Site C employment rises in July

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — BC Hydro says 2,993 workers were employed at the Site C facility in July.

That’s a slight uptick from the 2,953 workers employed in June, though BC Hydro says employment is still expected to decline as the project approaches completion.

74 per cent of the workers were primary British Columbia residents, and 497 of the workers were primary residents of the Peace region.

That’s another slight uptick from May, where 463 of the workers lived in the Peace region.

305 women were employed at Site C in July, a slight downtick from the 315 employed in June.

Meanwhile, the number of apprentices employed at the site rose from 185 in June to 209 in July.

129 workers at Site C voluntarily declared themselves as Indigenous, a slight increase from the 122 in June.

BC Hydro began filling the reservoir at Site C a few days ago, on August 25th.

The filling process is expected to take about four months. For safety reasons, members of the public are urged to avoid the reservoir area during filling and for at least one year after.

The area will be monitored for slope stability and erosion for the next two years, and all public boat launches between Fort St. John and Hudson’s Hope have been closed until at least the spring of 2026.