Campaign urges skilled labour to ‘Stay with B.C.’ to counter efforts from Alberta

VANCOUVER — The Business Council of British Columbia has launched an awareness campaign to counter the province’s rising outward migration to Alberta.

The business advocacy group says its “Stay with B.C.” campaign is placing advertisements on billboards and transit stops, as well as online, in cities such as Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna and Prince George, urging residents to think twice before moving to Alberta for economic or other reasons.

Council president Laura Jones says the campaign is inspired by the “Alberta is Calling” campaign launched in 2022, targeting skilled workers in other provinces with financial incentives and promises of better affordability at a comparable lifestyle.

Data released by Statistics Canada in April, say B.C. lost more people than it gained in interprovincial migration in 2023 for the first time in more than a decade, with a net loss of 8,624 people to other Canadian jurisdictions.

Alberta reported a gain of 55,000 — the biggest interprovincial increase recorded since tracking began in 1972 — and it was the most popular Canadian destination for those leaving B.C.

Jones says that while the “Stay with B.C.” campaign “doesn’t have all the answers” on stemming the population flow, it has the potential to spur conversations among people who are considering a move.

The advertisements are designed to look like an incoming cellphone call or an online dating profile from Alberta, with messages prompting readers to reconsider answering or “swiping right” — a term for accepting someone on a dating app.

“We’ve all heard those Alberta’s Calling ads, and also Invest Alberta is being pretty assertive right now and they’ve opened an office in British Columbia,” Jones says. “So, we thought this would be a way to put the focus on a strong economy while having a little fun.

“It’s a very serious topic,” she says. “We want young people to see a future in the province. But that doesn’t mean we can’t have a little bit of fun to get people’s attention on the importance of a strong economy.”

Alberta’s third-quarter population report released this week says the province recorded Canada’s highest interprovincial migration gains for the ninth straight quarter, adding 3,170 more people from B.C. than it lost in the other direction.

Only Ontario had a higher net-loss of residents with 4,369 for the three-month period.

Premier David Eby had said B.C. is tackling the issue of affordability and economic opportunities for skilled labour “head on,” but also noted that the province did see an overall population increase of more than 178,000 in 2023 that was fuelled by international migration.

Morgan Westcott, associate dean of marketing programs at the B.C. Institute of Technology, says it will be up to government and stakeholders to address affordability in the province, but there is more the province can do with branding to attract and keep talent from moving to Alberta.

Westcott says B.C. has been very effective in marketing itself as a tourism destination, and the province’s natural beauty should be leveraged more, not only for getting visitors, but as a selling point for skilled labour.

“I think sometimes what we’re missing in B.C. is this singularity of brand, and of voice, and of purpose in our campaigns,” she says. “Because if it’s an attractive place to visit for a weekend, it should be an attractive place to settle and to invest and to build your future. And sometimes I think we really miss an opportunity when we treat them as two separate things.”

Westcott notes that the “Alberta is Calling” campaign places lifestyle as one of its three pillars for attracting skilled labour, alongside career opportunities and affordability, with all three factors forming the foundation of the Alberta brand.

“I’m a Vancouver born-and-raised person, so I’m very biased, but it is fairly spectacular what we have available to us, and it is on a different level,” she says of B.C.’s access to nature and quality of life.

“(Alberta) is leveraging some very similar things, and yet at the same time, I think we do have different cities that are vibrant in different ways,” she says.

“I don’t know how you tackle the affordability piece — and I say that as a life-long Vancouverite — and maybe it’s not about that. Maybe it’s about that — something that’s this exceptional — does come at a cost.”

Jones says the business council will be tracking future population numbers and economic indicators to see if its advertisements have moved the needle in keeping talent in B.C., and her team is already thinking about the next phase of the campaign.

“We’ve got lots and lots of opportunity to create those high-paying jobs, and we just need to lean into making sure that all of our sectors can be thriving,” she says.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 18, 2024.

Chuck Chiang, The Canadian Press