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A student checks out one of the many booths at a recent career fair at the University of Manitoba.
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BY JIM TIMLICK
The good news for today’s post-secondary student is there is expected to be plenty of employment opportunities for them in Manitoba in the not-too-distant future. Last year, the provincial government released its 2025-2029 Manitoba Labour Market report. The report, which was compiled using data gathered in 2024, projects the province will have 138,000 job openings between 2025 and 2029. It attributes 42 per cent of those openings to economic growth and the remaining 58 per cent to replacing retiring workers. Interestingly, the report indicates that 69 per cent of those job openings will require some form of college or university education. MacPherson says that’s why it’s important for students to do their homework about possible career choices before choosing a post-sec- ondary program. That includes talking to people already involved in their field of interest as well as getting some first-hand insight through volunteering or paid work experiences. “Those kinds of steps are important. It’s all about gathering good career information, knowing your options and knowing them well instead of, say, choosing pharmacy and not really knowing what it is and how much chemistry is involved,” she says. “It comes down to doing your due diligence and doing your research so that you really understand (a career choice) beyond just admission requirements. That’s one of the things we see students getting a little bit stuck on. They only look at admission requirements or first-year cours- es and they’re not looking at what does this full program look like.” The province’s labour report lists transport truck driving as the field that will have the most job openings (4,700) with retail salespersons and visual merchandisers (4,500) in second and nurses aides, orderlies and patient service managers (4,000) in third. That hardly comes as a surprise to MacPherson who says she and her career counselling colleagues have noted a recent surge of interest among students in the health care field. “Students are pretty astute. Not that they’re reading labour market reports, but they tend to know where the demand is,” she explains. “I would say health care, hands down, is huge right now. I think it is a field where there seems to be consistent demand. Job security is huge.
I t’s no secret that Manitoba’s economy is evolving. Neither is the fact that this economic evolution is shaping the post-secondary education choices of today’s students as they prepare for the jobs of tomorrow. “I think students are feeling more pressure to make a good deci- sion (about their future) just because of the cost of living,” says Lisa MacPherson, lead coordinator of career services at the University of Manitoba. “It feels like there’s more riding on their decision including job security and salary. During COVID, we saw a ton of students who saw their friends and family members being laid off and their work impacted. I think that has continued to stay front of mind for many students.”
Visit calvinchristian.mb.ca to learn more.
In the career planning work that we do with students, they’re presenting more concerns around AI. It’s really front of mind for them. ”
— Lisa MacPherson
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