Employment continues to decline at BC Hydro’s Site C dam

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The workforce at Site C continues to decline as the dam project moves closer to completion.

BC Hydro has released the December employment statistics for the in-construction hydroelectric dam, showing the workforce fell to 1,866, down from 2,149 in November.

That decline is well within BC Hydro’s expectations. The utility says it expects employment at the site to continue to fall as major milestones are crossed ahead of the project’s completion later this year.

According to the latest numbers, 72 per cent of the 1,227 construction and non-construction contractors employed at Site C in December were primary B.C. residents, down from the 77 per cent reported in November.

The amount of primary Peace region residents working at the site also dropped sharply, from 597 in November to just 275 in December.

The number of workers at the site who identified as Indigenous also saw a significant drop, to 66 in December compared to 142 in November.

The number of women and apprentices employed saw less extreme declines; 197 women reportedly worked at Site C in December, down from 243 in November. That means the proportion of the facility’s workforce made up of women declined from 11.3 per cent to 10.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, 89 apprentices were employed at the site during the last month of 2024, down slightly from 96 the previous month.

The reservoir at Site C was completely filled in November. BC Hydro anticipates all generating units at the dam will become operational in the fall of 2025.