As part of its Outlook 2020 Project, the Business Council of BC has released a paper entitled "Where Will The Workers Come From? British Columbia Labour Force Projections to 2030". The authors conlude, somewhat surprisingly, as follows:

...the results of our analysis are encouraging in that quite moderate changes in behaviour (particpation rates) and in policy (immigration, temporary work visas, training programs and so on) can materially lift growth in the labour force. This suggests that labour shortages in the coming decade are apt to be far less pervasive than often feared. It is important to recognize, however, that the labour market will tighten irrespective of future changes, and that the macroeconomic projections reported in this paper say little about labour demand/supply conditions in specific industries or regions. With more people retiring, it is reasonable to anticipate greater hiring challenges in some sectors of the economy as well as for certain highly-skilled occupations in fields like health care and advanced technology (pg. ii).