Job prospects First Responder in British Columbia

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "first responder" in British Columbia or across Canada.

Job opportunities in British Columbia

These outlooks were updated on December 11, 2024.

Prospects over the next 3 years

The employment outlook will be good for Paramedical occupations (NOC 32102) in British Columbia for the 2024-2026 period.

The following factors contributed to this outlook:

• Employment growth will lead to a moderate number of new positions.
• A moderate number of positions will become available due to retirements.
• There are a small number of unemployed workers with recent experience in this occupation.
• Due to the seasonal nature of this occupation, employment opportunities tend to be more favourable during the summer months.

In 2024, the province changed its staffing model for 60 rural and remote communities in the Vancouver Coastal and Fraser health regions. As opposed to the previous on-call model, the new staffing model has a more comprehensive approach. The change will add 261 new full-time paramedic positions in these communities.

The Government of B.C. is hiring new full-time paramedics in remote communities and introducing new ambulance service models. The goal of these changes is to improve service for communities while improving conditions for paramedics. These models will be more flexible to deal with spikes in demand.

There continues to be acute labour shortages, affecting the delivery of health care services in various parts of the province, especially in rural areas.

Here are some key facts about Paramedical occupations in British Columbia:

• Approximately 4,550 people work in this occupation.
• Paramedical occupations mainly work in the following sectors:
  • Ambulatory health care services (NAICS 621): 76%
  • Hospitals (NAICS 622): 11%
• The distribution of full-time and part-time workers in this occupation is:
  • Full-time workers: 84% compared to 78% for all occupations
  • Part-time workers: 16% compared to 22% for all occupations
• 67% of paramedical occupations work all year, while 33% work only part of the year, compared to 61% and 39% respectively among all occupations. Those who worked only part of the year did so for an average of 45 weeks compared to 42 weeks for all occupations.
• Less than 5% of paramedical occupations are self-employed compared to an average of 17% for all occupations.
• The gender distribution of people in this occupation is:
  • Men: 61% compared to 52% for all occupations
  • Women: 39% compared to 48% for all occupations
• The educational attainment of workers in this occupation is:
  • no high school diploma: less than 5% compared to 8% for all occupations
  • high school diploma or equivalent: 15% compared to 28% for all occupations
  • apprenticeship or trades certificate or diploma: 34% compared to 13% for all occupations
  • college certificate or diploma or university certificate below bachelor's: 35% compared to 17% for all occupations
  • bachelor's degree: 13% compared to 22% for all occupations
  • university certificate, degree or diploma above bachelor level: less than 5% compared to 12% for all occupations

Breakdown by region

Explore job prospects in British Columbia by economic region.

Source Labour Market Information | Prospects Methodology

Job prospects elsewhere in Canada

Explore current and future job prospects for people working as a "first responder" in British Columbia or across Canada.

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