutive quarters where more businesses have closed than opened, alongside a 14% decline in youth employment since 2019.
The broader economic concerns are particularly evident in the forestry sector—a vital economic driver for Kamloops and the Interior—which Parmar acknowledged remains a “tough sled” amid ongoing trade disputes with the United States.
The industry is currently facing the threat of massive tariffs as high as 50% on value-added products under the Trump administration, while negotiations for a new Softwood Lumber Agreement remain unresolved.
“I am watching [Canada-US Trade Minister] Dominic LeBlanc like a hawk as you can imagine right now,” Parmar said regarding the SLA negotiations. “He’s been briefing trade ministers and certainly providing updates, and it looks like conversations are going well.”
Despite there also being other areas of concern, such as the revelation recently that Interfor intends to eventually shift its headquarters out of BC to Atlanta, Georgia, Parmar says there is still some room for optimism within the B.C. forestry sector, pointing to a recent announcement by the ISKCM Development Corporation.
“A group of First Nations have come together who said that they want to build a brand new second-growth sawmill on Vancouver Island,” Parmar noted. “That would be the largest forestry investment in coastal British Columbia’s history.”
Parmar says his hope and expectation is that Ottawa keeps the softwood lumber file at the very top of its priority list as trade negotiations with the Trump administration continue.
