Talent and education
Train the people this economy needs, here, and give them reasons to stay.
Why it matters
BC’s tech sector employs 271,000 people, 9.2% of the workforce, at wages 70% above the provincial average. BC Tech Association calls for 10,000 more tech-relevant post-secondary places and 5,000 reskilling places to bring BC’s investment closer to Alberta and Ontario.
Good jobs should be reachable from any career and any community, not only for those who got a computer science degree at 22.
What we would do
- Fund 10,000 new tech-relevant post-secondary seats and 5,000 reskilling places.
- Teach AI literacy in every grade from 6 to 12, and train teachers first.
- Create a graduate retention credit for tech graduates who build their careers in BC.
- Open a faster Provincial Nominee stream for AI researchers and senior engineers.
- Pay for mid-career retraining in every region, with a guaranteed place for workers displaced by automation.
Questions you might have
Do I need a computer science degree to benefit?
No. The reskilling places are for people already in the workforce, and retraining would be available in every region. Workers displaced by automation would have a guaranteed place.
What would AI literacy look like in school?
Students in grades 6 to 12 would learn how these tools work, where they fail and how to check their output. Teachers would get training first, so nobody is left teaching something they were never shown.