Health Care and Social Assistance (NAICS 62): British Columbia, 2025
Highlights
- In 2024, British Columbia’s healthcare and social assistance sector (NAICS 62) contributed approximately $25.6 billion to provincial GDP in chained 2017 dollars, accounting for 8.2% of the total $313.1 billion economy. This reflects a 4.3% increase from the sector’s contribution of $24.6 billion in 2023, outpacing the province’s overall GDP growth of 1.2% over the same period.
- Employment in NAICS 62 reached approximately 410,000 in 2024, accounting for 14.1% of British Columbia’s total workforce and marking a 7.0% increase from 383,000 in 2023.
- From 2025 to 2027, employment in the sector is expected to grow to 413,000, a 0.7% increase from 2024. Real GDP from Health Care and Social Assistance is forecast to grow to $27.8 million by 2027, an 8.6% increase compared to 2024.
About the Sector
Composition and importance of the sector
The healthcare and social assistance sector is divided into: ambulatory health care services; hospitals; nursing and residential care facilities; individual and family services; community food and housing and emergency and other relief services; vocational rehabilitation services; and child day-care services. Employees within this sector provide health care diagnosis and treatment, residential care, and social assistance such as counselling, welfare, child protection, housing, and food services.
Health care and social assistance contributed around $25.6 billion in British Columbia in 2024 or 8% of provincial GDP. Health care generated around 89% of this sum and social assistance around 11%. Ambulatory health care and services, which includes physician and dentist offices, made up around 50.9% of health care spending, hospitals, 35.6%, and nursing and residential care facilities, 13.6%.
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ambulatory health care services (NAICS 621) | 8,711.7 | 8,781.4 | 8,977.0 | 9,159.5 | 9,519.1 | 9,784.2 | 9,612.0 | 10,516.4 | 10,865.7 | 11,259.8 | 11,563.0 |
| Hospitals (NAICS 622) | 5,279.9 | 5,314.1 | 5,455.8 | 5,680.9 | 5,889.5 | 6,010.4 | 6,372.3 | 6,918.9 | 7,250.8 | 7,663.5 | 8,095.1 |
| Nursing and residential care facilities (NAICS 623) | 1,971.3 | 2,013.5 | 2,071.3 | 2,128.0 | 2,192.2 | 2,424.6 | 2,558.4 | 2,728.3 | 2,802.6 | 2,960.7 | 3,102.8 |
| Social assistance (NAICS 624) | 1,640.0 | 1,656.7 | 1,746.3 | 1,822.5 | 1,977.8 | 2,093.3 | 2,174.5 | 2,381.9 | 2,566.8 | 2,696.0 | 2,900.4 |
* Chained (2017) dollars
Source: Statistics Canada, Gross Domestic Product by Industry - Provincial and Territorial (Annual)
| Health Care and Social Assistance (NAICS 62) | Others | |
|---|---|---|
| 7.95% | 92.05% |
* Current dollars
Source: Statistics Canada, Gross Domestic Product by Industry - Provincial and Territorial (Annual)
Public financial commitment to health care and social assistance is substantial and rising. In fiscal year 2025–26, the British Columbia Ministry of Health allocated $35.1 billion to healthcare services, a 6.8% increase from the previous year.
From a labour market standpoint, NAICS 62 is critical to British Columbia’s employment base. The sector employed roughly 410,000 individuals in 2024, 14.1% of the provincial workforce.
Overall, British Columbia’s health care and social assistance sector is both structurally complex and economically indispensable. It is projected to grow over the coming years, driven by aging demographics, urban population pressures, and healthcare system reform.
Geographical distribution of employment
Employment in health care and social assistance is concentrated in the province’s urban regions — where over 80% of its workforce is based. In particular, employment is concentrated in the Lower Mainland-Southwest Region, which accounted for 243,300 positions or 59.3% of the provincial total in 2024. Vancouver Island followed with 80,800 employees (19.7%), and Thompson-Okanagan contributed 48,000 (11.7%). More remote regions such as Cariboo (14,800), North Coast and Nechako (6,200), Northeast (3,900), and Kootenay (13,100) together accounted for less than 10% of the sector's employment.
| Economic Regions, British Columbia | Employment (x 1,000), 2024 | Sector (NAICS 62) Share (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Vancouver Island and Coast, British Columbia | 80.8 | 19.71% |
| Lower Mainland-Southwest, British Columbia | 243.3 | 59.34% |
| Thompson-Okanagan, British Columbia | 48.0 | 11.71% |
| Kootenay, British Columbia | 13.1 | 3.20% |
| Cariboo, British Columbia | 14.8 | 3.61% |
| North Coast and Nechako, British Columbia | 6.2 | 1.51% |
| Northeast, British Columbia | 3.9 | 0.95% |
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey
British Columbia continues to face persistent health care and social assistance labour shortages in urban, rural, and northern communities. Recruitment and retention are particularly challenging for occupations such as Registered Nurses (NOC 31301), Licensed Practical Nurses (NOC 32101), and Home Support Workers (NOC 44101). Targeted strategies—including incentive programs, rural locum support, and expanded education pipelines—have seen some success, but systemic imbalances remain.
Workforce
Workforce characteristics
B.C.’s healthcare and social assistance workforce was 78% female (approximately 319,700 workers) in 2024. A total of 88,000 individuals (21%) were aged 55 and over in 2024, underscoring near-term succession and retirement pressures.
In health care in B.C., employment is distributed across three occupational groupings: professional occupations in health, technical occupations in health, and assisting occupations in support of health services. Professional occupations in health, which includes nursing and allied health professionals, had 121,600 workers in 2024. Technical occupations in health had 53,400 in 2024. Assisting occupations in support of health services had 64,500 employees in 2024.
Employment status data indicates that 77.5% (317,900) of workers were employed full-time and 22.4% (92,100) part-time in 2024.
Sustaining future capacity in health care and social assistance will require targeted interventions in rural recruitment, wage equity, credentialing flexibility (particularly for internationally educated professionals), and sector-specific training expansion. Without these, system-wide strain will likely accelerate as retirements outpace new supply and regional gaps deepen.
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 to 24 years | 3.2 | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.4 | 2.8 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 7.0 |
| 25 to 54 years | 33.2 | 38.4 | 33.2 | 41.1 | 43.5 | 42.6 | 42.1 | 52.6 | 52.4 | 59.7 | 63.9 |
| 55 years and over | 12.3 | 12.1 | 16.9 | 15.4 | 19.1 | 18.5 | 16.9 | 19.8 | 15.9 | 20.0 | 19.4 |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 to 24 years | 15.8 | 16.3 | 15.5 | 20.5 | 18.7 | 17.4 | 18.7 | 24.8 | 24.0 | 21.5 | 22.0 |
| 25 to 54 years | 162.2 | 162.3 | 171.5 | 175.1 | 186.0 | 186.1 | 184.7 | 193.0 | 208.4 | 207.1 | 229.0 |
| 55 years and over | 41.5 | 50.6 | 55.0 | 56.3 | 58.4 | 62.3 | 57.3 | 58.6 | 66.6 | 69.2 | 68.6 |
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey
Occupations of Interest
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses (NOC 31301) | 38.3 | 37.7 | 42.9 | 40.6 | 48.2 | 40.8 | 45.9 | 49.3 | 50.7 | 52.6 | 52.3 |
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, ESDC custom table
Two of top occupations in healthcare and social assistance: registered nurses and licensed practical nurses, collectively account for around 13% of the sector’s 410,000 workers.
Registered Nurses (NOC 31301): With 52,300 workers, in 2024 registered nurses (RNs) and registered psychiatric nurses represent the largest single occupational group in NAICS 62. They are predominantly employed in hospitals (NAICS 622) and ambulatory services (NAICS 621), where they perform clinical coordination, triage, and advanced care duties.
Licensed Practical Nurses (NOC 32101): Numbering 8,400 in 2024, licensed practical nurses (LPNs) play a key role in residential and long-term care (NAICS 623) and hospital support services. LPNs are trained through two-year diploma programs.
NAICS 62 in British Columbia depends heavily on female-dominated clinical roles, such as nursing, which face pronounced vacancy pressures. The contrast between high retention and high churn highlights structural imbalances between compensation, workload, and career progression — particularly outside major urban centers. Addressing these imbalances is critical for ensuring continuity of care and equitable service delivery across the province.
Recent History
Between 2020 and 2024, British Columbia’s healthcare and social assistance sector (NAICS 62) underwent accelerated transformation, shaped by a combination of demographic pressures, technological modernization, and targeted labour market interventions. Sector employment grew from 383,000 in 2023 to 410,000 in 2024, marking a 7.1% increase, which significantly outpaced the 2.3% growth in total provincial employment. Looking further back, the sector’s average annual growth rate of 4.4% per year from 2014 to 2024 was nearly double the province-wide employment growth rate of 2.3%. This expansion over the past decade reflects both an increased demand for healthcare services — particularly in aging and rural populations — and deliberate policy efforts to recruit more health care and social assistance workers.
The share of health care and social assistance workers aged 55 and over was 21% in 2024, the same rate as in the broader B.C. economy, and down from 23% in 2023. At 1.4%, the unemployment rate in the healthcare and social assistance industry was 4.2 percentage points lower than in the economy as a whole in 2024. The health care and social assistance unemployment rate has hovered at 1.4% since 2022.
Employment Outlook
Healthcare and social assistance in B.C. is projected to remain one of the province’s fastest-growing employment areas through 2029, shaped by an aging population, the expansion of community-based care, and systemic reforms in workforce planning and digital infrastructure.
Looking ahead, WorkBC forecasts anticipate 178,080 job openings from 2024 to 2034 in healthcare and social assistance in B.C. These will include 29,500 positions for registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, and around 21,000 jobs for nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates. Just under 12,000 job openings are projected each for social and community service workers, and for early childhood educators across the province.
Growth within NAICS 62 is expected to be uneven across its subsectors. Health care employment in B.C. is expected to grow by 3.5% from 2025 to 2027, reaching 332,300 employees by 2027. Employment in social assistance is expected to shrink by 9.4% between 2025 and 2027, with 80,600 employees by 2027.
Real wages across the sector and different regions of B.C. vary. Registered Nurses earned a median wage of $45/hour in B.C. in 2024. In Thompson-Okanagan, they earned a median wage of $46 per hour and in the North Coast Region, $44 per hour. Licensed Practical Nurses earned up to $32.98 per hour in median wages in the Cariboo, Thompson-Okanagan, and Vancouver Island and Coast Regions and $31 per hour in the Lower Mainland-Southwest Region in 2024. Early Childhood Educators earned $22 per hour in B.C. in 2024, higher than in any other western province.
While demand remains concentrated in urban centres, continued shortages in rural regions mean that targeted recruitment incentives and new delivery models will remain policy priorities.
In preparing this document, the authors have taken care to provide clients with labour market information that is timely and accurate at the time of publication. Since labour market conditions are dynamic, some of the information presented here may have changed since this document was published. Users are encouraged to also refer to other sources for additional information on the local economy and labour market. Information contained in this document does not necessarily reflect official policies of Employment and Social Development Canada.
Portions of this sector profile were prepared with support from artificial intelligence (AI) tools, in accordance with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) guidelines. All AI-assisted content has been reviewed for accuracy and compliance with ESDC standards.
Prepared by: Labour Market Information Directorate, Service Canada - Western Canada and Territories (W-T) Region
For further information, please contact the Labour Market Information Directorate here.
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