Jobs by Employment
The twin pillars of Ucluelet’s economy are tourism and harbour related industries. Employment data from the 2016 Census reflects this reality. It shows that 18% of all jobs based in Ucluelet are in fishing, aquaculture and seafood processing while 44% of jobs are in sectors that are closely related to tourism, including accommodation services, food services, retail trade, and arts, entertainment and recreation.
Major Employers
As of the 2016 Census, accommodation services was the largest source of Ucluelet-based jobs. Major employers in this sector include Black Rock Resort and Water’s Edge Shoreside Suites, plus many smaller hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast operations.
The largest employer in the fish processing manufacturing sector is Ucluelet Harbour Seafoods (UHS), which is a subsidiary of Pacific Seafoods. During peak season, UHS operates two fish processing plants in Ucluelet with 250 employees. There are several other fish processing and offloading plants in and around Ucluelet. These smaller operations include Neptune Packers Ltd., Ukee Ice Ltd. and Tinlet Fishing.
Food services ranks third and large employers include Zoë’s Bakery and Café and Howler’s Family Restaurant. Retail trade has many small companies, but also the Ucluelet Consumer Cooperative is a major employer.
Other significant employers in Ucluelet are in the public sector, including School District 70 (Alberni) and the District of Ucluelet.
Focus on Construction
The construction sector appears modest in size based on jobs in Ucluelet, but that is partly because many Ucluelet-based construction companies and workers are regularly working throughout the region and are not counted as having a usual place of employment in Ucluelet. There were 70 Ucluelet residents working in construction as of 2016, even though only 35 jobs were “based in Ucluelet.”
There is also reason to believe that construction has expanded significantly since the 2016 Census, based on the strong uptake in building activity in the last few years.