Canada's future economy and jobs - what will they be?

With real estate, resource extraction and production and the government/public sector being some of Canada's biggest industries right now, what does the future hold in terms of jobs? The auto sector continues to shrink, oil and gas is going to decline, forestry is dying; are we destined to become a nation of  real estate agents and sandwich artists? or are you old enough that it doesn't matter and you don't care as you're set for life. Considering that automation and AI are coming for some of your jobs too, does the future look bleak?

I'm interested in this as well as I am gearing up to get back to work after taking a year and a bit off to stay-at-home dad. I was considering getting in to Forestry Management or similar as it's looking like our forests / planet could use some help these days but with the mills shutting down / strikes I'm not sure that's such a good idea anymore.

Edit - 37. Not set for life. No real job / career experience, just bullshit jobs. Definitely feeling like the old guy with nothing to offer other than "lol am hard worker".

Posted by: thaaad

No real job / career experience, just bullshit jobs.

sounds like a perfect resume for a youtube blogger

willing to go school to get trained for something?

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: thaaad

No real job / career experience, just bullshit jobs.

willing to go school to get trained for something?

I'm still working off the student loan from last time, which was a total bust. We're broke as fuck.

Was looking at the Forestry Management course at BCIT but I have yet to talk to anyone about it / really look in to it too deeply.

Posted by: thaaad

I'm still working off the student loan from last time, which was a total bust. We're broke as fuck.

Was looking at the Forestry Management course at BCIT but I have yet to talk to anyone about it / really look in to it too deeply.

the one thing you have going for you is that there is a skilled labour shortage in all sorts of areas. if you are a hard worker there are lots of apprentice opportunities out there.

After twenty years of working almost exclusively with my hands (Cooking for around a dozen of that, bicycle mechanic, suspension mechanic) I was hoping for something a little more hands off. Not like bank teller kind of thing but something where your hands don't hurt at the end of every day. Especially after dealing with an issue with the tendon in my left thumb for a year of my last job that was caused by the work.

I'm not trying to shoot down your suggestions, I appreciate the input :)

Seems like jobs that are person to person are the ones with a future. Healthcare, teaching, instruction etc. Also creative fields would seem to be safe from the robots. Sandwich artist made me laugh :D

Posted by: thaaad

After twenty years of working almost exclusively with my hands (Cooking for around a dozen of that, bicycle mechanic, suspension mechanic) I was hoping for something a little more hands off. Not like bank teller kind of thing but something where your hands don't hurt at the end of every day. Especially after dealing with an issue with the tendon in my left thumb for a year of my last job that was caused by the work.

I'm not trying to shoot down your suggestions, I appreciate the input :)

Sounds like what you need is to spend a bit of time with a career counselor - step into my office.

If you don't want to work with your hands anymore then it sounds like you're going to need to do some type of training/education. What sort of schooling have you already done? It could potentially be a segue into Master's program or to do another degree. I think your first thing should be to draw up a list of your skills and education to see what you have to offer a potential employer and then do a list of the type of work you might want to get into. From there you might be able to connect some dots. Do that first and then do the Keirsey Temperment Sorter. It's a free online test that's a good start in helping you figure what your traits are and what type of work you might be suited for.

This link gives you some background on the different temperments and what they're about: https://keirsey.com/temperament-overview/
Take a bit of time to discover what the test is about before actually taking it.
This is a direct link to the test itself, it only takes about 15 minutes and is free: https://profile.keirsey.com/#/b2c/assessment/start
Just realized that test doesn't seem to give you a score anymore, so here's another option: https://www.strategicaction.com.au/keirsey-temperament-sorter-questionnaire
You can poke around online for more info.
Also consider doing a Myers-Briggs test: https://www.truity.com/test/type-finder-personality-test-new

Then check out this page: https://www.educationplannerbc.ca/plan/work/career
The BC govt has some free resources and online tools you can use to consider building a career. In particular look at the Career Compass.

Let me know how it goes!

I started the decade wanting to become a heavy duty mechanic.. cause I wanted job security and the pay was as good as it gets for someone with my smarts

My work was primarily Forestry based and I hated it more and more with every fresh cutblock I visited, now I just don't see much of a future in the industry at all and switched out to work for the Coast Guard, which seems a lot more stable and also manages to satisfy the pacifist in me, I sleep pretty well now. 

I definitely think what they're doing in Forestry especially here on the island is not sustainable in any way, so I'm really glad to have found a way to get the fuck out. It is definitely something I've noticed that all the best paying jobs are dependent on killing the planet, maybe we're better off without them.

I think some jobs are in immediate danger and not all of them are blue-collar.  Sure, truck driver is the obvious one, but AI is going to seriously disrupt the medical, financial and legal fields as well.  Everyone should be ready to move around and keep an eye on the next step.  I work in a niche that should keep me employed for a while, but it will become more important to always be looking 10 years ahead unless you have retirement plans before then.  I can't see any way forward without some kind of UBI and better wealth distribution and with less centralization required for the economy to function I think small businesses will take over.  Unlimited productivity is our problem, but it is also our golden ticket if we play our cards right.  We just have to convince our corporate masters that a world without customers is bad for them too.  Their robots will be twiddling their thumbs.

Posted by: Adam-West

My work was primarily Forestry based and I hated it more and more with every fresh cutblock I visited, now I just don't see much of a future in the industry at all and switched out to work for the Coast Guard, which seems a lot more stable and also manages to satisfy the pacifist in me, I sleep pretty well now.

Tell me more about this Coast guard gig

Posted by: syncro

Posted by: thaaad

After twenty years of working almost exclusively with my hands (Cooking for around a dozen of that, bicycle mechanic, suspension mechanic) I was hoping for something a little more hands off. Not like bank teller kind of thing but something where your hands don't hurt at the end of every day. Especially after dealing with an issue with the tendon in my left thumb for a year of my last job that was caused by the work.

I'm not trying to shoot down your suggestions, I appreciate the input :)

Sounds like what you need is to spend a bit of time with a career counselor - step into my office.

If you don't want to work with your hands anymore then it sounds like you're going to need to do some type of training/education. What sort of schooling have you already done? It could potentially be a segue into Master's program or to do another degree. I think your first thing should be to draw up a list of your skills and education to see what you have to offer a potential employer and then do a list of the type of work you might want to get into. From there you might be able to connect some dots. Do that first and then do the Keirsey Temperment Sorter. It's a free online test that's a good start in helping you figure what your traits are and what type of work you might be suited for.

This link gives you some background on the different temperments and what they're about: https://keirsey.com/temperament-overview/
Take a bit of time to discover what the test is about before actually taking it.
This is a direct link to the test itself, it only takes about 15 minutes and is free: https://profile.keirsey.com/#/b2c/assessment/start
Just realized that test doesn't seem to give you a score anymore, so here's another option: https://www.strategicaction.com.au/keirsey-temperament-sorter-questionnaire
You can poke around online for more info.
Also consider doing a Myers-Briggs test: https://www.truity.com/test/type-finder-personality-test-new

Then check out this page: https://www.educationplannerbc.ca/plan/work/career
The BC govt has some free resources and online tools you can use to consider building a career. In particular look at the Career Compass.

Let me know how it goes!

This is all great info I really really appreciate it :)

I'll run through your links and come back

I'm a machinist and get calls daily from recruiters trying to fill spots. Easy work physically and very rewarding, not sure why theres such a shortage tbh.

T-mack, are any of them on the Island? My old man is a highly trained Tool and Die maker and he's having a tough time finding anything on the Island.

Posted by: thaaad

Posted by: Adam-West

My work was primarily Forestry based and I hated it more and more with every fresh cutblock I visited, now I just don't see much of a future in the industry at all and switched out to work for the Coast Guard, which seems a lot more stable and also manages to satisfy the pacifist in me, I sleep pretty well now.

Tell me more about this Coast guard gig

I basically started over as an Oiler (bottom bitch in the engine room) because they dont count Red Seals in Heavy duty Mechanics. I'm now working my way to becoming a Engineering Officer. I took a 50% cut in pay, but I prefer to look at it as I've gained 50% of my life back because I only work half the year now, less if I actually take time off which would give me 3 months off in a row.

You need your basic marine safety courses (fire fighting and survival craft) and the willingness to be at sea for 28 - 42 days at a time. Coming from a heavy duty position this is as gravy as it gets.