Wendy Cocchia vows to focus on faster permitting, skills training, trade diversification
British Columbia will take strong action against potential US tariffs.
That’s according to Wendy Cocchia, the province’s newly appointed lieutenant-governor, during her throne speech on Tuesday.
“British Columbia is thoughtfully and directly making the case against tariffs to our many friends in the United States,” she said.
“Your government is using all channels available to convince American decision-makers we are better as a team.”
She noted that a tariff war would be “devastating to families on both sides of the border”.
“Tariffs, on top of softwood lumber duties, would increase the price of homes for Americans. A tax on our food exports would mean more expensive groceries at the checkout for working families in the United States.”
Cocchia also called on Canadian governments to come together amid the tariffs issue.
“While we grow and strengthen our economy, the threat to our sovereignty remains. We stand strong and united.
“As a country, Canada must be prepared to fight back, if necessary, to prevent a trade war.”
Last week, all 13 premiers of Canada visited Washington, D.C. to discuss with the US government the issue around tariffs.
B.C. Premier David Eby said White House advisers "urged us to take the president at his word" on Trump's stated reasons for the tariffs, such as border security and ensuring the US is not taken advantage of in trade relationships, according to a BB.C. report.
"There were some very frank moments across the table," he said.
According to a preliminary assessment done by the B.C. Ministry of Finance, in US President Donald Trump’s tariffs scenario, the province could see a cumulative loss of $69 billion in economic activity between 2025 and 2028. The province’s real GDP is projected to potentially decline by 0.6% year over year in both 2025 and 2026.
“Job losses are estimated at 124,000 by 2028 with the largest declines in natural-resource sector export industries and associated manufacturing. Losses would also be felt in the transportation and retail sectors,” said the provincial government.
“The unemployment rate could increase to 6.7% in 2025 and 7.1% in 2026, and corporate profits could see an annual decline in the range of $3.6 billion to $6.1 billion.”
In Quebec, one local business has already announced it will lay off 115 people in the province in the face of the US tariffs threat.
Should the tariffs be imposed and last for a considerable amount of time, about one million Canadians could lose their job, according to one expert.
Cocchia also noted that the provincial government will provide more skills development training for workers.
“When we expand skills training, we help people get ahead and businesses attract the talent they need to thrive.”
She vowed that B.C. will make this process easier.
“To that end, your government will work closely with industry, labour and post-secondary institutions to create faster and easier pathways to get in-demand skills in the trades.”
The move would create new opportunities for mid-career workers and young people “that grow the middle class, support business expansion and strengthen our workforce’s productivity,” she said.
“Ultimately, we know we cannot claim our economy is truly working unless it is working for everyone.”
According to B.C.’s Labour Market Outlook report, there will be almost 1 million job openings in the province over the next decade, approximately two-thirds due to retirements and one-third due to economic growth.
Trades-related jobs are among the top 10 major occupational groups when it comes to the projected number of job openings.
The B.C. construction industry managed to cut the projected number of job openings to 6,6000 skilled workers by 2033 from the 26,100 short-fall estimated for 2023 a decade ago. But despite the 9% growth in the number of industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) construction companies in B.C. from 2018 to 2023 (28,014), the number of tradespeople in the industry has dropped 7% during the same timeframe (167,300), according to a previous report.
