New Westminster is one of the smaller cities belonging to the Greater Vancouver Area in British Columbia, Canada. New Westminster is located in the centre of the Greater Vancouver Area, between Burnaby, Richmond, Surrey, and Coquitlam. New Westminster is connected to Burnaby, Surrey, and the city of Vancouver through Vancouver's public transit (the Skytrain - which effectively plays the role of Vancouver's subway) and by road through the Trans-Canada Highway.
In 2006, there were 23,465 jobs in New Westminster. A fairly large share - close to 23% - of all jobs in New Westminster are in the Health care and social services industry. Healthcare jobs in New Westminster account for 5.4% of all Healthcare jobs in the Metro Vancouver Area - and this is attributed largely to the fact that one of Vancouver's large hospitals - the Royal Columbian Hospital - is located in New Westminster. In fact, 3,500 out of the 5,310 healthcare jobs in New Westminster are at the Royal Columbian Hoispital alone. About 11% of all jobs in New Westminster are in the Manufacturing industry. As could be expected of a suburban area, retailers also account for a significant share of all jobs in New Westminster (2,260 jobs - or about 9% of the total). The 3 largest employers in New Westminster are the Royal Columbian Hospital, Douglas College (930 jobs in New Westminster), the New Westminster School Board. Gatway Casinos and Entertainment - which operates a large casino in New Westminster - is a major local employer as well, responsible for about 600 jobs in New Westminister.