AI came for the desk jobs first. Here’s what’s left standing.

In September 2024, Statistics Canada published something that should have made more noise than it did. They estimated how exposed each occupation in the country is to artificial intelligence — and the results ran directly against the advice most of us grew up on.

Computer professionals came in at 100% high exposure. Administrative and finance roles, 82%. Meanwhile, workers holding an apprenticeship or trades certificate were the least exposed group in the study: 73% of them sat in low-exposure occupations.

And the line that reframes everything — StatCan found that this wave of AI affects highly educated workers more than less educated workers, reversing the pattern of every previous automation wave. Past automation came for the factory floor. This one came for the spreadsheet.

What actually makes a career durable

It isn’t prestige, and it isn’t years of schooling. Look at what the low-exposure occupations have in common and a pattern shows up fast. The work happens in person. It needs fine manual skill under unpredictable conditions — no two heads of hair, no two skin types, no two clients behave the same way. And it runs on trust with a specific human being, built over repeat visits.

A model can generate a photo of a balayage. It cannot stand behind a chair, read how one particular head of hair is lifting, adjust mid-process, and be accountable to the person in the mirror. That gap isn’t a technology problem waiting to be solved. It’s the job.

What the BC numbers say

National trends are easy to wave around. Local numbers are what actually matter, so here is what WorkBC projects for these occupations between 2025 and 2035 — including the Mainland/Southwest region, which covers Abbotsford, Langley and the rest of the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley:

That’s roughly 5,690 projected openings across hair and esthetics in this region alone over the decade — driven substantially by retirements, not just growth.

The honest counterweight

Now the part most schools leave out. Job Bank rates the three-year employment outlook for hairstylists in BC as “Moderate” for 2025–2027. Not “Very Good.” Moderate. Steady, not a boom.

The wages tell a similarly grounded story:

Those are base wages reported to Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. Many salon roles also involve commission and tips on top, which a flat hourly figure doesn’t capture — and the high end of either range reflects experienced professionals with an established client base, not a first-year wage. Anyone who tells you this trade makes you rich quickly is selling something. What the data supports is narrower and more useful: this is durable work with steady regional demand, and what you earn tracks the clientele and skill you build over time.

So what does “evergreen” mean now?

It used to mean a credential nobody could take away from you. Increasingly it means a capability that doesn’t transfer to software — skilled hands, in a room, with a person who came back because they trust you. That’s not a romantic idea about craft. It’s the shape of the exposure data.

If you’re weighing a direction right now, the question worth asking isn’t “what pays most?” It’s “what still needs me in the room?”

What training actually takes

At Legends Academy our programs run from about 2.5 months to 12 months, depending on the path. Nail Technology is 400 hours over 17 weeks. Hairdressing and Esthetics are longer and more comprehensive. Every program includes hands-on training with real, paying clients in our on-site student salon — supervised, but real, because working on live clients is the part you cannot simulate. We’re PTIB-designated and StudentAid BC-approved, and we’ve been teaching in the Fraser Valley since 1992.

If cost is the question on your mind, there are four common funding routes and we walk through them on our funding page. Applications typically take about two weeks to get an answer, which is worth knowing if you have a specific intake in mind.