Fort St. John, B.C.- With companies launching  job fairs to try and attract employees from all over the province, the north east of BC is already facing a worker shortage.

The Provincial Government has already been working with the communities in the Peace region to try and address the shortage which covers all possible employment sectors. The region is experiencing an extremely tight labour market driven by rapid growth in the energy sector, and is forecast to have the highest growth in labour demand of any of BC’s eight Development Regions over the coming decade.

Early in the new year, business owners in the region met with members of the Immigration Task Force for B.C.. That set the foundation for dealing with the issue.

Yesterday, the task force returned to Ft. St. John for round two, to announce the plan it hopes will clear the way for more foreign workers to head to the region to fill all the employment gaps.

The plan is called the Northeast Pilot Project, and will expand the number of occupations that qualify for the Provincial Nominee program to more than 100. It will include everything from retail  positions to mine service and heavy equipment operators.

The announcement of the expansion of the Provincial Nominee Program comes before the Immigration Task Force releases its final report.

The Pilot project is scheduled to go for two years.