Part 3 in a series on BC’s Engineering Technology Education – July 24, 2026
By Technology Professions BC

A ‘Study of Engineering and Engineering Technology Graduates… focused on our future’, May 4, 2026 points to a flatline of graduates over the past 15 years. There are a number of factors leading to this outcome, all of which will be discussed in the next few months as TPBC unravels the story. TPBC has made the Report available to the Ministries of Post-Secondary and Future Skills and the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation, post-secondary institutions and a number of NGOs. With Part 3 we are distributing the Report within BC and beyond. View the Report here: https://techprobc.org/advocacy/techtalentbc/

Authored by Andrew Hay, PhD, LSME, PEng (Retired), the study examines the output of graduates from public post-secondary institutions of both two-year engineering technology diploma programs and four-year engineering undergraduate degree programs over a 15 year timeframe (2009 – 2023). The study identified three
important trends:

  1. Engineering degree grads have grown at 109% while engineering technologist grads has grown by 42%;
  2. The ratio of engineering degree to engineering technology grads continues to widen, with approximately 5 times the number of engineers being produced and has moved from 3:1 in 2009 to more than 4:1 in 2023. This runs counter to the ‘rule of thumb’ of 2 to 3 technologists for every engineer, and
  3. There has been almost no growth of technologist graduates in the mainstream fields of civil. mechanical and electrical over the period studied.

Engineering Techs provide critical skills to the teams that conceive, design, construct, inspect and maintain the world around us. With all current as well as future plans for the Canadian economy, we must ensure an adequate supply of Techs. TPBC applauds the work of SkilledTradesBC and the support of provincial and federal governments as they work to enhance the profile of trades and manage educational programming including numbers of graduates. TPBC seeks an investment by the BC and Canadian Governments in the mid-level
education and careers occupied by engineering technologists and technicians.

Moving Forward: TPBC seeks the support of governments, advocacy groups and educators to enhance the profile of the education and career pathways for engineering and applied science technologists and technicians.