Image: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi

By Alyssa Conti

OCTOBER JOBS REPORT

Chilliwack unemployment jumps to 7.1% in October: StatCan

Nov 7, 2025 | 9:06 AM

CHILLIWACK — New labour figures from Statistics Canada show that the job market has slowed to a near halt in the Fraser Valley over the past month.

Chilliwack added 500 jobs in October, but unemployment rose 0.7 points to 7.1 per cent. Similarly, while Abbotsford-Mission added 300 jobs, joblessness in the area stayed at 7.2 per cent.

Both figures are higher than the provincial and national unemployment rates of 6.6 and 6.9 per cent, respectively.

B.C. ministers say tariffs are the primary reason for the rising rates.

“The unfair, unjustified tariffs and economic uncertainty are threatening people’s jobs and businesses throughout the province. We cannot control what the U.S. president does, but we can defend B.C. workers and build a stronger, more independent economy,” wrote Ravi Kahlon, Minister of Jobs and Economic Growth.

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“Just this week, we learned that the government quietly shut down its so-called Trade and Economic Security Task Force, a committee established to protect jobs and trade during uncertain times,” said Conservative Jobs Critic Gavin Dew.

“This task force was their answer to every question about their tariff response, and it turned out to be a Potemkin Village.”

Tariff impacts on forestry, natural resources

Across B.C., the natural resources sector (-28.9%) saw the largest year-over-year decline in the past month, followed by utilities (-28.2%).

Construction also lost 4,700 jobs in October, but remains up 7.3 per cent from last year. Other services, including jobs such as hotel valets or parking lot and toll booth attendants, lost 5,800 positions and are down 6.5 per cent from last year.

Transportation and warehousing (+7K jobs) and educational services (+4.2K) saw seasonal jumps, while agriculture (+32.7%) and finance and rental industries (+9.9%) experienced the highest annual increases.

Local industry data is not available in the jobs report.

More details are available on StatCan’s October Labour Force Survey.

The province added that it has launched a joint task force with the federal government to support the forestry sector and opened forestry trade offices in the United Kingdom to reduce reliance on the U.S.