Photo: Carmen Weld

It may not be a surprise to many locals to hear that Kelowna is one of the hardest places in the entire country to find employment right now.

Our city fell 31 spots in BMO’s February labour market report card — landing in spot 32 out of 33 spots altogether.

Kelowna has dropped from one of the best cities in the country to find a job, to second worst.

Kelowna’s unemployment rate jumped to 7.6 per cent in January, up from three per cent a year earlier.

According to BMO, Kelowna's population grew 1.7 per cent over the last year, but the number of jobs fell 2.2 per cent.

Joining Kelowna in the bottom five are Sudbury, Ont., Windsor, Ont., Saint John, N.B., and Thunder Bay, Ont.

Whereas the top five cities in the country to find work were Guelph, Ont., Regina, Sask., Vancouver, B.C., Quebec City, Que. And Edmonton, Alta.

According to BMO senior economist Robert Kavcic, Canadian employment fell by 5,700 in January, giving back some of the prior month’s solid gain.

The unemployment rate also edged up a tick to 7.2 per cent nationally.

Interestingly, the two provinces that saw the biggest gains, B.C. and Ontario, are also home to four of the five worst cities to find employment.

“B.C. churned out a modest 1,200 jobs in the month, but the 2.1 per cent year-over-year growth is head and shoulders above the rest of Canada,” writes Kavcic.

He says that both B.C. and Ontario have seen their jobless rates rise in the past year despite firmer job growth, which he says is due to the fact more people are entering the work force.

He says economists have witnessed a stark turnaround in migration flows between B.C. and Alberta in response to better relative job prospects.

“In other words, don’t let the sticky jobless rates fool you—these are the two strongest markets in Canada, and it’s not really even close,” says Kavcic.

All in all the report indicates job prospects in B.C. are good, but not currently in Kelowna.

You can read the full report here.