YOUR PERSPECTIVE: British Columbia’s labour crisis solution can be found at home

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However, the conditions have to be right, and we are increasingly hearing from both domestic and international students that they are concerned about being able to afford their education in B.C. Students, both domestic and international, are struggling to keep up with rising rates of inflation and general affordability across the province due to NDP inaction. Full-time students often cannot make enough money through part-time and summer jobs to cover tuition and living expenses.

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Highly skilled young people in B.C. are feeling hopeless about their prospects. Even if they manage to make it through their post-secondary degrees, their entry-level salaries are not high enough to meet the cost of living. How can this government be happy with its record when even graduate students are struggling to find a job after completing a highly advanced degree? This should not be the case.

The NDP has an economic plan based on a Skills for the Jobs of Tomorrow plan — which, to be clear, five years into a ten-year plan, is still not complete — and there is still additional training required to fulfil those job openings, which we all know will be needed.

Our province will need more than 26,000 new nurses by 2031, and the current size of our system is not enough to handle that capacity. On top of that, of the few who do attend the school, because of such major affordability issues, many won’t be able to stay and work in British Columbia. This is a very unfortunate reality, and the reason why expanding our schools and affordability programs is so necessary.

The high costs of housing, groceries and other goods are prohibiting students from staying in British Columbia once they finish their studies — an issue we have seen the NDP do little about. British Columbia is facing a labour shortage ​that these students can help mitigate, yet we continue to push them away.

We must listen to our students, who are the future of this province, and provide them with everything they need to excel at their studies to eventually become contributing members of our province. While costs of living already skyrocket, our government must do everything in its power to ensure we can encourage both international students and domestic students to stay in British Columbia and build their lives here.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of Fraser Valley Today or Pattison Media.