Hi Mead, please update your knowledge about Fort St. John (city where Northern Lights College is) which is in Northern B.C. And, I hope you agree that the Canadian government whether federal or provincial will not publish the wrong statistics. Please check the link http://npedc.ca/advantage/quick-facts?page=3 and scroll a bit and you'll find the following line:
The unemployment rate in Fort St. John is close to 0%.
I hope that makes it clears that employment opportunities are more than compared to many cities of Canada. And, moreover if you will study more about Fort St. John, you'll come to know that plenty of jobs will continue to be created for the next 5 to 10 years due to heavy investments and two big projects- one dam and another LNG plant are expected to come in the future.
And, definitely, I agree with you that a student with good profile and looking for Masters with sound financial capabilities should keep Universities as the first option. But, you know that majority of the average students won't get admission in Canadian universities.
And, I would want to say that community colleges is a part of education system in Canada. Let us not forget this.