Global Goal: Economic growth should be a positive force for the whole planet. This is why we must make sure that financial progress creates decent and fulfilling jobs while not harming the environment. We must protect labour rights and once and for all put a stop to modern slavery and child labour. If we promote job creation with expanded access to banking and financial services, we can make sure that everybody gets the benefits of entrepreneurship and innovation. Source: Global Goals.org. Photo credit: Bob Turner

Canada’s Response:

For Canada, the 2030 Agenda goal 8 is: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. Source: Towards Canada’s 2030 Agenda. Canada’s ambitions are to ensure Canadians have access to quality jobs, and, Canadians contribute to and benefit from sustainable economic growth.

There are a number of actions, measures and many indicators such as the unemployment rate, average hourly wage and gaps between groups, and the proportion of youth (aged 18-24 years) not in education, employment or training, and GDP per capita.

How are actions within our biosphere region contributing toward these goals?

A great example of this is the Squamish Nation, who in 2020 committed to paying all their staff a living wage. Chris Lewis, council member and spokesman for the Nation, quoted in the North Shore News as saying, “It's really about addressing the poverty issues that we were seeing within our community where people could be working full time and still struggling.”

The Squamish Chamber of Commerce showcases the many Squamish Success Stories of companies that view Squamish as a land of opportunity, calling itself “a community of entrepreneurs, trailblazers and innovators. From technology to tourism, manufacturing to marketing, we are all connected through our love of Squamish’s extraordinary landscape and the adventures it provides (Squamish Chamber of Commerce, 2019). In the three main population centres, Town of Gibsons, West Vancouver and Squamish unemployment rates are below both the provincial and national average.

There is a long history and growing interest in tourism-based economic development among the communities of the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound region and Sea-to-Sky Corridor. The Sea-to-Sky Corridor is the only area of the province where tourism is the highest-ranked basic economic sector, primarily due to its proximity to Metro Vancouver and to the Resort Municipality of Whistler’s high global profile as a tourism destination (Destination Development BC, 2019). The Destination BC Sea to Sky Marketing Plan outlines key challenges such as staff housing constraints, staffing and funding for land-based management, lack of tourism operators and visitor-ready experiences, lack of visitor amenities, aging infrastructure and lack of data to make informed decisions (Destination Development BC, 2019).

An example of a business performing well under this category is BC Ferries. The company was recognized in 2022 as one of BC’s Top 100 Employers. Alongside a great benefits package, one of the main reasons BC Ferries received this title is due to their focus on supporting employees in ongoing development - Target 8-6. As stated on Canada’s Top 100 website, they do this through apprenticeships, formal mentoring, in-house training, and tuition subsidies for courses at outside institutions. On the BC Ferries website, the company clearly prioritizes staff retention by ensuring employees are engaged and offered opportunities to professionally develop and progress their careers within the company. (Sophie Cheshire).

Below are the UN SDG 8 targets that are relevant to our region. Click here to learn more about the targets for UN SDG 8.

What more can we be doing or are we on track? We want to hear from you.

In developing a management plan for the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound UNESCO Biosphere Region, we are assessing where we are in our collective vision of Life on Land in the Átl’ka7tsem/Howe Sound region for 2030, and setting priority goals and objectives. Read more here about the Nchu’ú7mut/Unity Plan.

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