Vancouver: the full picture

01Scale: people, jobs and output

The Vancouver census metropolitan area had an estimated 3,088,036 residents on July 1, 2025, essentially flat from 3,081,713 a year earlier after a jump from 2,970,008 in 2023 as immigration slowed. The labour force averaged 1,814,100 in 2025 with 1,698,000 employed; the annual unemployment rate has climbed three years running, from 5.6% (2023) to 5.9% (2024) to 6.4% (2025). The latest three-month moving average (August 2026, seasonally adjusted) shows 1,708,100 employed and unemployment still at 6.4%. Statistics Canada's most recent CMA-level GDP estimate puts Vancouver's output at $202.5 billion at basic prices for 2022, up from $183.1 billion in 2021.

• Statistics Canada Table 17-10-0148-01, Population estimates July 1 by CMA · 2025-07-01
• Statistics Canada Table 14-10-0461-01, Labour force characteristics by CMA, annual · 2025 annual
• Statistics Canada Table 14-10-0459-01, Labour force characteristics by CMA, 3-month moving average, SA · 2026-08
• Statistics Canada Table 36-10-0468-01, GDP at basic prices by CMA · 2022

02Where people work

Vancouver is a services economy: 1,436,800 of 1,698,000 jobs in 2025 were in services versus 261,300 in goods. The biggest employers by industry were wholesale and retail trade (251,600), professional, scientific and technical services (223,300, up from 208,300 in 2024), health care and social assistance (218,200), construction (136,000), finance, insurance and real estate (134,000) and educational services (133,600). Forestry, fishing, mining, oil and gas together employ only 8,100 people in the CMA, which tells you the resource sector's Vancouver footprint is head offices and finance, not extraction. Information, culture and recreation, which includes film and TV, fell from 95,100 to 82,400.

• Statistics Canada Table 14-10-0468-01, Employment characteristics by CMA, annual · 2025 annual

03The port: Canada's largest gateway

The Port of Vancouver moved a record 170.4 million metric tonnes of cargo in 2025, up 8% on 2024, and a record 3.78 million TEUs of containers, up 9%. Grain (30.3 MMT), potash (10.5 MMT) and autos (480,000 vehicles) all set records; coal, still the largest single commodity at 39.9 MMT, fell 5%. The port authority says it handles roughly $350 billion in trade a year with 170 countries and moves more cargo than the next five Canadian ports combined. Cruise passenger visits fell 11% to 1.2 million.

• Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Port of Vancouver moves record cargo in 2025 · 2026-03-09

04Technology

BC Tech Association's June 2026 report says the province's tech sector grew three times faster than the rest of BC's economy over the past five years and now accounts for 9.6% of BC GDP and 9.2% of the workforce, ahead of the resources sector at 7.2% of GDP and 3.1% of jobs. Most of that activity is in Metro Vancouver, which the CVCA ranks third among Canadian cities for venture deals. In the first half of 2026, BC attracted $570 million across 41 VC deals, about 21% of the $2.69 billion invested nationally, with the City of Vancouver itself accounting for $168.6 million across 29 deals. Nationally, 2025 VC totalled $8.0 billion across 571 deals.

• Techcouver, BC's Tech Economy Is Too Big to Ignore (Jill Tipping, BC Tech Association CEO) · 2026-06-10
• CVCA Intelligence, Venture Capital Q2 2026 · H1 2026
• CVCA, Year-End 2025 Canadian Venture Capital Market Overview · 2025

05Film, VFX and animation

BC motion picture production spending rebounded to $3.56 billion across 372 projects in calendar 2024, up 61% from the strike-hit $2.21 billion of 2023 and 7% above 2022. Foreign productions accounted for $3.08 billion (86.5%) of the total, with foreign streaming-service production more than doubling to $1.22 billion. Creative BC estimates the industry's workforce at nearly 100,000 people. Note that Statistics Canada's information, culture and recreation employment for the Vancouver CMA fell in 2025, so the 2024 rebound may not have carried through.

• Creative BC, BC Film and TV Statistics, Calendar Year 2024 · 2024 calendar year
• Statistics Canada Table 14-10-0468-01 · 2025 annual

06Mining head offices and the Teck deal

Vancouver's resource economy is a head-office and capital-markets business. Teck Resources (TSX: TECK.A, TECK.B; NYSE: TECK) is the anchor, and its merger of equals with Anglo American, approved under the Investment Canada Act and by shareholders, is expected to complete between September 2026 and March 2027 subject to final regulatory approval. The combined Anglo Teck will be headquartered in Vancouver with the CEO, deputy CEO, CFO and most senior management based there, alongside corporate offices in London and Johannesburg.

• Teck, Teck and Anglo American announce future Anglo Teck Executive Leadership Team · 2026-07-30
• Teck, Merger of Equals page · 2026-06-30

07Forestry: a shrinking sector under US duties

US softwood lumber duties keep ratcheting up. The seventh administrative review's post-preliminary results (June 30, 2026) put combined anti-dumping and countervailing rates at 31.37% for Canfor, 20.92% for West Fraser and 25.18% for all others, on top of a 10% Section 232 tariff on softwood lumber in force since October 14, 2025. Vancouver-headquartered Canfor (TSX: CFP) announced closure of its Northwood pulp mill in Prince George in July 2026, cutting about 300 direct jobs and 300,000 tonnes of NBSK pulp capacity, and two weeks later closed its Fox Creek, Alberta sawmill citing 'persistent high US softwood lumber duties and tariffs'. The CMA itself has only 8,100 jobs in forestry, fishing, mining and oil and gas, but the head offices, pulp marketing and port volumes are here.

• Global Affairs Canada, Softwood lumber recent developments · 2026-06-30
• Canfor, closure of Northwood Pulp Mill · 2026-07-14
• Canfor, closure of Fox Creek Sawmill · 2026-07-28

08Tourism

Destination Vancouver reports 11.3 million overnight visitors in 2025, generating $8.8 billion in tourism revenue, $3.1 billion in labour income and more than 66,000 jobs. Downtown hotel occupancy for January to June 2026 was 76%; in June 2026 alone occupancy was 73% but the average daily rate jumped 26% to $518. Cruise passenger visits through the port fell 11% in 2025 to 1.2 million.

• Destination Vancouver, Research & Insights · 2025 annual; June 2026 hotel data
• Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, 2025 cargo release · 2026-03-09

09Housing as an economic constraint

Greater Vancouver's MLS Home Price Index composite benchmark was $1,081,900 in August 2026, down 5.6% year over year, on 1,869 sales, with the board's economist noting sales are lagging its January forecast. Supply is not catching up: CMHC counted 27,185 housing starts in the Vancouver CMA in 2025, down from 28,112 in 2024, and 17,298 in the first eight months of 2026, while 61,331 units were under construction in August 2026. For employers this shows up as a recruiting and wage problem more than a real-estate problem.

• CREA statistics, Greater Vancouver REALTORS board page · 2026-08
• Statistics Canada Table 34-10-0154-01 (CMHC housing starts, under construction and completions by CMA) · 2026-08

10Who does economic development now

The City of Vancouver wound down the Vancouver Economic Commission effective September 22, 2023, moving its functions into a small Business and Economy Office in the City Manager's Office; the VEC website is still online but the agency no longer exists. Regional investment attraction is handled by Invest Vancouver, a service of the Metro Vancouver Regional District created in 2019. Reviving a city-level economic office is an issue in the October 2026 civic election.

• City of Vancouver, City to wind down Vancouver Economic Commission · 2023-09-22
• Invest Vancouver · 2026-09-28
• Daily Hive, OneCity vows to reboot Vancouver Economic Commission · 2026

AnchorsThe companies and institutions that set demand here

EcosystemWho helps a business start and grow

SectorsWhere the jobs are

• Trade, port and logisticsRecord 170.4 MMT and 3.78M TEU in 2025; 101,000 transportation and warehousing jobs in the CMA (2025). Strength, but exposed to labour disputes (ILWU 514 lockout Nov 2024 ended by federal CIRB order).Vancouver Fraser Port Authority / Statistics Canada 14-10-0468-01
• Technology and software9.6% of BC GDP; professional, scientific and technical services employment up to 223,300 in 2025; BC took $570M of H1 2026 VC. BC Tech says companies still struggle to scale.BC Tech Association via Techcouver; CVCA Q2 2026
• Film, VFX and animation$3.56B BC production spend in 2024, 86.5% foreign; volatile (2023 was $2.21B) and CMA information/culture employment fell to 82,400 in 2025.Creative BC 2024 statistics
• Mining head offices and financeTeck plus a large listed junior-mining community; only 8,100 CMA jobs in resource extraction, so the value is corporate, legal and capital-markets work. Anglo Teck HQ commitment keeps that here.Teck merger release, July 30, 2026; Statistics Canada 14-10-0468-01
• ForestryShrinking: US duties of 20.9%-31.4% plus a 10% Section 232 tariff; Canfor closing Northwood pulp (300 jobs) and Fox Creek sawmill in 2026.Global Affairs Canada softwood lumber page; Canfor releases
• Life sciencesAbCellera (600+ staff, own pipeline) and adMare's two Vancouver innovation centres anchor a UBC-linked cluster; health care and social assistance is the CMA's third-largest employer at 218,200.AbCellera About; adMare; Statistics Canada 14-10-0468-01
• Clean tech and hydrogenMixed: General Fusion recapitalised and public (US$150M), Svante expanding in Burnaby, but Ballard restructured in 2025 and Westport disclosed going-concern doubt.Company releases (see anchors)
• Tourism and hospitality11.3M overnight visitors and $8.8B revenue in 2025, 104,600 accommodation and food jobs; cruise visits fell 11%.Destination Vancouver; Port of Vancouver
• Construction and real estate136,000 construction jobs (2025) but starts slipped to 27,185 in 2025 and benchmark prices are down 5.6% y/y; affordability remains the region's main constraint on hiring.Statistics Canada 34-10-0154-01; CREA

WatchWhat changes the picture next

• Anglo Teck merger close (Sept 2026 to March 2027)

  Confirms Vancouver as HQ of a top-five global copper producer; watch for remaining regulatory approvals and how many senior roles actually land here

  • Teck, July 30, 2026

• US softwood lumber duties: AR7 final results due around October 2026

  Post-preliminary combined rates are 31.37% (Canfor) and 25.18% (all others) on top of the 10% Section 232 tariff; final rates drive further BC mill closures

  • Global Affairs Canada

• Port labour relations

  The Nov 2024 ILWU Local 514 lockout shut container, auto and breakbulk terminals until Ottawa ordered binding arbitration; any new dispute hits Canada's largest gateway

  • Port of Vancouver operations update #7, Nov 12, 2024

• Housing starts and prices

  Starts fell to 27,185 in 2025 and benchmark price is down 5.6% y/y; a stalled pipeline (61,331 units under construction) risks a construction-employment hit

  • Statistics Canada 34-10-0154-01; CREA

• Rising unemployment

  Annual rate rose from 5.6% (2023) to 6.4% (2025) and is still 6.4% in August 2026 despite employment growth, as population and labour force outpace hiring

  • Statistics Canada 14-10-0461-01 / 14-10-0459-01

• October 2026 civic election and economic development

  OneCity is campaigning to create a $3M Business & Investment Office three years after the VEC was wound down; outcome decides whether the city rebuilds an economic-development function

  • Daily Hive

• Westport Fuel Systems going-concern risk

  FY2025 revenue down 43% to $23.3M with management stating cash is insufficient for 12 months; a possible sale or delisting of a long-time Vancouver cleantech name

  • Westport FY2025 results, April 23, 2026

• Film production 2025 figures

  Creative BC's 2025 calendar-year statistics were not yet posted; the CMA's information/culture employment drop in 2025 suggests the 2024 rebound faded

  • Creative BC

Not verifiedWhat we could not confirm

• Port of Vancouver economic-impact figures (jobs, GDP): the statistics page only links PDFs; the 2021 Economic Impact Study was not fetched
• BC Tech Association's full 2026 report (absolute tech GDP dollars, jobs, company counts): the wearebctech.com publications page is JS-rendered and the T-Net article returned 503; figures used are from the BC Tech CEO's own Techcouver op-ed
• TELUS headquarters city: the fetched About pages do not state it (only $20B revenue and 21M connections)
• West Fraser headquarters city and employee count: fetched pages list tickers and releases but no HQ line
• Teck, Canfor, West Fraser, Hootsuite, Clio, Svante and Jim Pattison Group employee counts
• Innovate BC's status as a Crown agency and its funding ministry: not stated on its About page
• Metro Vancouver GDP for 2023-2025: Statistics Canada's CMA GDP table ends at 2022
• Vancouver-specific tech employment (VEC used to publish it; VEC closed in 2023 and Invest Vancouver's site gives no figures)
• Junior-mining company counts on TSX/TSXV headquartered in Vancouver (TMX data not fetched)
• Lululemon's Vancouver-specific headcount
• Lifetime VANTEC investment totals and member count (site is JS-heavy; only 'since 1999' and WUTIF Capital confirmed)
• Whether the June 2026 downtown hotel occupancy drop (73%, -18 pts) was FIFA World Cup related: Destination Vancouver page gives the figure without explanation