Addressing BC’s Growing Bio Health Sector: Life Sciences BC Connects Skilled Talent for BC Life Sciences Success

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Posted: January 18, 2022
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A skilled talent gap is looming. Life Sciences BC is supporting and accelerating the growth of BC’s growing life sciences sector through connecting skilled talent with new opportunities through the third annual Career Connect Day presented by BioTalent Canada, taking place virtually on Friday, January 21, 2022.

Career Connect Day presented by BioTalent Canada is an opportunity to engage hundreds of BC and international job seekers looking to grow their careers within BC. The day will highlight the opportunities of the ecosystem to begin careers as well as the opportunities for job seekers looking to re-skill or upskill.

Held in partnership with BioTalent Canada for a third year, this event has grown to BC’s largest STEM job fair and takes place at a critical time for the sector. A new report that will be unveiled at the event by BioTalent Canada will analyze BC and Western Canada’s life sciences labour market. The report emphasizes a growing talent shortage for the sector, and the essential nature of access to skilled talent for ongoing life sciences success – a sector that has seen record growth and contributed greatly to the global pandemic response.

Career Connect Day presented by BioTalent Canada showcases the many opportunities within the BC life sciences sector, connecting innovative small, medium, and large companies to a broad diversity of both home-grown and international talent. As home to the fastest growing life sciences sector in Canada, BC exceeds Canada’s life sciences GDP growth (2018 data) and employs more than 18,000 employees (2020 data) at above-average salaries. Moreover, Vancouver was recently named the top life sciences start up ecosystem in Canada. Startup Genome ranked Vancouver 21 out of 280 global ecosystems, listing it as the only Canadian city in the top 25. This comes in addition to BC life sciences companies attracting $2 billion CAD in investment in 2020.

LSBC’s third Career Connect Day has shown significant growth since its inception, despite having to shift to a virtual format. Last year the event welcomed 696 attendees from 24 companies and 17 academic institutions, with 425 students taking part in approximately 2,000 one-on-one interactions. Continued growth in the BC life sciences supports well-paid jobs for British Columbians and delivers life-saving therapeutics, medical devices, and digital technologies.

Wendy Hurlburt, President and CEO, Life Sciences BC

“We launched Career Connect Day three years ago to help support BC’s growing life sciences sector through connecting talent to employers and raising awareness of the number and diversity of well-paying, vibrant careers that are available. Our sector continues to flourish, contributing ground-breaking health solutions in response to the global pandemic. Now, more than ever, we need to attract and develop the talent that will drive continued sector growth and become a foundational part of BC’s new economy. And with the recent launch of Canada’s new biomanufacturing and life sciences strategy, BC can take a leadership role in both innovation and the development of top talent.”

Rob Henderson, President and CEO of BioTalent Canada

"Talent is the single most important resource for life science companies in BC and across Canada to experience sustained success," says Rob Henderson, President and CEO of BioTalent Canada. "According to the most recent data from BioTalent Canada's National Labour Market Intelligence report, it's of the utmost importance that employers actively expand recruitment and retention strategies to include a more diverse talent pool in order for the industry to meet forecasted talent needs of the next decade."

"Le talent est la ressource la plus importante pour les entreprises des sciences de la vie de la Colombie-Britannique et de tout le Canada pour connaître un succès durable ", déclare Robert Henderson, président et chef de la direction de BioTalent Canada. "Selon les données les plus récentes du rapport national d’information sur le marché du travail de BioTalent Canada, il est primordial que les employeurs élargissent activement leurs stratégies de recrutement et de maintien en poste pour inclure un bassin de talents plus diversifié, afin que l'industrie puisse répondre aux besoins en talents prévus pour la prochaine décennie".

Kathy O’Driscoll, Zymeworks’ Chief People Officer

“Life sciences and biotech are growth industries and the organizations that succeed in attracting and developing the most talented people with diverse backgrounds and experiences will be the ones who achieve long-term success” says Kathy O’Driscoll, Zymeworks Chief People Officer. “At Zymeworks, we are thrilled to partner with Life Sciences BC and BioTalent Canada to cultivate, develop and support the life sciences talent ecosystem.”

Gordon C. McCauley, President & CEO adMare BioInnovations

“The greatest competitive advantage of our life sciences industry is people. It is estimated however, that 65,000 additional workers will be needed to support the bio-economy by the year 2029. The enormous growth that the existing industry is driving has created a “sweet headache”, a problem of success, a skills gap that we need to address now. Through the adMare Academy, we are proud to be building such talent by training the highly-qualified personnel – from undergrads to industry executives – who will meet this demand and drive the ongoing growth of the industry.”

Sponsors

Presenting Sponsor:
BioTalent Canada

Event Sponsors: adMare BioInnovations and Chinook Therapeutics

Session Sponsor: STEMCELL Technologies

Speaker Sponsors: Evonik and Kardium

Technology Sponsors: AbCellera and Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Networking Sponsors: Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL)

Event Supporters: Clinical Trials BC – Michael Smith Health Research BC, Northeastern University – Toronto Campus, LifeLabs and Thrive Health

Featured Employers

adMare BioInnovations

Amgen

Aspect Biosystems

Aurinia Pharmaceuticals

Chinook Therapeutics

Clinical Trials BC - Michael Smith Health Research BC

Evonik

Kardium

LifeLabs

New Beta Innovation Canada

Pharma Inventor Inc.

STEMCELL Technologies

Thrive Health

Virogin Biotech

Xenon Pharmaceuticals

Zymeworks

The Life Sciences BC annual career and networking event, Career Connect Day presented by BioTalent Canada, connects BC’s life sciences companies and organizations with post-secondary students and job seekers.

For more details and to register: https://lifesciencesbc.ca/event/career-connect-day-presented-by-biotalent-canada/

About Life Sciences BC

Life Sciences BC is a not-for-profit, non-government, membership association that supports and represents the life sciences community of British Columbia through leadership, facilitation of investment and partnering, and promotion of our world-class science and industry.

Life sciences sectors, from biopharmaceuticals and medical technology, to digital health and medical devices, are integrated into our organization and all that we do, ensuring that no life sciences sector is working in isolation — and that all sectors come together in a comprehensive, complementary and coordinated fashion.

Throughout the year, Life Sciences BC undertakes numerous programs and projects in support of these sectors. These include public policy initiatives, facilitating linkages between global industry and our local organizations, raising the profile of our industry internationally and thus facilitating investment and global partnering opportunities, and helping nurture economic development in British Columbia through the life sciences industry.

Contacts

Amanda Maxwell, Manager, Marketing and Communications, Life Sciences BC

Phone: 604-669-9909 Ext. 106

Email: amaxwell@lifesciencesbc.ca

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