Invest in BC 2019

2019

GREAT PROVINCE. DIVERSE ECONOMY. BOUNDLESS OPPORTUNITY

Official Publication

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Published By

SPECIAL REPORT

YOUR GUIDE TO GETTING THE MOST OUT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA • Investment overview for 8 economic regions • Key business indicators • Provincial economic outlook • Spotlight on Indigenous tourism

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LNG CANADA; ABORIGINALBC.COM; DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG

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Contents INVEST IN BC 2019

B.C. OUTLOOK

LNG CANADA; ABORIGINALBC.COM; DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG

9 Momentum Play Until recently, B.C.’s booming economy was driven by home building; now northern energy projects have become the prime mover

30

12 Authentically West Coast Indigenous tourism has rapidly become a $700-million business, and it’s just getting started

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REGIONS 14 Lower Mainland/Southwest 25 Vancouver Island/Coast 30 Thompson-Okanagan 37 Kootenay

42 Cariboo 45 North Coast 51 Northeast 55 Nechako

LISTINGS 56 BCEDA Members List

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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official publication of the

CANADA WIDE MEDIA LIMITED 230, 4321 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby, BC V5C 6S7 head office / sales enquiries: phone: 604-299-7311 |

email:

fax:

cwm@canadawide.com |

604-299-9188

Michael McCullough | digital and production editor Lynn Mitges | creative director Rick Thibert | Edwin Pabellon | contributing writer Nathan Caddell | production manager Elaina Kohlhauser | director of sales Brianne Harper | account managers Mira Hershcovitch, Anna Lee, James Southam

editor

art director in special partnership with

Peter Legge, obc, lld (hon) | president Samantha Legge, mba | senior vp of integration Brad Liski | vp of content marketing Ryan McKenzie | vp of digital Kevin Hinton | vp of hr/admin Joy Ginete-Cockle | vp of finance Sonia Roxburgh, cpa, cga | director of production Kim McLane | director of circulation Tracy McRitchie | marketing lead Chris Hinton | systems administrator Brian Fakhraie | accounting Terri Mason, Eileen Gajowski | circulation Kelly Kalirai, Lori North, Rhiannon Jones chairman & ceo

BCEDA PARTNERS Diamond: FortisBC | Western Economic Diversification Canada Platinum: Memberleap | Consulate General of the United States, Vancouver | Frederique Murphy; Mountain Moving Mindset | BC Hydro Gold: Pacific Coastal Airlines | Resonance Consultancy | BCBusiness

ON THE COVER The Port of Prince Rupert on B.C.'s North Coast has seen bulk and container shipments soar in recent years, and a propane export terminal is due for completion this year. See story on p. 45.

Silver: CAPP | Community Futures | Co-Operatives First | Province of BC | GIS Planning | Kwantlen Polytechnic University | Futurpreneur Bronze: BDC | Localintel | Office of Small & Medium Enterprises | ICSC | Vancity | Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation Friend: MDB | Maury Forman | 468 Communications | ExecutivePulse

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Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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PRIME MINISTER • PREMIER MINISTRE

2019

Dear Friends: I am pleased to extend my warmest greetings to the readers of Invest in British Columbia magazine.

This publication profiles British Columbia’s economy and explores timely trends in the province. This year’s edition offers readers a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the latest business and investment opportunities.

I would like to commend everyone involved in the magazine’s publication for their commitment to informing readers, and for their efforts to attract investments to their communities.

On behalf of the Government of Canada, I offer my best wishes.

Sincerely,

The Rt. Hon. Justin P. J. Trudeau, P.C., M.P. Prime Minister of Canada

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LETTER FROM THE PREMIER

Welcome to British Columbia British Columbia is filled with unmatched natural beauty and resources, a diverse population brimming with talent and ingenuity, and an economy that is thriving.

B.C. is a great place to invest, and our government is working to grow our competitive, dynamic businesses environment, and a strong, sustainable and innovative economy. We’re investing to make our region a global hub of innovation and connectivity, training our skilled workforce, and making B.C. a great place to live and work.

Our government is reaching out to neighbours to the south, and trade partners around the world, to expand markets and attract investment. Recently, we facilitated the largest private-sector investment in Canadian history – a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project worth $40 billion. It’s part of our work every day to create jobs and opportunities throughout B.C. B.C. is a remarkable place, with incredible people and unlimited potential. We’re going to keep working hard and delivering the investments B.C. needs to grow a resilient economy and a bright future.

I hope the 2019 edition of Invest in BC magazine inspires you to invest in new opportunities in this remarkable province.

John Horgan Premier, British Columbia

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Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:38 AM

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT AND CEO, BC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

An unparalleled investment opportunity

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elcome to the official publication of the BC Economic Development Association (BCEDA). Invest in BC aims to give you a brief overview of British Columbia and encourage you to invest in our province. The publication provides valuable information on the eight economic regions of B.C., as well as the trends driving our ever-changing economy.

I hope you find it useful – and take the time to consider what an investment in B.C. could do for you or your business.

Over the past several years, I have been fortunate to travel to different areas of the province and to visit more than 100 of our amazing communities. It makes me proud to have experienced the great work being done by local and First Nations governments. When you take the time to discover B.C., you will be convinced that as a province, we are a strong and diverse economy that offers unparalleled opportunity.

BCEDA has grown to some 400 members who are working together to expand local economies.

Our members represent a range of communities, First Nations, businesses, chambers of commerce, Crown corporations, tourism groups, financial

institutions, government agencies, NGOs and educational institutions. This group is committed to building B.C. by bringing the right people together to create valuable partnerships and prosperity for all involved.

BCEDA is the leading provincial association of economic development practitioners. Its services help member communities to grow new and existing businesses, attract capital and work toward strategic infrastructure investment, landuse planning and community enhancement.

It is widely known that B.C.’s quality of life is second to none. If you have never experienced all that our province has to offer, we invite you to pack your bags and enjoy one of its endless recreational possibilities. We are proud to work with the Province of B.C. to support businesses and highlight opportunities for investors abroad.

Please feel free to contact me, my staff or any of our members to discuss economic development in British Columbia.

Dale Wheeldon President and CEO, British Columbia Economic Development Association

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR, BC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION

BCEDA helps build stronger businesses and communities

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or the 2019 edition of Invest in BC, BCEDA is pleased to partner with BCBusiness. In the pages of this informative guide, you will find a wealth of detail on the communities that comprise BCEDA’s membership. Whether it’s natural resources, energy, technology, food production, tourism, international education or transportation and shipping, B.C. has a multitude of investment opportunities. The province’s many other advantages include a highly skilled workforce, low corporate tax rates and worldclass infrastructure and services, as well as welcoming and inclusive communities.

Many may say it, but B.C. is truly open for business. Municipalities, regional districts and First Nations invest some $60 million annually in economic development and tourism programming. They do this because they are committed to ensuring their residents' economic and social well-being. BCEDA works hard to leverage that investment by supporting the professionals charged with guiding their community’s efforts through enhanced marketing activities, and professional development programs and materials.

In recent years, BCEDA has led the charge on responding to business needs in the aftermath of a disaster. An increase in fires and floods prompted us to help alleviate the stress caused by unexpected business closures. We adopted the method used by our U.S. counterpart, the International Economic Development Council.

BCEDA provides workshops that show communities how to prepare for a disaster and make their businesses more resilient if one occurs. Our Economic Disaster Recovery Program has assisted communities in B.C., Alberta and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

I encourage you to use this publication as a primer to explore the investment opportunities that abound in all regions of the great province of British Columbia. BCEDA is here to assist economic developers, local and provincial government and businesses working together to build a strong, sustainable economy through education, collaboration and partnerships.

Maureen Czirfusz Chair, British Columbia Economic Development Association

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An Amazing Place to Live & Work Houston BC is located in Northwest BC with access to rail and highway transportation. We are less than 5 hours away from the Port of Prince Rupert, one of North America’s fastest growing export terminals.

The District of Houston has a Revitalization Tax Exemption Program Bylaw that offers incentives through graduated tax abatement to allow property owners to maximize the benefits of Houston’s low-entry cost and to encourage newer, high-quality development in the community.

Living costs are among the most affordable in BC – with an average price of a single detached home at $188,244, you and your family can afford your home and your lifestyle.

Our recreations opportunities are endless and include hiking, mountain bike trails, cross country ski trails, snowmobiling and fishing in lake and rivers. You will find living and working in Houston is Naturally Amazing!

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LNG CANADA

District of Houston 250.845.2238 • www.houston.ca Houston & District Chamber of Commerce 250.845.7640 • www.houstonchamber.ca

2019-04-08 4/8/19 1:33 3:03PM PM

POWER SURGE The LNG Canada project in Kitimat is expected to spur investment and spending throughout B.C.

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Experts say B.C.’s economy is in for a few more years of steady if not spectacular growth, thanks in large part to northern energy projects

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2019-04-08 3:03 PM

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

P

erhaps we’re a bit spoiled in British Columbia. After a few runs of economic activity that would make some of the most bountiful regions in the world blush, things slowed down some in the past year, and are projected to remain on that trajectory for the foreseeable future.

But even at a slowing pace, B.C. was among the best-performing provinces in terms of real gross domestic product in Canada last year. Much of the same is expected for 2019.

B.C.’s real GDP is projected to grow at a rate of around 2.4 percent in 2019, according to Vancouver-based Central 1 Credit Union – an increase from the 2.2 percent the province saw last year. Some prognosticators, like the Ottawa-based Conference Board of Canada,

GDP GIANTS

PROJECTED REAL GDP GROWTH RATE FOR B.C. AND ONTARIO

3.2% 2.4%

2.4% 1.8%

B.C.

ONTARIO

2019

1.9%

1.8%

B.C.

ONTARIO

2020

B.C.

ONTARIO

2021

$22

BILLION Expected direct

government revenue to be generated by LNG Canada over 40 years

10,000

Number of jobs to be generated by LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink pipeline at construction peak SOURCES: CENTRAL 1, CBC, LNG CANADA

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“In an ideal world, we’d have a much larger, diversified economy. We don’t. Those megaprojects, if they don’t go, they’re missed.

And if they do go, they’re noticeable.” are slightly more bullish, estimating that B.C. will see a real GDP increase of 2.5 percent – a rate the think tank projects will be eclipsed only by Atlantic provinces Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.

While that’s a far cry from the recent past, like 2017, when, mostly due to a red-hot housing market, B.C. posted a real GDP growth rate of 3.8 percent, the 2019 numbers are still some of the best in the country. By comparison, Canada as a whole is slated to post a growth rate around 1.7 percent, according to Central 1.

“Key segments of service exports will help underpin the province’s still respectable economic expansion:

tourism, international transportation services, film and television production, and an array of other business services will all continue to grow at a solid clip,” the B.C. Business Council predicted in its fourth quarter 2018 B.C. Economic Review and Outlook. Aided by a favourable exchange rate, tourism revenue grew 41.3 percent in the decade from 2007 to 2017, when receipts reached $18.4 billion, and the number of visitors grew another 6.4 percent, to 6.1 million, in 2018.

But the real driver of provincial growth over the next few years will be energy investment in the North, centred around the LNG Canada

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 1:46 PM

B.C.'S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REGIONS

CARIBOO KOOTENAY L OWER MAINLAND/ SOUTHWEST NECHAKO NORTH COAST NORTHEAST THOMPSON OKANAGAN VANCOUVER ISLAND/COAST

liquefied natural gas terminal in Kitimat and associated pipeline construction and natural gas drilling, authors Ken Peacock and David Williams wrote.

Collectively budgeted at $40 billion, these projects represent the largest private-sector capital project in Canadian history.

FOREIGN EXCHANGE: The Port of Prince Rupert (top) has become a time-saving gateway to North America for container cargo; traffic at Vancouver International Airport (above) surpassed 25 million passengers in 2018

ENERGY FROM THE NORTH Indeed, Jobs, Trade and Technology Minister Bruce Ralston thinks there are reasons to celebrate B.C.’s economy right now, even in the midst of a real estate downturn. “Certainly [residential] construction activity is important,” Ralston concedes. “But we have a very robust program of public infrastructure [building], which is set to roll out in the next three years, and has a ‘priming the pump’ effect on the rest of the economy.”

Ralston points out transportation as being one of the main beneficiaries of that spending. “Whether it’s assisting the Prince Rupert Port Authority, whether it’s clearing bottlenecks to Vancouver or Roberts Bank, it helps the trade network, the rail network, to drive our exports.… In order to be competitive we have to move from local and regional

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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economies to international economies.

So I see the role of trade and exports being an important part of the business plan for more and more businesses.”

The area with a particularly rosy outlook is naturally northern B.C. “We attracted the largest privatesector investment in the history of the province,” Ralston notes of LNG Canada, whose proponents’ final investment decision last fall will be felt across the region in the coming years, from Dawson Creek to Kitimat. “In central and northern B.C. they’re very optimistic about their prospects in ways they haven’t been in decades,” he says.

Central 1’s Hobden supports that notion. “If you had to pick one region that’s counter to the current trends in the province, [the North] would be it,” says Hobden. “It’s not booming, but it’s on an upswing, it’s accelerating.” He points out that while the big resource developments do come with concerns, they are a boon for an economy that needs them.

“In an ideal world, we’d have a much larger, diversified economy. We don’t.

Those mega-projects, if they don’t go, they’re missed. And if they do go, they’re noticeable.” •

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FIRST MOVER Visitors to B.C. have a growing appetite for Indigenous tourism experiences such as traditional dancing

AUTHENTICALLY

WEST COAST

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I

t’s been just over 20 years since official efforts to ignite Indigenous tourism in B.C. started in earnest. In 1997, Indigenous Tourism BC (ItBC) – called the Aboriginal Tourism Association of British Columbia until this year – started out as a non-profit tasked with growing and promoting the industry.

In its early days, the group had just two employees. Their job was far from simple; in some corners, the view was that Indigenous people would rather be left alone than persuaded or forced to share their culture and heritage with the world.

Although that notion holds true for some members of the province’s large Indigenous population – about six percent of British Columbians classified themselves as Aboriginal in the 2016 census – it isn’t the majority opinion.

Today, ItBC has eight full-time staff,

and Indigenous tourism in B.C. represents about $700 million in annual customer spending while employing some 7,000 people. The agency helps power about 200 businesses throughout the province, from cultural centres and wilderness tour outfits to hotels and resorts.

CULTURAL OPPORTUNITY “For some of those Indigenous communities, it’s about what part of that culture can they share and what part of the culture do they want to protect?” Tracy Eyssens, CEO of ItBC, told BCBusiness.

“We emphasize that it’s not about selling your culture or selling out. It’s really an opportunity for communities to come together and have a discussion.”

In recent years, Indigenous tourism has been embraced like never before. An audit compiled by West Vancouver–based O’Neil

ABORIGINALBC.COM (2)

Indigenous tourism has become a multimillion-dollar business in a short time – with just a few bumps and bruises to show for it

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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Marketing & Consulting and released by ItBC notes that in 2016-17, the province was home to 401 Indigenous tourism– related businesses, a 33-percent increase over 2014. The report also projected that 7.2 million visitors will engage in Indigenous tourism over the next two years from the country’s top five markets for such experiences: Canada, Germany, the U.K., the U.S. and China.

First Nations Get Down to Business

Recent successes in Indigenous economic development:

LIL’WAT NATION

The Lil’wat First Nation received a B.C. Economic Development Award in 2018 for its productive collaboration with Pemberton-based Murphy Construction to build new housing and community projects while providing work and training for 26 of its members.

TSAWWASSEN FIRST NATION’S DELTAPORT LOGISTICS CENTRE

The TFN took a BCEDA Marketing Innovation Award in 2017 for its communication plan for the highly successful Deltaport Logistics Centre, an industrial complex adjacent to the Deltaport container and bulk shipping terminal.

ABORIGINALBC.COM (2)

NATIONAL TREASURE For those on the ground like Trevor Cootes, the success reflects years of hard work. An elected councillor for the Huu-ay-aht First Nation (HFN) on the southwest coast of Vancouver Island who also leads the band’s economic development file, Cootes points out that HFN has been active in tourism for almost as long as ItBC. “One of the hidden gems of Vancouver Island is our campground, which has been around for five decades,” he explained to BCBusiness. “When we renovated it in 1998, we put more structure to it, put more manpower into it to better position ourselves in tourism and provide job opportunities, and now we’ve kind of

reached that position of ‘How do we invest and be a better role player in tourism?’”

Cootes, who prides himself on staying connected with fellow HFN members, said they support such development efforts. He pointed to his nation’s 2016 purchase of 11 properties – including a pub, a restaurant, a general store and a couple of fishing lodges – in the community of Bamfield to encourage local tourism.

“Because we’re a treaty nation, with our laws and regulations we had to go to our people and get it approved,” Cootes recalled. “So we said, ‘We’re buying this land for $4.5 million, partly for tourism,’ and what we heard from the people was that they wanted us to do that.

“There’s definitely been some bumps and bruises,” Cootes added. “But [band members] got to a point last year where they participated in an event in the area and it rekindled energy, not only for Huu-ay-aht citizens but for the Bamfield area, which has been kind of deprived for the last 15 years.”

Said Essyens: “We see it as an opportunity for reconciliation, but for communities it’s really up to them what that means.” •

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LOWER MAINLAND/SOUTHWEST Abbotsford Burnaby ▷ Chilliwack ▷ Coquitlam ▷ Delta ▷ Gibsons

Hope Langley ▷ Lillooet ▷ Maple Ridge ▷ Mission ▷ New Westminster

North Vancouver Pitt Meadows ▷ Port Moody ▷ Richmond ▷ Sechelt ▷ Squamish

Surrey Vancouver ▷ West Vancouver ▷ Whistler

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OF B.C. 61% SHARE POPULATION

Finding Balance

The boom may be over, but the immigrants, multinational companies and health investments keep coming

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QUADREAL; DESTINATION BC/THOMAS HILL

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ith three-fifths of British Columbia’s population and an even greater share of provincial economic output, the Lower Mainland is typically the first place companies and individuals look when they consider a move to Canada’s westernmost province. And for most of the past decade, the region has been the undisputed driver of the provincial economy.

Growth in technology, tourism, construction and film and television production stoked demand for housing and contributed to a seemingly unstoppable appreciation in home prices.

In 2018, the housing market slowed as a result of policy moves by all three levels of government, combined with higher interest rates and a global cooling of high-end real estate. But make no mistake, the economic momentum keeps rolling.

“Lower Mainland–Southwest employment growth has averaged nearly four percent annually over the past two years, surpassing nearly all major metro areas of the country,” Central 1 Credit Union economists wrote in a November 2018 outlook.

As in the rest of Canada, international immigration levels are at or near an all-time high, and the Lower Mainland receives a high share of foreign arrivals to B.C. That will drive continued population growth of about 40,000 people annually for the next several years, Central 1 predicts.

For employers requiring specialized skills, the Lower Mainland offers the best-educated labour pool in the province. “In 2017, 73.8 percent of Southwest B.C.’s labour force between the ages of 25 and 54 boasted at least a post-secondary

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:40 AM

REGIONAL POPULATION:

3,050,716

TECH LANDMARK: Vancouver's old downtown post office (right) is being redeveloped for tenants including Amazon; urban density (below) is driving growth in the roomier Fraser Valley

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

4.7%

certificate or diploma,” noted the Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C. in their Regional Check-Up 2018.

That in part explains why Amazon continues to expand its local footprint with a new software development centre in downtown Vancouver (the old post office redevelopment) and a fulfilment centre in Delta, which is expected to more than double the company’s workforce in the region to about 5,000.

“Amazon is excited to create 3,000 more highly skilled jobs in Vancouver," Alexandre Gagnon, vice-president of Amazon Canada and Mexico, said at a 2018 event announcing the investment.

“Vancouver is home to an incredibly talented and diverse workforce, and these thousands of new employees will invent on behalf of our customers worldwide.”

GLOBAL TRANSPORT HUB The Lower Mainland is home to Canada’s busiest port, handling roughly half the country’s overseas trade. It also hosts the country’s second-busiest airport; Vancouver International surpassed the 25-million-passenger mark for the first time in 2018, two years ahead of projections. The region has also seen significant investments in transportation infrastructure over the past decade (new Port Mann Bridge, South Fraser Perimeter Road, Evergreen Line SkyTrain), with several more on tap. The George Massey Tunnel is due for replacement at a projected cost of $3.5 billion, as is the Pattullo Bridge ($1.4 billion). SkyTrain is being extended underground along Broadway in Vancouver to Arbutus Street by 2025 and the University of B.C. by 2030. YVR

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TOP EMPLOYERS

BY INDUSTRY Retail trade

11.4%

Health care and social assistance

11.3%

Professional, scientific and technical services

9.1%

FORECAST 10-YEAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

588,500

BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$11.8 BILLION

HOUSING STARTS (2017)

29,045

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$67.2 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

36,443

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

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LOWER MAINLAND/SOUTHWEST

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River District in Vancouver, the Mission Waterfront project and International Plaza in Richmond. Densification is the word as the remaining single-family housing along arterial roads and surrounding SkyTrain stations throughout Metro Vancouver is gradually giving way to mid- and highrise residential and mixed-use development.

Resource industries continue to hold their own amid the urban-oriented, service-sector growth, too. It doesn’t get much attention in the shadow of the massive LNG Canada project in northern B.C., but the Lower Mainland has a stake in the natural gas export business. Woodfibre LNG is investing $1.6 billion to transform a former pulp mill site on Howe Sound near Squamish into what’s likely to be Canada’s first natural gas liquefaction and export terminal, helping oil and gas producers in northeastern B.C. and Alberta serve new markets in Asia.

An even larger project planned for Sea-to-Sky country is the Garibaldi at Squamish ski and four-season resort, subject of a recently released master plan for public consultation. The plan calls for construction to start on the Brohm Ridge site, just north of Squamish, in 2023, opening of the first phase in 2025 and a full, $3.5-billion build-out – including 21 lifts, a 22,000-bed village and capacity for 17,538 visitors a day – by 2040.

GRAVITATING TO THE VALLEY Notwithstanding these developments, the Lower Mainland’s hot spot for population and economic growth for the

IBI GROUP; MOLSON COORS

itself has $1.7 billion worth of upgrades in the works, and the Roberts Bank Container Terminal is being expanded at a cost of $2 billion. In February, Canadian National Railway Co. announced that it had reached agreement with the federal government and the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority to double-track a segment of its rail line running along the south shore of Burrard Inlet that will enable increased cargo traffic in and out of Vancouver's harbour.

Big changes are afoot for the region’s health-care infrastructure as well.

Providence Health Care received provincial funding approval in February for a state-of-the-art, 7.4-hectare, $1.9-billion health research campus inspired by the likes of Johns Hopkins and Cedars-Sinai on Vancouver’s False Creek Flats, to replace the old St. Paul’s Hospital. Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster is likewise being redeveloped, at a cost of $1.1 billion. Meanwhile, BC Children’s and Women’s hospitals are slated to undergo $676 million in improvements.

As might be expected in the context of continued population growth, the list of residential, commercial and mixeduse developments planned or under construction is a long one. Some significant projects (over $1 billion investment) worth mentioning are: Concord Pacific’s False Creek Central in Vancouver, the Brentwood Town Centre redevelopment in Burnaby, King George Station in Surrey, Oakridge Centre in Vancouver, the South Burrard lands in Vancouver, the Tsawwassen First Nation in Delta,

foreseeable future is widely considered to be the Fraser Valley. Joe Varing sees affordability issues for both people and companies in Metro Vancouver’s core municipalities continuing to drive people and businesses toward the expansive area east of the city for at least another quarter century. “If you want to start or grow your business, the Valley is the place to be,” says Varing, director of sales for Varing Marketing Group, a division of Homelife Glenayre Realty Company.

He cites the examples of Molson Coors Brewing Co. moving its regional brewery to Chilliwack from Vancouver’s west side and KPMG moving approximately 30 jobs to a new location in Langley from its office in Burnaby.

Varing says it’s a misconception that the Fraser Valley is also running out of space: “There’s a lot of land east of the Port Mann [Bridge] that is not spoken for.” He estimates that there are more than 1,000 acres of undeveloped land earmarked for residential development in Surrey alone. In addition, developers are just now beginning to make significant partnerships with First Nations on their extensive land base. “We’re just missing the [rapid] transit link,” Varing says, adding that that development is simply a matter of time.

Regardless of short-term swings in the real estate market, “There will be communities and sub-communities with commercial nodes created. There will be a lot of opportunity.” •

RESEARCH CAMPUS: The new St. Paul's Hospital (top left) planned for the False Creek Flats is modelled on research centres like Johns Hopkins; Molson's regional brewery (above right) is moving from Vancouver to Chilliwack

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2019-04-08 10:40 AM

SURREY

SURREY AT THE EPICENTRE OF GROWTH LARK GROUP CREATES A SOCIAL ECOSYSTEM s B.C.’s fastest growing city, Surrey is poised to become the first metropolitan centre for the region. With an effective collaborative and regional approach to development, City Centre continues to evolve as the principal hub to manage that growth—positioned as a vibrant business network and economic driver for the city.

The revitalization of downtown Surrey has been the focus of significant transformation and progressive development over the years. Not only is it recognized as a burgeoning social and cultural nucleus but it also continues to emerge as a robust player in health and technology throughout B.C. and Surrey is seizing the opportunity to create spaces and environment to galvanize this province's evolving technology economy.

“With the massive influx of families in the community, which

IBI GROUP; MOLSON COORS

A

be built out in the Lark Group’s translates into students and Health and Technology District—a future talent, Surrey has found it’s core precinct where a synergy become an asset in the overall B.C. of government, academia and ecosystem around this emerging technology sector,” said Rowena health organizations join forces to accelerate the implementation of Rizzotti, vice-president of health technologies and solutions focused care and innovation at Lark Group. on health-care impacts and “Surrey has produced improvements. this access between post-secondary, Strategically located across the research, the New developments from Surrey science, the health and transit expansions Memorial Hospital, system and the move forward, but entrepreneurs; the Health and always with an eye it’s created this Technology District to livability is a dedicated space catalyst in the of connectivity and community that has collaboration for a cluster a far-reaching impact on people and society,” she said. of innovative multinational companies and startups with Moreover, Surrey assumes a like-minded entrepreneurs and leadership role in reaching out scientists, as well as universities to help support the development and global-leading partners. of other innovative Vancouver ecosystems and further emerging “We saw the opportunity to create the buildings and the Vancouver municipalities. ecosystem that could help develop In less than a decade, entrepreneurs and incubate approximately one million square feet of office and retail space will those innovative new ideas into

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

p14-19_LowerMainland_IIBCMay2019.indd 17

commercialized outcomes that will impact the future in jobs and products both locally and nationally, and ultimately globally,” said Rizzotti.

Lark Group continues to expand the energy of the District with the construction of City Centre 3, the third building in a series of eight mixed-use, high-tech buildings. Upon completion of the District, Rizzotti estimates more than 15,000 jobs will be created and more than $1 billion will be injected annually into the Lower Mainland economy.

“The energy seems to be captivating others who want to be a part of this,” said Rizzotti. “There are new faces and organizations joining on a monthly basis. It’s become very attractive to those interested in operating and working alongside other thought leaders that have aspirations for global impact and positive social change. I think it’s creating a social ecosystem as well, and that’s become quite exciting for people.”

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SURREY

THE CHANGING FACE OF SURREY CITY CENTRE

T

he circuit of growth and change in the northwest corner of Surrey immediately conjures up images of principal landmarks and influential regional amenities such as city hall, Surrey Memorial Hospital, City Centre Library, Holland Park, Central City Shopping Centre and Simon Fraser University.

There is no shortage to the number of ongoing upgrades to the livability of the area and additions such as a brand-new Y to take the spot of the soon-tobe-decommissioned North Surrey Recreation Centre will continue to shape the community.

The type of urban structures created in downtown Surrey over the next five to 10 years to accommodate high-density housing and a walkable and transit-oriented downtown will continue to apply positive influences in quality of life for residents, environmental sustainability and economic well-being.

Blackwood Partners, for example, is currently developing Tower 2, a new triple-A office building standing at the intersection of Old Yale Road and King George Boulevard.

This 25-storey tower will feature state-of-the-art amenities and will house hundreds of jobs, dozens of businesses and several retail locations, all coming together to further develop the City Centre’s economic influence.

With the influx of mixed-use clusters that house office, retail, cultural and other employment

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uses, City Centre is establishing itself as an economic force and a regional job centre that will unlock new opportunities for local residents and businesses critical to Surrey’s downtown trajectory.

“We like the fundamentals of City Centre, the good job base, city hall, Canada Revenue Agency, Coast Capital Savings headquarters, Surrey Memorial Hospital and all the buildings around those landmarks,” said Rob Blackwell, senior vice-president of development for Anthem Properties.

“Generally speaking, it’s a very well-planned community and it's just far enough away from Vancouver that it makes sense as a true regional centre,” he adds.

ANTHEM PROPERTIES TRANSFORMS CITY CENTRE Upcoming major residential mixed-use developments will soon add to the identifiable landmarks on the City Centre landscape with a distinct presence from Anthem Properties, which will help transform the esthetics of the downtown space for residents and businesses.

“There is not a lot of residential real estate yet in the downtown area but, it’s coming,” said

Blackwell. “We’re going to bring new homes integrated with socially inspired amenities and shops geared to that area. That’s what you’re going to see at our first phase of Georgetown, a 10-acre, 1.8 million-square-foot master-planned urban mixed-use community."

Blackwell says further: “Our second property, which is adjacent to Georgetown, will bring another 800,000 square feet of development to Surrey City Centre, for a total of 2.7 million square feet, which represents about 2,800 homes, plus some office and a fair amount of retail space.”

Among other population segments, developments like Georgetown speak especially favourably to millennials who may

be starting families but still want the vibrant feeling of an urban environment and prefer to live where they can be close to shops, restaurants, offices and parks, and where social interaction is just outside their doors.

“City Centre has a good base for a healthy, holistic environment and green space for families, and has plenty of urban plazas and parks,” said Blackwell.

“In fact, part of Georgetown is actually in the middle of City Centre. The heart and soul of the whole project is a highly walkable urban plaza park — with water features, public art, and trees surrounded by a cluster of restaurants and cafes. And it’s all within a block of SkyTrain.”

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:40 AM

SURREY

PCI DEVELOPMENTS REDEFINES DOWNTOWN SURREY

U

rban transportation is one of the most important targets to create more sustainable and livable communities. The transit developments are shifting the geographical centre of the Lower Mainland to downtown Surrey, a substantial influence in the transformation of the urban core into a thriving metropolitan centre.

Surrey continues to make investments in public transit infrastructure in order to get people out of their vehicles, to encourage high-density development and reduce congestion to facilitate the highest quality of urban livability.

“Surrey has been long overdue for transit investment and it’s finally here with the construction of what will be SkyTrain out to Langley,” said Brad Howard, senior development manager for PCI Developments.

The new Fraser Highway

SkyTrain that is planned to extend between City Centre and Langley provides another significant and much anticipated physical link to downtown Surrey.

Transit is at the centre of King George Hub by PCI Developments, a dynamic four-phase landmark mixed-use residential, retail and office development—expertly positioned for convenience and connectivity—adjacent to King George SkyTrain station.

Phase A is the Coast Capital Savings Credit Union's Help Headquarters, an architectural stunner in City Centre. Phase B is currently under construction with completion slated for late 2021. It is the largest of the four phases with two new residential towers totalling 738 units (sold out in 2017), a 15-storey LEED-Gold office tower, and 100,000 square feet of premier quality retail along a vibrant pedestrian High Street.

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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“We think it’s the best site in City Centre by virtue of proximity to SkyTrain and the complete community that we are building,” said Howard. “The location has got what everybody needs within a short walk from their home.”

The growth in transit investment in Surrey is supporting the construction of complete communities—like King George Hub—that are transit-oriented and mixed-use where people can work, shop and play all within a few blocks of where they live.

“We are seeing this kind of complete community being supported throughout the region by other municipalities as well as Surrey,” said Howard. “Transit ridership is increasing, in part, because of TransLink’s support in focusing density on transit stations.”

Through continued redevelopment, City Centre

is becoming a more walkable environment. Howard said that Surrey’s CityCentre plan includes a revised street network that will transform into smaller urban block sizes, which will create a more walkable downtown.

“As a pedestrian, if you try and cross King George today, you’re crossing six to eight lanes that were initially designed for truck traffic,” said Howard, “where one block can be an over five-minute walk.”

He’s quick to point out: “With the new developments, the City is creating smaller blocks to encourage people to get out of their cars and experience a much more walkable community. It's something transit is supporting more progressively. The growth of transit in Surrey and the developments in City Centre specifically, is making better, more efficient use of our land for future generations.”

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COQUITLAM

INVEST, INNOVATE & GROW IN COQUITLAM

T

he City of Coquitlam, located in the heart of Metro Vancouver, is one of the fastest growing communities in the Lower Mainland and British Columbia. Its population of 150,000 is estimated to be 176,000 by 2021 and 224,000 by 2041.

ADVANTAGES Coquitlam’s proximity to Vancouver, access to markets, transportation and housing options, recreation opportunities, highly educated labour force, open and accessible local government and innovative business community are some of the factors that are driving economic growth.

INVESTMENT & ECONOMIC GROWTH Coquitlam, which is the regional service centre for Northeast Metro Vancouver, is experiencing tremendous growth and

investment. Public infrastructure projects such as the Evergreen SkyTrain Extension, combined with significant investment in private sector development projects (an average of $392 million per year in building permits over the past five years), have made Coquitlam a popular destination for businesses and investors.

motivating people and businesses to relocate to Coquitlam.

SUPERB QUALITY OF LIFE Coquitlam has competitive housing prices, diverse housing choices, high-quality education opportunities, an array of dining and shopping options and accessible transportation services. Coquitlam also has vast recreation opportunities, including an extensive trail network and an abundance of parks, a variety of sport and cultural amenities and an expanding network of civic facilities. These attributes are

OPEN FOR BUSINESS The City has streamlined processes and is committed to the continuous improvement of the business environment. In 2013, the City of Coquitlam was honoured with the BC Small Business Roundtable’s Open for Business Award. In 2018, Business LinQ, an award winning one-stop business resource centre, was established to assist existing and prospective business owners in learning what is required to operate a business in Coquitlam,

as well as navigating the City’s permitting processes. Coquitlam’s leaders are dedicated to building a strong community and economy that continues to attract and retain businesses, entrepreneurs and investors.

To learn more about the advantages in Coquitlam, contact the Economic Development Office at economicdevelopment@ coquitlam.ca ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, CITY OF COQUITLAM 3000 Guildford Way, Coquitlam, BC, V3B 7N2

GET CONNECTED One of B.C.’s fastest-growing communities with a large and well-educated labour force

PRIME LOCATION Access to major routes, international rail corridors, port facilities, international airports and downtown Vancouver

MAJOR MARKETS Access to 2 million plus Metro Vancouver market and 10 million citizen trading area from Vancouver, B.C., to Oregon, US Learn more about the advantages Coquitlam has to offer.

Call 604-927-3905 or email economicdevelopment@coquitlam.ca

| coquitlam.ca/economicdevelopment

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Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:41 AM

MAPLE RIDGE

MAPLE RIDGE TOWN CENTRE FOCUS OF URBAN GROWTH

O

ver the past five years, Maple Ridge has been one of the fastest growing cities in Metro Vancouver. During this time, Maple Ridge’s population has grown by over eight percent and now exceeds 85,000 residents. Many of these new residents were drawn by the community’s combination of affordable real estate and abundance of outdoor recreational activities. What’s new, though, is the number of people who are looking to live in Maple Ridge’s increasingly urban town centre.

“We’re really excited by the number of new developments we’re seeing in the town centre,” says Brent Elliot, the Manager of Community Planning at the City Maple Ridge. “Our goal is to create a vibrant urban centre with a wide variety of housing, shopping and recreational options for residents. We’re working to add new restaurants, patios and festivals to make the town centre a

destination for people of all ages.”

Elliot points to two major new mixed-use developments that demonstrate the City’s long-term vision of combining residential, employment and recreational activity in the town centre.

The BrickWater development, currently under construction on 227th Street, features over 200 new condos built over new commercial space.

Similarly, Swiss Real will be breaking ground on a major multi-use development in the centre of town that will add 800 residential units, including four towers, as well as new office and retail space, over the next 10 years. “We want to plant a flag and say, ‘This is where the town core

is,'" says Jeremy Towning of Swiss Real. “It will have a European flair, in that it’s a city within a city, with a community park in its centre.

Our vision is to help create a vibrant, walkable downtown area with businesses, stores, offices and housing.”

MAPLE RIDGE your business your future your home

Find out why Maple Ridge has been named the “Most Business Friendly Community” for 3 years on a row by Vancouver’s Commercial Real Estate Association.

And why Maple Ridge recently won the Open For Business Award at the Small Business BC Awards.

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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Come see why Maple Ridge is the best place to grow your business, your future and your home.

For more information contact CITY OF MAPLE RIDGE 604-467-7320 invest@mapleridge.ca Learn more at mapleridge.ca Connect with us @yourmapleridge

For more information, contact 604-467-7320 or invest@mapleridge.ca Learn more at mapleridge.ca Connect with us @yourmapleridge

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HOPE

A LIFESTYLE WORTH INVESTING IN

H

ope is in a strategic location for both work and play.

All commercial and passenger highway traffic in southern British Columbia flows through Hope on highways 1, 3, 5, and 7. Coupled with our proximity to the US border and Metro Vancouver, this makes Hope an ideal location for virtual commuters and brick-andmortar businesses.

What sets Hope apart from our neighbouring communities, however, is our strategic location for play. We sit at the junction of four major highways which makes us the base camp for regional adventures. Our recreational opportunities include mountain biking, road riding, skiing, hiking, climbing, and paddling. If indoor activities are more your speed, our recreation centre includes a 25-metre pool and an arena with some of the

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best ice in British Columbia.

Living and working in Hope means that you can have the best of all worlds: access to consumers and clients, fibre-optic telecommunications, time for family, and access to wild spaces worth exploring.

OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND There are excellent commercial opportunities available in Hope’s downtown core and on the higher traffic arterials and highway exits. Hope offers new retailers affordable startup costs with access to a large travelling market and a primary domestic trade area of over 10,000 people.

Existing industrial and

commercial land is available with quick highway access and municipal servicing in place. Retailcommercial lands are also available for development and redevelopment at attractive price levels compared to neighbouring municipalities.

Now is the time to take advantage of our amenities and opportunities as you invest in not only your business, but your life.

For more information, contact ADVANTAGEHOPE : HOPE’S ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND TOURISM AGENCY Email: vc@hopebc.ca Phone: 604.860.0930 Web: hopebc.ca HOPE VISITOR CENTRE 919 Water Avenue Hope, B.C., V0X 1L0

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:42 AM

NEW WESTMINSTER

ACTIVE, ENGAGED AND ACCESSIBLE

L

ocated at the heart of Metro Vancouver, New Westminster is less than 30 minutes from Downtown Vancouver, YVR and the U.S. border. With five SkyTrain stations, New West is easily

accessed by transit as well as by river, road and rail.

COMPETITIVE Businesses that locate here enjoy competitive rates and a

strong, supportive community.

The City continues to make the cost of doing business even more attractive, including participation in an Inter-Municipal Business License program providing a more affordable licensing option for businesses involved in construction and maintenance of buildings and properties.

PROGRESSIVE As Western Canada’s original city, New Westminster has a history of creating opportunity and setting trends. Businesses and residents now have access to BridgeNet, a city-owned fibre network, creating opportunities for multiple internet service providers to offer high-speed internet access at competitive rates.

RECOGNIZED Recently, New Westminster was selected from a global list of 400 cities and awarded

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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SMART21 status by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) for our work meeting the demands of the broadband economy and growing a prosperous and digitally inclusive community.

Supported by an active and engaged economic development office and bolstered by its reputation as a central, competitive and progressive community, the City of New Westminster has staked its place as an ideal location for business to thrive and grow.

Be part of he success. Invest in New West.

Contact ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE CITY OF NEW WESTMINSTER 604-527-4536 info@investnewwest.ca www.investnewwest.ca

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V

CHILLIWACK OFFERS BUSINESS A WORLD OF ADVANTAGES

C

hilliwack is one of the best places to operate a business in the Lower Mainland and the Fraser Valley. Located in a regional market of about 2.8 million people, with easy access to international freight ways, Chilliwack is ideally situated for industrial, commercial and institutional businesses.

The City of Chilliwack is committed to maintaining a competitive business environment by working with the business community and implementing development processes that lead to success.

Chilliwack has the fastest approval times in the Lower Mainland for development and building permits, rezoning applications and subdivision approvals.

With a mild climate, proximity to spectacular outdoor activities, a wide range of recreational

24 INVEST in BC 2 01 9

opportunities, and all the amenities of any major urban centre, Chilliwack is fast becoming one of British Columbia’s most desirable places to live and work.

love chilliwack

find out why people

living and working in

FOR MORE INFORMATION Chilliwack Economic Partners Corporation (CEPCO) is responsible for attracting and facilitating economic growth for the City of Chilliwack. CEPCO provides various business attraction and retention services, including site selection assistance, business relocation or expansion support, employee attraction and promotion, immigration investment and other related services.

CONTACT CEPCO info@businessinchilliwack.com businessinchilliwack.com 1-604-792-7839

lifeinchilliwack.com businessinchilliwack.com Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

CEPCO Invest in BC QP Ad.indd 1

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TOURISM VICTORIA/BRETT RYAN

CHILLIWACK

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2019-04-08 10:42 AM

VANCOUVER ISLAND/COAST Campbell River Comox ▷ Courtenay ▷ Cowichan ▷ Duncan ▷ Esquimalt

Ladysmith Lake Cowichan ▷ Langford ▷ Nanaimo ▷ North Cowichan ▷ Parksville

Port Alberni Port Alice ▷ Port Hardy ▷ Port McNeill ▷ Powell River ▷ Qualicum Beach

Saanich Sidney ▷ Sooke ▷ Tofino ▷ Ucluelet ▷ Victoria

▷

▷

▷

▷

▷

▷

▷

▷

OF B.C. 17% SHARE POPULATION

TOURISM VICTORIA/BRETT RYAN

IN FULL BLOOM Tourism destinations like downtown Victoria are thriving thanks in part to a favourable exchange rate and new air connections

The Island Means Business

Often overlooked amid its other charms, Vancouver Island has a booming economy

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

O

ther Canadians think of Vancouver Island mostly for having the most benign, un-Canadian climate in the country. And sure enough, the region attracts more than its share of retirees and other wellheeled migrants from colder climes.

But the Island is also accommodating to business, with a thriving, diversified economy. “Vancouver Island is booming,” economist Bryan Yu wrote simply in Central 1 Credit Union’s November 2018 regional outlook. Employment surged 10 percent from 2014 to 2017 – 5.5 percent in 2017 alone – led by gains in the service sector (accommodation, foodservices, information and culture, and wholesale and retail trade). Although he predicts a moderation in the pace of growth, Yu expects the momentum to continue through 2020.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 27

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2019-04-08 10:42 AM

COMOX VALLEY

DIVERSITY AND QUALITY OF LIFE

W

ith its central Vancouver tourism, and residential and Island location and commercial development. The transportation links, the Comox area also boasts a combination Valley is one of the largest of amenities unlike other Island regions on the Island, boasting communities, including the a diverse economic base largest full-service ski and an extraordinary and snowboard quality of life. resort, a new Direct access regional hospital, Comox Valley is to a growing coupled with a one of the largest trading area is post-secondary regions on the provided via the college, and Comox Valley Canada’s only island Airport (YQQ) West Coast serviced by major Canadian Forces carriers, including Air Base 19 Wing Comox, Canada and WestJet, as well as with a new Fixed Wing Search mainland BC Ferries service, and Rescue Training Centre and harbour-to-harbour flights currently under construction— to downtown Vancouver. another significant economic This accessibility has driver in the Comox Valley. established the Comox Valley as a strategic mid-Island hub for COMOX VALLEY ECONOMIC investment across key sectors, DEVELOPMENT including agri-food production 250-792-0375 and agri-tech innovation, investcomoxvalley.com

WESTERN CANADA’S LARGEST SHELLFISH PRODUCING REGION Investment and exporting opportunities:

AgrifoodComoxValley.com

PORT ALBERNI

A TRANSITIONING WATERFRONT TOWN

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B.C.

’s strong economy With increases in business is expected to licensing and economic outperform the rest of Canada diversification, the construction and Vancouver Island is a major of a $60-million high school, a contributor to the equation. rise in homes sales and With its rugged over 800,000 tourists natural beauty, moving through With its convenient Port Alberni rugged natural beauty, geographical annually, this convenient geographical location and perfectly location and promising future, situated town promising future, offers the investors, entrepreneurs, and investors, best value tourists alike are flocking to entrepreneurs, on Vancouver the small towns of and tourists Island and is Vancouver Island alike are flocking easily accessible to the small towns by air, land and sea. of Vancouver Island to see what all the fuss is about.

PAT DEAKIN And in the middle of it all sits Economic Development Port Alberni, a transitioning Manager waterfront town of 17,000 that CITY OF PORT ALBERNI is getting noticed on account of Office: 250.720.2527 its growth in tourism, housing, Mobile: 250.720.9117 shipbuilding, agriculture and @CityofPortAlberni aviation.

Local Government

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Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:42 AM

VANCOUVER ISLAND/COAST

FROM PAGE 25

4/5/19 12:29 PM

Tourism in particular is benefiting from the decline in the value of the Canadian dollar versus the U.S. greenback since 2014.

Hotel occupancy, at 62.5 percent, is the highest it’s been since 2001, and room rates are testing new peaks.

The major national airlines, Air Canada and WestJet Airlines Ltd., have increased BLOWING UP: Vancouver Island could see more renewable energy projects like the flights and seat capacity to Cape Scott Wind Farm both Comox Valley Airport and Victoria International Airport, which is doubling the seating capacity The Island also holds out hope of getting in on of its ground-floor departure lounge with an the liquefied natural gas game. Though Steelhead expected completion date in spring 2020.

LNG recently called a pause in its plans for a Victoria’s information technology cluster $30-billion gas liquefaction plant and export welcomed a new arrival in November 2018 in the terminal in Sarita Bay on Alberni Inlet, on land form of Daitan Group. The Brazilian company controlled by the Huu-ay-aht First Nation, a aims to scale up this, its first foreign software smaller project, Discovery LNG, is aiming to development office, to 100 employees within build a plant at the former Elk Falls mill site near two years. Being in the same time zone as Silicon Campbell River. Both projects have obtained Valley, where many of its clients are based, was export permits from the National Energy Board. a factor in the decision, but so was the city’s Port Alberni Port Authority, meanwhile, is relative affordability and high quality of life, exploring the potential to turn the west-facing port Daitan founder and CEO Augusto Cavalcanti told into a $1.7-billion container transshipment hub the Victoria Times Colonist. “The whole world designed to relieve congestion in Metro Vancouver wants [software developers]. Who offers the best port facilities by transferring cargo between environment in terms of work as well as living short-haul barges and ships bound for Asia.

I think will retain those guys, and that’s why we Coastal communities including Powell River and chose Victoria,” he said.

Port Hardy cheered the B.C. government's decision Though manufacturing activity pulled back to restore ferry routes and capacity that had been in 2018 after strong gains in the previous two cut in previous years, effective April 1. “Permanently years, aerospace company Viking Air Ltd. hired reinstating sailings that were cut by the previous an additional 50 staff late in the year and Seaspan government will help ensure families, small ULC’s Victoria shipyard continues to benefit from business owners, and seniors have easier access the federal government’s National Shipbuilding travelling along two popular BC Ferries routes,” Strategy in replacing and upgrading naval and Coast Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Guard fleets. Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt, Simons said of restored service in his riding. the Canadian Navy’s station on the West Coast, Like other urban areas in B.C. and Canada is itself undergoing upgrades and modernization generally, the Capital Region and Nanaimo projects collectively worth $1.3 billion. witnessed a pullback in residential real estate sales and prices in 2018. However, with property INVESTMENTS ON TAP values having risen substantially over the long The Vancouver Island and Coast region boasts term, in-migration of more than 10,000 people a number of renewable energy projects in the per year and a still undersupplied housing works. Alterra Power Corp. intends to build market, home building is expected to remain 17 run-of-river hydroelectric generation sites robust for the foreseeable future. in the area around Bute Inlet on the mainland The largest projects planned or under coast. Together, they would generate more than construction include Union Bay Estates, a 1,000 megawatts. The Hawkeye Green Energy $2-billion, 346-hectare development to feature two Project proposes a similar (though smaller) hotels, 375,000 square feet of commercial space network of generation sites around Toba and and nearly 3,000 residential units in the midJervis inlets. The Nahwitti Wind Farm would see Island area south of Courtenay; Westhills Green, 50 wind turbines erected north of Port Hardy. a $2-billion, 6,000-dwelling, LEED-certified Meanwhile, BC Hydro finished replacing the community being rolled out in the Victoria suburb John Hart generating station near Campbell of Langford; and Sage Hills, a $1.5-billion project River last December at a cost of $1.1 billion. on 2,040 acres featuring a private university and Decommissioning work to remove the old facility 2,000 homes south of Courtenay. For people and will continue into 2019. companies alike, the Island remains a magnet. •

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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REGIONAL POPULATION

860,302 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

3.8%

TOP EMPLOYERS

BY INDUSTRY Health care and social assistance

15.4% 12.5% Construction 9.3% Retail trade

FORECAST 10-YEAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

153,800

BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$2.4 BILLION

HOUSING STARTS (2017)

5,661

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$60.5 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

4,410

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

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uses and will feature a public square and through-block art walk, easy access to transit, and bicycle and pedestrian-friendly spaces. Esquimalt is growing. In light of this, the Township has been working hard to encourage sustainable development that works for residents, the business community and visitors. Municipal Hall is dedicated to working with the development community by streamlining planning processes.

Several new housing and commercial developments are underway.

ESQUIMALT

VIBRANT INDUSTRY Need we say more? Well, yes.

There are no Development Cost Charges levied on development projects, and Esquimalt has a Revitalization Tax Exemption Bylaw as an incentive for businesses and properties to beautify the corridor while also supporting heritage conservation.

The Township features stunning seafronts, incomparable parks, easily accessed urban pathways, affordable real estate, a full calendar of community events and friendly residents. It is the home of

STUNNING SETTING, SUSTAINABLE FOCUS

H

istoric Esquimalt lies just minutes from downtown Victoria in the heart of the Capital Region.

Shaped by our stunning shoreline setting and our storied military and shipbuilding past, the Township of Esquimalt is a captivating blend of maritime

geography and fascinating history— with a contemporary setting and forward-thinking outlook.

Esquimalt Town Square, currently under construction, will be a catalyst for sustainable development in the community for years to come. It includes civic, residential and commercial

Canada’s Pacific Fleet at Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt and of a vibrant ship repair industry, bringing added energy to the community.

Our recreation facilities are among the best in the region, playing host to national sporting events and music performances by notable artists, as well as providing a range of programs and services for residents. The familyfriendly Esquimalt Adventure Park is a popular downtown destination at all times of the year.

Visitors and residents are flocking to our thriving arts and culture events, including the Memorial Park Music Fest, our annual Arts Festival, the Township Classics music series, and the award-winning Esquimalt Farmers Market. The Township also hosts the popular Ribfest each September, attracting visitors from throughout the region and Washington State.

Explore opportunities in Esquimalt. As you can see, we’re ready. Are you? For more information, visit esquimalt.ca or call 250-414-7146.

Explore Esquimalt We’re ready. Are you?

Township of Esquimalt Economic Development 250-414-7146 | bizhub@esquimalt.ca | esquimalt.ca TownshipofEsquimalt

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Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:43 AM

M

NANAIMO

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT NANAIMO e asked a few business community leaders to tell us:

"What exciting things do you see happening in Nanaimo?"

CITY “In the first two months of 2019 alone, we’ve issued building permits for $90 million, a significant jump from the same time last year. With a new, young and visionary council leading the way, this is a time of incredible optimism in Nanaimo.”

— Amrit Manhas, City of Nanaimo Economic Development Officer TECH “We are definitely seeing more startups in the tech sector here, especially in the new co-working space which is geared towards supporting tech companies. The weather, the lifestyle, tech tools that make managing remote workers so much easier—Nanaimo is really

a great place to live, so combined with that, it’s an ideal choice.”

— Shawn Adrian, Partner, Input Logic HEALTH “There are huge changes happening in health care in Nanaimo right now. What we are seeing is the services that didn’t exist here before are now based in Nanaimo. It’s a significant shift.

When you can get the health care you need in the community you live in, that’s a game-changer.”

— Donna Hais, General Manager, R. W. (Bob) Wall Ltd. BUSINESS “The Port of Nanaimo has completed the inaugural visit of our first auto carrier, bringing Europeanbuilt autos to our assembly wharf.

We are proud to be the only western Canadian port of entry for European automakers, and to see

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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NANCY SHIELDS

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the local benefits this project has created. The growth of the Port is one indication of the overall growth we see in Nanaimo today, as both businesses and people discover the benefits of our location.”

— David Mailloux, Port Communications Director EDUCATION “In 2018, VIU completed three new facilities—the Centre for Health and Science, the Trades Discovery Centre and the District Geo-Exchange Energy System with the generous support of both the public and private sectors.

We look forward to welcoming more students and working on priority projects, particularly more

affordable housing options.”

— Dan Hurley, Director, Communications and Public Engagement, VIU GROWTH “This fall we will complete a multimillion-dollar expansion of our Air Terminal Building, and as we enter our 10th consecutive year of record-setting passenger volume, the resumption in June of a seasonal direct flight to Toronto will bring even more people to our region.

We are thrilled with the growth and expansion we are seeing in Nanaimo, and looking forward to the future of this community.”

— Mike Hooper, President & CEO, Nanaimo Airport

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2019-04-08 10:43 AM

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN Barriere Cache Creek ▷ Clearwater ▷ Clinton ▷ Golden ▷ Kamloops

Kelowna Lytton ▷ Merritt ▷ Oliver ▷ Osoyoos ▷ Peachland

Penticton Revelstoke ▷ Salmon Arm ▷ Summerland ▷ Vernon

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▷

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OF B.C. 12% SHARE POPULATION

The Rise of the Service Economy By the looks of most business indicators, the southern Interior is successfully navigating the transition to a services-based economy

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a diverse range of tourist demographics.

Approximately 8 million people visit the region each year, most of these visitors fitting into “authentic experiencers,” “free spirits” and “cultural explorers” traveller profiles. Kamloops Regional and Kelowna International airports have both experienced significant growth over the past decade, which has supported streamlined access to the region for both tourists and business travellers.

The region has seen growth in educational services, too, with the ongoing expansion of the University of B.C.’s Okanagan campus as well as Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops.

The proportion of the regional labour force with

LIFESTYLE AND AFFORDABILITY: Kelowna (above) has benefited from better air and highway connections; traditional agriculture meets tourism in the south Okanagan vineyards (top right); Revelstoke Mountain (right) is one of several four-season resorts undergoing expansion

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:43 AM

DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG (2)

I

n the words of the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia, the Thompson-Okanagan region has enjoyed a “stellar year in terms of economic growth” (Regional Check-Up 2018).

Strong job creation has absorbed much of the remaining slack in the economy of the Thompson-Okanagan since the recession of 2008-10, with employment growing 4.6 percent in 2017 alone. Over the past three decades, the region, which is blessed with an abundance of developable land and improved airport and highway connections, has secured a dominant position in the B.C. economy. A big part of this positive shift has been the long-term transition away from resource extraction and toward a diversified economy focused on technology, tourism, education, health services, the film industry and agriculture.

The Thompson-Okanagan region is becoming well known as a rapidly expanding technology hub in B.C. In the Okanagan alone, the tech sector is estimated to contribute more than $1.67 billion to the region’s economy. The dominant business type found in the region is based around technology software and services, however there is also a unique cluster of hightech manufacturing businesses that offer diverse and innovative products to markets ranging from local to global. With over 1,000 businesses currently operating in the region, overall growth in the technology sector is projected to continue moving forward.

Tourism remains a strong economic driver throughout the Thompson-Okanagan, with a wide range of four-season recreation and experience offerings garnering interest from

584,899 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.0%

TOP EMPLOYERS

BY INDUSTRY Health care and social assistance

14% 12.3% Construction 10.9% Retail trade

post-secondary accreditation is at an all-time high, 67.9 percent, reflecting both the increased availability of post-secondary programs and the heightened demands of the job market.

The agriculture industry also remains strong, with major advances in agri-tech and agrifood production as well as significant applied research projects supported by the region’s post-secondary institutions. Health services also remain a key sector in the regional economy.

An accessible and diverse range of services are supported in part by the large proportion of retirees the region attracts.

DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG (2)

D : ) m y l s h s e e n g n

REGIONAL POPULATION

RESIDENTIAL INFLUX In addition to benefiting from spillover development from capacity-constrained industries in the Lower Mainland like housing and recreation, the film industry is also seeing strong growth throughout the Thompson Okanagan. “We want to see the cluster of the motion picture industry grow into the B.C. Interior,” Mastermind Studios president and CEO Peter Cameron-Inglis told BCBusiness.

“If we’re talking about the future growth of the industry, the only way we’re going to be able to tap into it more and double the capacity of British Columbia is to look at other regions like the B.C. Interior and what we’re doing here and supporting that.”

Many communities in the region are also experiencing record-breaking residential development. The construction boom includes diverse housing options, ranging from single family residential to major multi-family housing developments. Much of this activity is in response to demand generated in the Lower

Mainland, which the Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board reports as providing the largest inflow buyer group to this region. Among these buyers, couples with children is the largest demographic, followed by families without children and, finally, empty-nesters/retirees.

Residential development expansions also continue at winter and multi-season resorts including Revelstoke Mountain, Kicking Horse, Big White and Sun Peaks. In addition to the desirable quality of life the ThompsonOkanagan affords, some of this growth is thanks to the supportive business climate created in each community across the region. •

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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FORECAST 10-YEAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

91,200

BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$2.1 BILLION

HOUSING STARTS (2017)

5,425

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$21.3 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

3,603

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

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VERNON

Po

DIVERSITY. COMMUNITY. LIVABILITY

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the eco b Cit M

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elcome to Vernon and the sunny North Okanagan, where our casual lifestyle matched with spectacular outdoor recreation opportunities has led Vernon to become one of the most diversified communities in B.C. Serving a regional population of over 100,000, the community is surrounded by three lakes and is well known for its four distinct seasons that attract businesses and residents from across the globe.

As one of the fastest growing communities in B.C., Vernon is seeing strong employment growth in our professional services sector, the traditional resource sectors of forestry and agriculture, as well as the tourism, technology, manufacturing and service sectors.

Ongoing public investments ensure Vernon and the region is a desirable place to locate. Recent

D

Lo q Log ofo Brie a bu chth public investments include the acquisition of the Okanagan Rail Trail, a major hospital expansion, library, secondary school and a new ice arena. The City of Vernon has been investing in improved civic infrastructure, transit expansion, and trail connections to enhance livability.

Companies seeking to locate in Vernon have access to a highly skilled workforce. The University of B.C. Okanagan and Okanagan College campuses ensure

employers have access to the best and brightest to help their business grow.

Vernon offers excellent transportation linkages be it road, rail for industrial users or passenger air service. The Kelowna International Airport is located 25 minutes from downtown Vernon and moves more than two million passengers a year. The airport offers many direct flights to destinations such as Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Victoria.

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With a strong sense of community and beautiful Okanagan location, Vernon offers a great business climate and unmatched livability. We invite you to Activate Life in Vernon.

Ed L Me m the C on a Ins th

Contact: KEVIN POOLE Manager of Economic Development and Tourism CITY OF VERNON 250-550-3249 ecdev@vernon.ca www.investvernon.ca

Re yo b Pro anlif Th E up M loc

R

sc

A C TIVATE YOUR B USIN ES S V E RNON, BRITIS H COL UMBIA

ELLISON PRVINCIAL PARK/Robb Thompson

There’s a reason why Vernon is consistently voted as one of the Best Places to Work in BC. We’ve built a thriving business community with unmatched quality of life. Our story is one of bike trails, champagne powder, colour defying lakes and active lifestyles. Contact us today to find out how your company can join in the success.

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250.550.3249 | ecdev@vernon.ca | investvernon.ca

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:45 AM

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merritt MERRITT Population: 7,139

AT THE CROSSROADS OF elcome to Merritt, British Columbia and the beautiful BUSINESS AND RECREATION Nicola Valley. The City of Merritt’s Economic Development

W W

Department is here to provide quality information, increase elcome to Merritt, British the growing population. There are the growth and competitiveness of our value-added sectors, facilitate currently five elementary schools, Columbia, and the economic development, work to attract investment and promote the beautiful Nicola Valley. The City of one high school, one Community City of Merritt.

Learning Centre, and the Nicola Merritt’s Economic Development Department is here to provide

Valley Institute of Technology (NVIT)

LOCATION

cornerstone of our businessfriendly environment. The City

Location quality information, increase the situated in Merritt.

Located at the intersection ofofkey major transportation routes, the City growth and competitiveness ofour Merritt offers transportation and distribution to all points throughout value-added sectors, facilitate TAX EXEMPTION PROGRAM Progressive policies your economic development, work to British Columbia and beyond.

Relocating, buildingtaxation or establishing attract investment and promote to encourage growth, business in Merritt is a smart business decision and business a wise lifestyle the City of Merritt. expansion and attraction are the choice.

Education Located at the intersection of key of Merritt has a revitalization tax Merritt offers a variety of educational schools to meet the demand of major transportation routes, the exemption bylaw that offers up to the growing population. There are currently five elementary schools, City of Merritt offers transportation 100 percent tax exemption for up one school,toone Community Learning and the Nicola Valley andhigh distribution all points to fiveCentre, years, depending on project, Institute of Technology (NVIT) situatedlocation in Merritt. and bylaw criteria. throughout B.C. and beyond.

Relocating, building or establishing

Revitalization Exemption your business inTax Merritt is a smartProgram A LIFESTYLE CHOICE Merritt has an growth, urban lifestyle business decision and a wise to encourage Progressive taxation policies business expansion, lifestyle choice.are the cornerstone of our in abusiness country setting. and attraction friendlyThe environment. community supports The City of Merritt has a revitalization tax exemption bylawthe thatlongest offer EDUCATION established franchiseon in project, the B.C. up to 100% tax exemption for up to five years, depending Junior Hockey League. There Merritt offers a variety of educational location, and bylaw criteria. is a modern aquatic centre, a

schools to meet the demand of

A Lifestyle Choice Merritt has an urban lifestyle in a country setting. The community supports the longest established franchise in the B.C. Junior Hockey League. There is a modern aquatic centre, a skateboard park and children’s water park as well as sport fields, tennis courts, hockey and curling rink, and a nine-hole golf course. The Nicola and Coldwater Rivers run through the heart of the City of Merritt. There are also mountain bike, ATV and hiking trail networks surrounding Merritt.

Event Destination Merritt hosts a variety of unique events throughout the year. There is always something going on from the Bass Coast Festival and Rockin’ skateboard park and children’s Country River Music festivals to rodeos and stock carChristmas races. TheParade City of(one Merritt water as well sport of North America’sParade largest(one night capspark off the year as with thefields, Merritt Country Christmas tennis courts, hockeylargest and curling Christmas parades).

To learn more of North America’s night Christmas parade).

To learn more rink, and a nine-hole golf course. go to tourismmerritt.com/events. about events happening during your next visit to Merritt visit www.

The Nicola and Coldwater Rivers tourismmerritt.com/events.

run through the heart of the The City of Merritt is strategically City of Merritt. There are also located to support your business The City of Merritt is strategically located to support your business mountain bike, ATV and hiking and lifestyle opportunities. Contact andnetworks lifestyle surrounding opportunities.

Contact the theEconomic EconomicDevelopment Development trail Merritt.

Manager at the City of Merritt for further information.

Manager at the City of Merritt for EVENT DESTINATION information.

Contact: Merritt hosts a variety of unique events throughout the year. There Contact: WILL GEORGE Will George, isEconomic always something going on from Economic Development Manager Development and Tourism Manager, City of Merritt the Bass Coast Festival and Rockin’ CITY OF MERRITT Phone: (250) 378-8619 River Music festivals, to rodeos and Phone: 250-378-8619 Email: wgeorge@merritt.ca stock car races. The City of Merritt Email: wgeorge@merritt.ca Website: www.merritt.ca caps off the year with the Merritt Website: www.merritt.ca

All roAds leAd to Merritt, British Columbia

Downtown Merritt/Darren Robinson Photography

With easy access to the Thompson, Okanagan and Lower Mainland markets, Merritt offers affordable living, a high quality of life and easy access to large customer bases. Contact us today to learn more.

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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3/26/19 12:28 PM

2019-04-08 2:56 PM

SHUSWAP

HERE'S HOW YOU CAN LIVE BIG IN THE SHUSWAP

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BIG OPPORTUNITIES Cutting-edge companies are doing business all over the world from the Shuswap, representing all sectors of the economy.

Evidenced in the more than 80 high-tech firms in the City of Salmon Arm alone, and a further 60 in the surrounding Shuswap Region, the numbers show we have a successful and prosperous economy. But there’s also a genuine small-town welcome here! We invite innovative businesses to make their home in the Shuswap, and we are putting policies in place, like the City of Salmon Arm’s industrial and commercial taxation incentive programs, to ensure the region is positioned for long-term growth.

PHOTOS COURTESY VIKTORIA HAACK , STEVEN GIEN, AND KARI MEDIG

ocated in British Columbia’s Southern Interior, the Shuswap Region is home to numerous unique communities that comprise more than 45,000 residents. With a diverse economy including technology, agriculture, forestry, retail/business services, manufacturing, tourism, health and education, you’ll find opportunity, prosperity and an unmatched quality of life. In fact, many communities in the Region are experiencing strong growth, with the City of Salmon Arm currently seeing record-breaking population increases and construction expansion.

BIG RECREATION The Shuswap is the kind of place that works smart and plays as often as humanly possible. It’s a prime place to live, with opportunities to engage in arts, culture and recreation that enrich our Region

BIG ON HEALTH You can live better here, enjoying scenery that makes you happy to be alive every time you open the window. Good-for-the-soul weather. Diverse agriculture options also mean you can always eat locally grown food. You’ll define balance on your own terms.

on every level. We’re on the shores of Shuswap Lake, where you’ll find warm water, sandy beaches and incredible boating. The Region is also home to world-class golf, skiing, live music and theatre, farmers markets, wineries and endless trails.

BIG SAVINGS It’s one thing to find a great job; even better is matching employment opportunities with a place to live that doesn’t break the bank. The Shuswap offers a diverse range of housing options at price points far lower than major urban centres in Western Canada.

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BIG ACCESS The Shuswap is located at the crossroads of the Trans-Canada and Okanagan Highways, midway between Calgary and Vancouver.

People, products and services are easily moved into and out of the Region via direct highway access and nearby regional and international airports. The City of Salmon Arm also boasts some of the best telecommunications in the province, with fibre optics to-the-door.

BIG COMMITMENT Shuswap Economic Development and Salmon Arm Economic Development Society are here to help with all your business needs.

We look forward to welcoming you to the Shuswap Region!

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:44 AM

PHOTOS COURTESY VIKTORIA HAACK , STEVEN GIEN, AND KARI MEDIG

WE’RE GROWING BIG IDEAS

IN THE SHUSWAP!

Build a life where you can do more, live more and make more of a difference.

Revelstoke & Calgary

BIG OPPORTUNITIES. Find cutting edge companies and a genuine small town feel.

NORTH SHUSWAP SOUTH SHUSWAP

BIG RECREATION. Our spectacular backyard beckons year round!

BIG SAVINGS. Have your cake and eat it too - affordable housing and diverse job opportunities.

BIG ON HEALTH. Sustainable, healthy living choices with deliciously simple local fare.

BIG ACCESS. Planes, trains and automobiles - ideally situated on key transportation crossroads.

saeds.ca #SABigIdeas

p34-35_Shuswap_IIBCMay2019.indd 35

Kamloops & Vancouver

CHASE and AREA

SICAMOUS and AREA

SALMON ARM and AREA

FALKLAND and AREA

ENDERBY ARMSTRONG and SPALLUMCHEEN

Vernon & Kelowna

shuswapecdev.ca #ExploreShuswap

2019-04-08 10:44 AM

THOMPSON-OKANAGAN

K

LAKEFRONT: Over 8 million visitors came to Thompson Okanagan in 2018

WEST KELOWNA

CITY OF

WEST KELOWNA GROWTH CONTINUES STRONG INTO 2019 est Kelowna continues to experience consistent growth and investment into 2019 with new projects throughout the community.

“We’re seeing investment in all of our industries,” says John Perrott, Economic Development Officer for the City of West Kelowna. “From new multifamily projects, industrial strata development and retail revitalization, to a handful of new wineries and expansions, 2019 is set to continue the momentum of 2018.”

Downtown West Kelowna is undergoing its largest growth period since the City incorporated in 2007. “When we looked at the number of multi-family units either recently completed or are currently under construction, we calculated that we’ll add a little more than 1,000 new residential units to

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that neighbourhood alone,” says Perrott. Because of that influx of new residents, entrepreneurs are investing in a number of new restaurant and retail stores, which are slated to open throughout 2019.

West Kelowna’s tourism experiences will continue to diversify this summer with the opening of two new wineries, especially the Central Okanagan’s first lakefront winery, Frind Winery. Located along West Kelowna’s Wine Trail just below Mission Hill Estates Winery, Frind Winery will offer a variety of tasting experiences beginning in the late spring.

DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG

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Contact: JOHN PERROTT Economic Development Officer for the City of West Kelowna 778-797-2215 www.investwestkelowna.com.

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:46 AM

KOOTENAY Castlegar Cranbrook ▷ Creston ▷ Fernie ▷ Grand Forks ▷ Invermere

Kaslo Kimberley ▷ Nakusp ▷ Nelson ▷ New Denver ▷ Radium Hot Springs

Rossland Slocan ▷ Sparwood ▷ Trail

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L OF B.C. 3.1% SHARE POPULATION

Small-Town Diversification

DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG

Even without a big population base, the Kootenay is seeing a flowering of non-traditional industries

ying along B.C.’s eastern border, the Kootenay region is a diverse economy that includes mining, refining, forestry, tourism and the tech sectors. The Kootenays boast the province’s lowest unemployment rate of 3.1%. Economists for the Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C. noted in their Regional Check-Up 2018: “The number of jobs in the Kootenays increased by 6.7% in 2017, boosting annual employment to 71,900 – the highest level in four years.” At the same time, residential building permit dollar volumes increased 25.7 percent, to $243.9 million.

This is good news as the entire region is seeing increased development and investment, including the $750-million Wildstone Golf community in Cranbrook and the $900-million expansion of the Red Mountain Ski Resort in Rossland which includes luxury boutique hotel The Josie and the CONTINUED ON PAGE 39

KOOTENAY TIME Cranbrook is the largest city in the region, which has seen an injection of foreign capital

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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2019-04-08 10:46 AM

KOOTENAY

IMAGINE KOOTENAY

T

he Kootenay region is home to many communities, some high in the mountains, some alongside beautiful lakes or rivers, others on fertile agricultural land. All of them unique.

Located in the southeast corner of B.C., the Kootenays are still something of a hidden gem. With 11 ski resorts, nine natural hot springs, and 58 provincial parks, the region is a wilderness paradise.

It’s no wonder that a growing number of people are relocating to the area from urban centres like Vancouver and Calgary.

Resources are the backbone of the Kootenay economy, while the tourism and technology sectors are on the rise. There is a diverse job market and a culture of entrepreneurship.

If you want to know more about the people who live, work, and do business in the Kootenay region, visit imaginekootenay.com, which is full of information for

people considering a move to the Kootenays.

Alongside current work and business opportunities, the website shares the stories of people who have successfully relocated. Fiona Richards and her partner Doug Jones, both professional artists, left Calgary and now run the popular retail store called Cartolina

in downtown Nelson. Megan Adams moved from California to Invermere, where she runs The Mountain Hub co-working space.

Whether you’re looking for a job or a business opportunity, you can find it in the Kootenays. If you’ve ever dreamed of calling the Kootenays home, you’ll want to visit imaginekootenay.com.

KOOTENAY LIVING The Kootenay region is an amazing place to live and work.

Full of exciting recreational activities and diverse business and career opportunities.

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KICKING HORSE COFFEE; DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG

Visit imaginekootenay.com to find out more about working, living and doing business in the Kootenay region.

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:46 AM

KOOTENAY

FROM PAGE 37

KICKING HORSE COFFEE; DESTINATION BC/KARI MEDIG

Nowhere Special Hostel. If market conditions keep improving, Fairmont Hot Springs Resort intends to revive plans for a $1-billion golf course and residential expansion.

The region also boasts two regional hospitals in Cranbrook and Trail with investments of $72 million on tap going toward upgrades and expansions.

Diversified mining company Teck Resources Ltd. is far and away the leading private-sector employer and economic bellwether in the Kootenays, operating metallurgical coal mines around Sparwood in the East Kootenay and a smelter for lead and zinc processing in the West Kootenay city of Trail. The largest single capital project under development in the region is Teck’s $1.6-billion expansion of its Baldy Ridge open-pit mine, which is meant to supply 6.8 million tonnes of coal per year to Asian steel mills.

The forest industry has benefited from strong housing construction activity in the U.S., which has made it easier for producers to pass the cost of American softwood lumber tariffs on to consumers. At the same time, the Kootenays were less affected by the mountain pine beetle infestation than other parts of the Interior, given that lodgepole pine makes up only a small portion of the region’s tree species. As a result, reductions in the annual allowable cut have been modest.

whole company at $215 million. (The remaining 20-percent share was retained by co-founder and CEO Elana Rosenfeld.)

In barely two decades, Kicking Horse had become the largest organic and fair-trade coffee roaster in Canada; with the help of new ownership, it’s now looking at expanding farther south of the border and even into European markets.

Although such takeovers shift corporate control out of the region, the capital they provide can also help seed the entrepreneurial ecosystem locally. For example, after selling their Kelownabased cloud services firm, RackForce Networks Inc., in 2015, Bryan Fry and Tim Dufour teamed up with forest industry entrepreneur Brian Fehr of Prince George to create the Columbia NEW INDUSTRIES RISING Lake Technology Center (CLTC) in Canal Despite the absence of large cities – the Flats, in the East Kootenay. On the site of a biggest is Cranbrook, population 20,000 – the shuttered sawmill, more than 70 high-tech Kootenay region is seeing diversification and workers are now engaged in things like making the flowering of knowledge-based industries. parts for automated sawmills and building Foreign investors recognized that in 2017 with compact, prefabricated data centres that store acquisitions priced in the hundreds of millions of information for technologies such as artificial dollars. Italian beverage multinational Lavazza intelligence and virtual reality. The CLTC is in bought an 80-percent stake in Kicking Horse turn stimulating new residential and commercial Coffee of Invermere in a deal that valued the development in a community that until recently feared for its survival. “We see Canal Flats as a model for B.C. and, indeed, rural areas across the country,” chief executive Lorri Fehr told BCBusiness. “Because so many of our communities have been dependent on a single resource, and we want to switch that out.”

This is an optimistic, forward-looking area, enthuses Don Freschi, co-founder of Firebird Technologies and executive director of the Kootenay Association of Science and Technology: “Doing business in this area is quite easy, and I see nothing but HOT TICKET: Invermere's Kicking Horse Coffee (top right) is Canada's biggest organic great things for this area in and fair-trade coffee roaster; if market conditions keep improving, Fairmont Hot Springs the future.” • Resort (above) plans to revive a $1-billion golf course and residential expansion

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

p36-39_Kootenay_IIBCMay2019.indd 39

REGIONAL POPULATION

159,821 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

3.1%

TOP EMPLOYERS

BY INDUSTRY Retail trade

12.6%

Health care and social assistance

11.4% 9.2%

Construction

FORECAST 10-YEAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

24,100

BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$349 MILLION

HOUSING STARTS (2017)

61

(CRANBROOK ONLY)

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$9 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

529

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

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2019-04-08 10:46 AM

CRANBROOK

CRANBROOK MIXES BUSINESS AND PLEASURE

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ranbrook is the hub of the Kootenay region, with a diverse, vibrant and growing business community providing support and services to the community and the region at large. Cranbrook is a blue-collar town with many hard-working families supporting our business community, creating many business opportunities from manufacturing and food services, to shopping, education and training—which provides the solid foundation for this community to thrive. It is its people that make Cranbrook the true gem it is.

A true four-season playground, with arguably the best climate in North America, it is not hard to see why Cranbrook continues to flourish and grow, both at the

recreation and tourism level and at the business and development level. In fact, Cranbrook finds itself as an emerging recreation hub. With the early 2018 launch of Cranbrook Tourism, the community’s new destination marketing organization, it will not take long for many more people to discover Cranbrook and region and come to explore and stay. Cranbrook is also working hard to continue to promote the community as an excellent place to do business.

The cumulative success of many city-led initiatives and projects in the past several years is translating into growing business interests in the community. Businesses and developers alike are standing up and taking notice of Cranbrook.

Cranbrook continues to find new ways to be innovative and think outside the box when it comes to customer service delivery and finding ways to help developers and businesses achieve their goals.

Life here offers the balance and richness of life you’ve been looking for.

CITY OF CRANBROOK BUSINESS & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT 40 – 10th Avenue South Cranbrook, BC V1C 2M8 Phone: 250-426-4211 Toll Free: 1-800-728-2728 Email: info@cranbrook.ca www.cranbrook.ca

Life here offers the balance and richness of life you’ve been looking for.

Cranbrook redefines the essence of work, life, learning, and play.

We are an active, youthful community that is deeply connected to our extraordinary landscape and the adventures it provides.

Our economy is stable and home to a wide range of business in retail, health care, education, and trades. Our focus continues to be on local economic growth, creating innovative solutions around our infrastructure and improving our operations to enhance the quality of life for our residents and our businesses.

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Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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CASTLEGAR

AT THE CENTRE OF IT ALL IN CASTLEGAR

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ocated in the Kootenays within the Selkirk Mountain range is one of B.C.’s best-kept secrets: Castlegar. This city and its surrounding areas are seeing a massive renaissance. What’s driving this change? It’s affordable living, a strong job market, high levels of business confidence and a resource sector that is performing well.

2018 saw a record year for home building in Castlegar and district, which is partially a result of new families moving to the area for the affordable lifestyle and an abundance of outdoor activities. According to BCStats, an average family of four could save more than $48,000 a year by living in Castlegar compared to Vancouver. As with many places in B.C., Castlegar provides an excellent opportunity for

AM

new-home builders. BCStats also indicates that Castlegar will have the highest growth rate of all communities in the Kootenays in the next 20 years.

MASSIVE SUCCESS For the last three years the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development office have been measuring business confidence. This year two-thirds (66 percent) of businesses indicated that business conditions are good, or improving and are up 11 percent from 2017. This has resulted in many changes to the retail landscape. There are no retail spaces for lease in the uptown area—which is creating an opportunity for new developers.

The space in this area has been taken up by businesses such as Tailout Brewing—Castlegar’s

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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first micro-brewery—Edward Jones with operators from Nelson opening an additional location, among others. Additionally, downtown Castlegar has had numerous businesses move into the area over the last couple of years, including Revival Boutique (from Rossland), Trackside Bistro, the Humble Bean Coffee Company, Swish Clothing, Kootenay Escape Room, Lotus Massage, Fitbox, Medipro, APEX, and the newly renovated Recharge Fuel and Fitness. The downtown renaissance is not by accident though, the Chamber of Commerce and the Economic Development office have been running an annual Storefronts of Opportunity event that takes potential new business owners on a tour of spaces available for lease. Chamber Executive Director

Tammy Vergin-Burk says the “2017 tour was a massive success. We showed 28 downtown properties and within eight months, 20 of them were sold or leased.”

Our climate is described as Mediterranean or humid continental: snowy, yet with warm winters compared to other places, and hot, dry summers that allow residents to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle whether it’s climbing, fishing, mountain biking and boating in the summer, or skiing, snowshoeing and backcountry pursuits in winter.

Castlegar has it all, at the centre of it all.

CASTLEGAR & DISTRICT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Castlegar, BC Phone: +1 (250) 304-8231 www.caded.ca

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2019-04-08 10:46 AM

CARIBOO 100 Mile House Barkerville ▷ Mackenzie ▷ McBride ▷ Prince George ▷ Quesnel

Valemount Wells ▷ Williams Lake

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▷

OF B.C. 4% SHARE POPULATION

The Hub for Northern Expansion Prince George and the Cariboo are adapting to a changing economy in the North

CROSSROADS: Mr. P.G. (top right) greets travellers arriving in Prince George, B.C.'s northern capital; the Gibraltar coppermolybdenum mine (above) is the Cariboo's largest employer; the planned Valemount Glacier Destination Resort (right) will offer some of the world's longest continuous ski runs

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TOURISM PRINCE GEORGE; OBERTI ARCHITECTURE

T

he Cariboo was the site of the 1858 gold rush that brought large numbers of settlers to British Columbia for the first time.

Today the region is still the working heart of the province, its economy strongly influenced by the cycles of commodity prices and new infrastructure investment.

The largest city not just in the Cariboo region but in all of northern B.C., Prince George serves as a logistical and service hub for the entire North. As such, it is expected to benefit from the large capital investments slated to take place in neighbouring regions. Area companies and tradespeople have already seen some incremental activity from BC Hydro’s Site C hydroelectric dam in the northeast of the province. Still in the pre-construction phase are the Coastal GasLink natural gas line (part of which would cross the northern part of the Cariboo region from east to west), the LNG Canada gas liquefaction plant at its terminus in Kitimat and the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which would include a segment in the North Thompson River valley, in the eastern part of the region.

These private-sector projects have spurred new investments in public infrastructure too.

The provincial Ministry of Transportation and Highways is in the midst of a multi-year upgrade of Highway 97, the Cariboo’s major north-south artery. This “Cariboo Connector” will see the entire 460-kilometre stretch from Cache Creek to Prince George expanded to four lanes.

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:47 AM

REGIONAL POPULATION

165,671 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.9%

TOP EMPLOYERS

BY INDUSTRY Retail trade

14.2%

Health care and social assistance

12.8%

Professional, scientific and technical services

11.3%

FORECAST 10-YEAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

18,100

TOURISM PRINCE GEORGE; OBERTI ARCHITECTURE

There was a net gain of 2,300 jobs throughout the Cariboo in 2017, evidence of a moderate recovery from the 2014-16 commodity slump.

Last year saw demand for forest products grow, with the value of manufactured wood and paper from northern B.C. up 10.5 percent and 25 percent, respectively, in spite of headwinds including the Canada-U.S. softwood lumber dispute and reductions in the timber supply due to the mountain pine beetle infestation and bad forest fire seasons in recent years. Initiatives such as the City of Quesnel’s Forestry Think Tank are working to find ways to better manage the forests to be more resilient in the face of such ecological challenges and to develop new products and markets derived from the available wood fibre.

MINING REVIVAL The Cariboo is home to three operating mines.

The Gibraltar copper-molybdenum mine north of Williams Lake, with 625 workers, is the largest private-sector employer in the region. The Mount Milligan copper-gold mine northwest of Prince George, opened by Thompson Creek Metals Co. Inc. in 2013, was taken over by Canadian-based Centerra Gold Corp. last year.

Other mines could open if conditions prove favourable. East of Quesnel, Barkerville Gold Mines Ltd.’s Bonanza Ledge test mine could proceed to full operation following the release of a feasibility study expected in 2019. New Gold’s Blackwater project, west of Quesnel, is in final

permitting stages. And Spanish Mountain Gold is seeking a permit under the Environmental Assessment Act to build a $756-million open-pit gold and copper mine 70 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake.

The Cariboo also has several renewable energy projects in development, whether run-of-river hydroelectric, wind, biomass or geothermal. Kruger Energy Inc. is preparing designs for the 100-megawatt Isle Pierre Wind Farm west of Prince George. Holmes Hydro Inc. is in the consultation and approvals stage for its Robson Valley Hydroelectric Project, which would involve 10 run-of-river power plants near McBride collectively producing 76.5 megawatts.

In the same community, ecoTECH Energy Group Inc. is proposing to build a biomass electrical plant producing in excess of 31 megawatts.

Borealis GeoPower Inc. is investigating the feasibility of a 23-megawatt geothermal plant at Canoe Reach, south of Valemount.

Another eagerly awaited project is the $800-million Valemount Glacier Destination Resort, in the Rocky Mountains near Jasper National Park. This project promises liftaccessed glacier viewing for summer tourists as well as some of the longest continuous ski runs in the world. The proponents, Pheidias Project Management Corp. and Oberti Resort Design, have until March 2022 to open for business under the terms of a master development agreement with the provincial government. •

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

p42-43_Cariboo_IIBCMay2019.indd 43

BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$296 MILLION

HOUSING STARTS (2017)

386

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$10.3 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

545

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

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CARIBOO

TOURISM PRINCE GEORGE/MICHAEL STANYER

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UNEXPECTED: The new Cariboo Connector will improve access to attractions such as the Ancient Forest near Prince George

QUESNEL

JOIN THE MOMENTUM e’re claiming our spot as a destination, a hosting community and a place to grow your roots for the long haul.

Surrounded by nature, Quesnel is where a work-life balance comes naturally.

Quesnel’s economy is diverse and adaptable. Historically a forestry town, this industry continues to innovate and thrive with a sustained momentum in the agricultural sector. Tourism is also growing as we continue to leverage our exceptional locale and unparalleled opportunities for outdoor leisure.

Our community achievements in the last year include the revitalization of our main commercial street, hosting the Men’s and Women’s Provincial Curling Championships at our new 1,300-seat arena, park and playground upgrades, and working closely with Lhtako Dene on an Indigenous Cultural Centre concept, we’re looking at

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continuous transformations.

Our 2019 initiatives include new mountain bike trail development, a re-visioning of our downtown waterfront, and applying resources to support forestry sustainability.

The City of Quesnel has a series of programs to help businesses start and continuously improve here. Our Façade Improvement Grant is available to businesses to undertake restorations on commercial buildings and storefronts, while tax exemptions are available for improvements in industrial zones or construction on airport land, and additional incentives for construction.

Whatever your needs, we are here to help—so come to Quesnel and join the momentum.

CITY OF QUESNEL 410 Kinchant St, Quesnel BC V2J 7J5 T: 250-992-2111 www.quesnel.ca

Where do you want to be at the end of your workday?

LNG CANADA

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quesnel.ca I tourismquesnel.com Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:47 AM

NORTH COAST Hazelton Kitimat ▷ Masset ▷ New Hazelton ▷ Port Clements ▷ Port Edwards

Port Simpson Prince Rupert ▷ Queen Charlotte City ▷ Sandspit ▷ Skidegate

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elegraph T Creek ▷ Terrace

O

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OF B.C. 1.2% SHARE POPULATION

TOURISM PRINCE GEORGE/MICHAEL STANYER

Boom Times in the Northwest The LNG Canada project leads a list of positive developments

ne of B.C.’s smallest economic regions by population, the North Coast nonetheless finds itself home to the largest capital project in Canadian history over the next several years. On October 1, 2018, LNG Canada, a joint venture of global energy companies led

by Royal Dutch Shell PLC, announced it had made a final investment decision to proceed with a natural gas liquefaction plant and export terminal in the North Coast city of Kitimat. Together with the Coastal GasLink pipeline that will bring the fuel to the terminal and upstream investments in northeastern B.C. and Alberta, the project unleashes $40 billion in investment, most of it to be spent in British Columbia and much of that specifically on the North Coast.

With the combined LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink construction workforce expected to hit 10,000 at its peak, “anybody CONTINUED ON PAGE 47

LNG CANADA

MEGAPROJECT: LNG Canada’s $40-billion investment includes a liquefied natural gas plant and export terminal in Kitimat

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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2019-04-08 10:47 AM

DELIVERING ECONOMIC GROWTH By rail, by truck, and by vessel--the economic impact of the Port of Prince Rupert continues to grow, supporting families and businesses across British Columbia. As we continue to connect Canadian industries with overseas markets, the benefits of this trade will continue to strengthen our communities.

BILLION ANNUAL TRADE

1

BILLION ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

3100 JOBS

IN BC

IMPERIAL METALS CORP.

35

www.rupertport.com

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2019-04-08 10:47 AM

NORTHCOAST

tonnes in 2017, largely due to metallurgical coal mine restarts in northeast B.C. Phase 2 of the Fairview container terminal was completed the same year, raising its capacity to 1.35 million TEU (20-foot-equivalent units) from 800,000.

Meanwhile, AltaGas Ltd.’s $450-million propane export terminal on Ridley Island is due for completion this year, creating between 40 and 50 permanent jobs.

SHIP SHAPE: The Port of Prince Rupert (above) saw bulk shipments climb 30 percent in 2017; Imperial Metals Corp.’s Red Chris mine (below) enjoys access to cheap electricity

IMPERIAL METALS CORP.

FROM PAGE 45

who wants a job within 100 kilometres of the project, if they have the skill set, will be employed on that project,” B.C. Building Trades executive director Tom Sigurdson told Global News after the announcement. (The terminal will also create 900 permanent jobs during the first phase of operations beginning in 2023, LNG Canada says.)

All this will have a profound effect on a region that has seen big money-making ideas come and go while traditional jobs in the forests and fisheries have gradually grown fewer in number. An impact has already been felt in the real estate market.

Last November, Central 1 Credit Union projected that home resales would be up 21 percent for 2018 and rise a further five percent in each of 2019 and 2020. “Increased economic activity, rental demand and speculative interest is forecast to send sales and prices significantly higher,” deputy chief economist Bryan Yu wrote in the financial institution’s regional economic outlook.

Given that the local labour force can’t come close to filling all the needs of the project, it’s expected the majority of the crews will be drawn from outside the region and housed on or near the construction sites in temporary camps.

“The scale of that project suggests that its impacts will be felt throughout B.C. and could exacerbate the already tight labour market conditions in the province,” the Northern Development Initiative Trust noted in its 2019 State of the North report.

While LNG Canada ramps up, the recent refitting and production restart at Rio Tinto Alcan’s aluminum smelter in Kitimat and expansions in the Port of Prince Rupert have also contributed to a firming labour market. Bulk shipments through the port jumped 30 percent to hit a new high of 24.3 million

DON’T FORGET MINING The North Coast is also home to the Golden Triangle, an area rich in copper and precious metal deposits that is looking more attractive since the 2014 completion of the 344-kilometre Northwest Transmission line to Iskut from Terrace, which gives mine developers access to relatively cheap electric power from the BC Hydro grid for the first time. The first mine to take advantage was Imperial Metals Corp.’s Red Chris, opened in 2015, followed by Pretium Resources’ Brucejack Mine in 2017. The Triangle accounted for an estimated $164 million in exploration spending in 2018, a 65-percent increase over the previous year and close to half the provincial total.

The power line also created a market for independent power projects in the region such as the Forrest Kerr, McLymont Creek and Volcano Creek hydroelectric plants, majorityowned by AltaGas. Either in anticipation of new opportunities or just finding a way to make a living, workingage people on the North Coast have been busy upgrading their skills.

“The share of Northwest B.C.’s labour force between the ages of 25 and 54 with a postsecondary certificate/diploma or higher has grown considerably in the past five years, from 54.9 percent in 2012 to 65.8 percent in 2017,” the Chartered Professional Accountants of B.C. noted in the association’s Regional Check-Up for 2018. •

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

p44-47_Northcoast_IIBCMay2019.indd 47

REGIONAL POPULATION

58,077 UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

4.1%

(INCLUDES NECHAKO)

TOP EMPLOYERS

BY INDUSTRY Retail trade

12.4% 10.8% Construction 10.5% (INCLUDES NECHAKO) Manufacturing

FORECAST 10-YEAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

13,000

(INCLUDES NECHAKO)

BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$187.5 MILLION

HOUSING STARTS (2017)

38

(PRINCE RUPERT AND TERRACE ONLY)

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$202 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

122

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

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2019-04-08 10:47 AM

K t s fi t c

KITIMAT

A NATURAL OPPORTUNITY

K

itimat is a community situated export facility. This $40-billion on the North Coast of B.C. at project is the single largest private the head of the Douglas Channel. investment in Canada’s history.

We are entering a period of rapid LNG development will growth, which provides significantly increase great opportunity for Kitimat’s population in investment the coming years, LNG development and new and will provide an will significantly businesses to abundance of highincrease Kitimat’s establish and paying jobs. thrive in the Beyond LNG population in the community.

Canada, there are coming years Until recently, also several other Kitimat’s economy has major industrial projects been primarily driven by proposed for the community. the community’s largest employer, These conditions make Kitimat a and B.C.’s only aluminium smelter natural opportunity for business (Rio Tinto BC Works), which and investment. presently employs about 1,000 people in the area. However, Contact: JOSH MARSH Kitimat’s history and economy Business & Communications were forever changed in 2018 with Manager LNG Canada’s commitment to DISTRICT OF KITIMAT build our nation’s first LNG 250-632-8900

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K o h a w o

D

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:48 AM

opportunity is calling

Kitimat will soon have thousands of career opportunities sparked by the construction of Canada’s first LNG export facility. We also have thousands of reasons to make our community your new home.

Kitimat is a community of about 8,000 people located on the north coast of B.C. The community sits at the head of Douglas Channel next to Kitimat River. Indoor and outdoor recreation facilities and surrounding wilderness provide plenty of opportunity for an active, outdoor, coastal lifestyle.

District of Kitimat - www.kitimat.ca @KitimatDistrict

p48-49_Kitimat_IIBCMay2019.indd 49

District of Kitimat Kitimat Leisure Services

District of Kitimat

@DistrictOfKitimat

2019-04-08 10:48 AM

N

Terrace

there’s room to grow here

“A balanced, affordable housing market. Voted as a leading community for real estate investment recently by Western Investor.”

“A diverse and growing network of local businesses who provide services and supplies to the entire Northwest region.”

“An abundance of appropriately zoned industrial lands including the 2400 acre greenfield Skeena Industrial Development Park only 30 minutes from LNG Canada’s facility in Kitimat.”

City of Terrace • City Hall, 3215 Eby Street, Terrace, BC 250-615-4030 • terrace.ecdev.org

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2019-04-08 10:48 AM

NORTHEAST Chetwynd Dawson Creek ▷ Fort Nelson ▷ Fort St. John

Hudson's Hope Pouce Coupe ▷ Taylor ▷ Tumbler Ridge

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▷

▷

T OF B.C. 1.4% SHARE POPULATION

Unlocking the Potential With Site C under way and the prospect of LNG exports, the Northeastern economy is heating up fast

he Northeast, the only part of B.C. lying east of the Continental Divide, is, economically speaking, inescapably connected to energy. The region produces virtually all of B.C.’s natural gas output – second only to Alberta among the provinces – and could account for a great deal more were prices to support fuller development of the unconventional Montney, Horn River and Liard Basin gas deposits – the last believed to be one of the world’s largest shale gas discoveries. It’s also home to metallurgical coal mines that help fire steel mills in China, Japan and South Korea. Coal price increases in 2017 and 2018 led to the reopening of the Brule, Wolverine and Willow Creek mines in the area of Tumbler Ridge and Chetwynd, and there are more mines in development.

Much of the conversation of late, however, has surrounded a renewable energy project, BC Hydro’s Site C hydroelectric dam, now under construction. Due to come into service in 2024, Site C will be the first major dam

POWER PLAYER Home to the bulk of the province's natural gas output, the Northeast has plenty of reserves in store

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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NORTHEAST

REGIONAL POPULATION

71,425

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

5.5%

TOP EMPLOYERS

BY INDUSTRY Construction

16.3%

Heath care and social assistance

10.5% 10.4%

Retail trade ECONOMIC DRIVERS: Already supplying workers for the nearby Site C hydro dam project, Fort St. John will reap the rewards of new gas pipelines, too. Strong job prospects have prompted construction of The Station Town Centre, a $500-million retail complex

constructed in B.C. in 40 years and the third on the Peace River, located just seven kilometres southwest of Fort St. John. (The existing W.A.C. Bennett and Peace Canyon dams represent 29 percent of BC Hydro’s generating capacity.)

The project is budgeted at $10.7 billion and will generate 1,100 megawatts of electricity. As of November 2018, there were 3,463 workers engaged in the project, 660 of them from the surrounding Peace River Regional District.

The go-ahead on LNG Canada should have an even bigger impact on the Northeast, but on a longer timeline. First, the Coastal GasLink pipeline designed to bring natural gas from a collection facility at Dawson Creek 680 kilometres west to Kitimat is a $4.8-billion undertaking in its own right, adding to the Project RAM and Townsend Complex gas transmission projects already under way in Peace Country.

Second, and more important over the long term, the demand from LNG Canada should stimulate exploration and production of natural gas in the Northeast on a scale hitherto unseen.

Right now, B.C. gas is disadvantaged in the U.S. because it travels the greatest distance to market and so is subject to higher pipeline tolls than competing sources of supply. In serving Asian markets via LNG Canada, though, it will be in the opposite position, lying closest to market of all North American producing regions.

“Once operational, the LNG Canada facility will open new markets for northern B.C.’s natural gas reserves and reduce Canada’s reliance on the U.S. market,” the Northern Development Initiative Trust’s 2019 State of the North report

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noted. “The LNG Canada facility is expected to export an estimated 14 million tonnes of liquid natural gas per year, with the potential to expand should demand require it.

“Together these two projects [LNG Canada and Coastal GasLink] will allow B.C. gas producers to reduce their reliance on the U.S. market. This may also lead to increased exploration and drilling activity in the Northeast region and could provide more stability in oil and gas employment in the region,” the report concluded.

SERVICING THE BOOM With this prospect of long-term job creation and resulting population growth, developer G8 Properties Inc. has started construction on The Station Town Centre, an 89-hectare, $500-million retail complex featuring big-box stores on the Alaska Highway in Fort St. John.

Also planned are a hotel, truck centre and residential components.

Next to the energy investments, one could miss the fact that the Northeast has a steady agricultural base including more than 1,000 family farms, mostly engaged in growing grain and oilseeds. The forest industry is also active in the area, though the annual allowable cut is expected to decline with the removal of critical habitat of the endangered mountain caribou from the working forest.

Meanwhile, metals miner Centerra Gold Inc. is continuing to move toward the development of a new, $543-million underground mine near the Kemess Mine in the northern Rocky Mountains, which was retired in 2011. No firm decision has been made to proceed. •

FORECAST 10-YEAR EMPLOYMENT GROWTH

14,400

BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$87 MILLION

HOUSING STARTS (2017)

127

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$37.3 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

444

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:48 AM

DIVERSE INDUSTRY: The forest sector counterbalances energy in Peace Country

DAWSON CREEK

DIVERSIFYING

DAWSON CREEK

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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DIVERSIFYING DAWSON CREEK

D

awson Creek is more than just Mile ‘0’ on the Alaska Highway. Recently the City of Dawson Creek adopted a Sports and Event Tourism Plan to further diversify tourism in the City. This is the beginning of a dynamic platform that will be an important contributor to the City’s economy.

• In June of 2018, Dawson Creek signed a five-year hosting agreement with Hockey Canada where the partnership will identify diversity in events with approximately one event being hosted at the Encana Events Centre every 18-24 months.

Dawson Creek will look to continue its historic success as the host of the World Junior A Hockey Challenge in December 2019. This showcase of Canadian and International Junior A talent gives the fans an opportunity to watch the best Junior A hockey players in the world and the City of Dawson Creek an opportunity

to market the Encana Events Centre as an excellent sporting venue.

• The Mile Zero Cruisers are looking to host their 25th Annual Summer Cruise July 12-14, 2019 in downtown Dawson Creek.

This event brings more than 2,000 attendees to the City of Dawson Creek to take in the largest Show and Shine in the north showcasing more than 400 collector vehicles.

• Dawson Creek is also home of the “Greatest Show in the Peace,” the Dawson Creek Exhibition & Stampede held annually in August. More than 14,000 visitors come to take in five full days of events such as the Canadian Pro Tour Rodeo, World Professional Chuckwagon Racing, Agriculture Fair, Midway and much more.

Dawson Creek is more!

CITY OF DAWSON CREEK Dawsoncreek.ca

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FORT ST. JOHN

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THE BEST OF EVERYTHING

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with over 20,000 wells drilled. With that sort of economic activity, Fort St. John, the economic hub of the region, is rich with employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Our standard of living is among the best in Canada, with the highest average household income in B.C. and fifth highest across Canada.

To explore current opportunities visit fortstjohn.ca/economicdevelopment or email economicdevelopment @fortstjohn.ca DESTINATION BC/ANDREW STRAIN; DESTINATION BC/GRANT HARDER

ort St. John, with 20,155 residents, is British Columbia’s best-kept secret. We think we have the best of everything—recreation at our doorstep, affordable living, and big-city amenities, all in a small, friendly town.

Here, you can spend less time commuting and less money on housing, and more time on recreation and really living it up.

As the hub of the Peace River Region, Fort St. John is easy to get to by road or air with numerous daily flights to Vancouver or Calgary, meaning getaways to big cities both near and far are easy.

The North Peace area produces 90 percent of B.C.’s grain, 38 percent of its hydroelectric power, employs nearly 2,500 forestry workers and plays host to over 300,000 tourists each year.

The region also has some of the largest gas fields in North America

Invest in Fort St. John

Daily flights to major hubs

Highest household income in BC

Our diverse economy contributes 9% to BC’s GDP. Contact us. We’re ready to work with you!

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304 sunny days per year

3 local golf courses

Low average house prices

($367,000 in 2018)

fortstjohn.ca

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:49 AM

NECHAKO Atlin Burns Lake ▷ Cassiar ▷ Dease Lake ▷ Fort St. James ▷ Fraser lake

Granisle Houston ▷ Smithers ▷ Telkwa ▷ Vanderhoof

▷

▷

▷

▷

OF B.C. 0.8% SHARE POPULATION

Pleased to Meet You DESTINATION BC/ANDREW STRAIN; DESTINATION BC/GRANT HARDER

Energy investments provide a welcome shot in the arm for the northern Interior

W

ith the smallest population base of all B.C.’s development regions – the largest city is Smithers, population 5,400 – the Nechako region can see its economic fortunes materially affected by a single mill shutdown or highway construction project or, as is the case for the foreseeable future, developments in neighbouring regions. Specifically, there will be spillover in the northern Interior from the massive LNG Canada project in Kitimat, to the west, and its associated Coast GasLink pipeline, which will end up traversing Nechako from east to west.

The twin projects are expected to absorb any slack in northern B.C.’s labour market, certainly among people with construction trades, project management and engineering skills. Liquefied natural gas development is also expected to

TAKE IT OUTSIDE: The sparsely populated Nechako is home to natural attractions such as Fish Creek (top right). Rail (above) remains a vital transportation link for the region, which stands to benefit from LNG development

influence housing sales and prices: “Nechakoarea price gains are forecast to rise four percent in 2019 and two percent in 2020, as Kitimat-area growth reverberates to neighbouring regions,” Central 1 Credit Union deputy chief economist Bryan Yu wrote in a November 2018 outlook for the region.

TRIAL BY FIRE The boost provided by LNG comes at a fortuitous time, given the challenges faced by the Nechako region’s traditional economic drivers, forest products and mineral exploration. Though the market for lumber has been strong in recent years due to the recovery in American housing construction since the subprime mortgage crisis of 2007-10, the northern Interior faces both U.S. softwood lumber tariffs and cutbacks in the timber supply in the wake of the mountain pine beetle infestation of the past three decades, particularly in the Lakes Timber Supply Area surrounding Burns Lake.

Further, “wildfire activity over the past two summers has eaten into a good chunk of the available timber in the region and exacerbated an already challenging timber supply picture due to the aftermath of the mountain pine beetle epidemic and the current challenges with spruce and fir beetles,” wrote Joel McKay, CEO of the Northern Development Initiative Trust, in the foreword to the agency’s 2019 State of the North report. “Looking forward, reduced timber supply will place continued downward pressure on this sector and force some forest companies to rationalize their operations, which could mean shutdowns, further job loss and community impacts in the coming years.” •

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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REGIONAL POPULATION

40,776 BUILDING PERMIT VALUES (2018)

$34.5 MILLION

VALUE OF MAJOR PROJECTS PLANNED OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION

$7 BILLION

BUSINESS INCORPORATIONS (2017)

151

SOURCES: B.C. LABOUR MARKET OUTLOOK , BC STATS

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Members ASSOCIATIONS/TRUSTS Derek Baker, Director of Economic Development Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: derek@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Katherine Benny, Communications Officer (Love Northern BC) Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: katherine@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Rachel Connell, Vice President, Membership & Events North American Strategy for Competitiveness (NASCO) 4347 W Northwest Hwy, Suite 130-250, Dallas, TX 75220 p: (214) 744-1006 e: rachel@nasconetwork.com Michael Cowden, Community Outreach Manager International Council of Shopping Centers 555 12th St NW, Suite 660, Washington, DC 20004 p: (202) 626-1408 e: mcowden@icsc.org Laurel Douglas, CEO Women’s Enterprise Centre 201-1726 Dolphin Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 9R9 p: (250) 868-3454 e: danielle@womensenterprise.ca Anna Duff, Communcations Officer Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2526 e: anna@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Tess Elo, Senior Financial Analyst Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: tess@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Jeff Finkle, President & CEO International Economic Development Council 734 15th St NW, Suite 900, Washington, DC 20005 p: (202) 223-7800 e: jfinkle@iedconline.org Dave Frank, Executive Director BC Aviation Council 306–8300 Bennett Rd, Richmond, BC V6Y 1N5 p: (604) 278-9330 e: info@bcaviationcouncil.org Christine Gagne, Corporate Services Coordinator Northern Development Initiative Trust 302–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2527 e: christine@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Penny Gardiner, Executive Director Economic Developers Association of Canada 1100 South Service Rd, Suite 205, Stoney Creek, ON L8E 0C5 p: (289) 649-1771 e: gardiner@edac.ca Brenda Gendron, Chief Financial Officer Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: brenda@northerndevelopment.bc.ca

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Mina Haghighi, Business Development Manager Futurpreneur Canada 425 Carrall St, Suite 580, Vancouver, BC V6B 6E3 p: (604) 598-2923 e: mhaghighi@futurpreneur.ca Jordan Hammond, Funding Programs Coordinator Northern Development Initiative Trust 302–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2527 e: jordan@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Cheryl Johnson, Executive Director Community Futures British Columbia C230–7871 Stave Lake St, Mission, BC V2V 0C5 p: (604) 289-4222 e: cjohnson@communityfutures.ca Lisa Kilpatrick, Senior Manager, Economic Columbia Basin Trust Suite 300–445 13th Ave, Castlegar, BC V1N 1G1 p: (250) 304-1636 e: lkilpatrick@cbt.org Renata King, Director, Business Development Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: renata@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Heather Lalonde, Chief Executive Officer Economic Developers Council of Ontario Inc. 6506 Marlene Ave, Cornwall, ON K6H 7H9 p: (613) 931-9827 e: edco@edco.on.ca Felicia Magee, Business Development Coordinator Northern Development Initiative Trust 302–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2527 e: felicia@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Joel McKay, CEO Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: joel@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Kelly McTaggart, Advisor, Community Engagement CAPP 2100, 350-7th Ave SW, Calgary, AB T2P 3N9 p: (403) 267-1116 e: Kelly.McTaggart@capp.ca Chris Montgomery, Community Engagement Advisor CAPP 2100, 350-7 Ave SW, Calgary, BC T2P 3N9 p: (403) 267-1100 e: chris.montgomery@capp.ca Taylor Morris, Finance Coordinator Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: taylor@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Lori Moseley, Executive Coordinator Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: lori@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Joanne Norris, Project Manager, BC Futurpreneur Canada 425 Carrall St, Suite 580, Vancouver, BC V6B 6E3 p: (604) 598-2923 e: jnorris@futurpreneur.ca

Helen Patterson, Chief Financial Officer Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust 201-384 Bernard Ave, Kelowna, BC V1Y 6M5 p: (236) 420-3680 e: hpatterson@sidit-bc.ca Holly Plato, Director, Marketing & Communications Northern Development Initiative Trust 301–1268 Fifth Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3L2 p: (250) 561-2525 e: holly.p@northerndevelopment.bc.ca Denice Regnier, Project & Corporate Administrator Island Coastal Economic Trust 108–501 4th St, Courtenay, BC V9N 1H3 p: (250) 871-7797 e: denice.regnier@islandcoastaltrust.ca Line Robert, Chief Executive Officer Island Coastal Economic Trust 108–501 4th St, Courtenay, BC V9N 1H3 p: (250) 871-7797 e: line.robert@islandcoastaltrust.ca Catherine Simmons, Committee and Board Liaison Community Futures British Columbia C230–7871 Stave Lake St, Mission, BC V2V 0C5 p: (604) 289-4222 e: csimmons@communityfutures.ca Cynthia Stewart, Vice President, Community Development International Council of Shopping Centers 555 12th St NW, Suite 660, Washington, DC 20004 p: (864) 968-9324 e: cstewart@icsc.org Verona Thibault, Executive Director Saskatchewan Economic Development Association Box 113, Saskatoon, SK S7K 3K1 p: (306) 384-5817 e: seda@seda.sk.ca Hal Timar, Executive Director Nunavut Economic Developers Association PO Box 1990, Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 p: (867) 979-4620 e: exdir@nunavuteda.com Vanessa Tveitane, EDP Project Coordinator Community Futures British Columbia C230–7871 Stave Lake St, Mission, BC V2V 0C5 p: (604) 289-4222 e: vtveitane@communityfutures.ca Ashleigh Volcz, Director of Member Initiatives BC Economic Development Association 5428 HighRd Cres, Chilliwack, BC V2R 3Y1 p: (604) 795-7119 e: ashleigh@bceda.ca Dale Wheeldon, President & Chief Executive Officer BC Economic Development Association 5428 HighRd Cres, Chilliwack, BC V2R 3Y1 p: (604) 795-7119 e: dwheeldon@bceda.ca

BULKLEY-NECHAKO Valerie Anderson, Economic Development Manager Village of Burns Lake Box 570, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-7587 e: vanderson@burnslake.ca Brenda Andersson, Financial Officer Village of Granisle PO Box 128, Granisle, BC V0J 1W0 p: (250) 697-2248 e: bandersson@villageofgranisle.ca

Taylor Bachrach, Mayor Town of Smithers 1027 Aldous St, Box 879, Smithers, BC V0J 2N0 p: (250) 847-1600 e: mayor@smithers.ca Maureen Czirfusz, Executive Director/ Economic Development Officer Houston & District Chamber of Commerce PO Box 396; 3289 Hwy 16, Houston, BC V0J 1Z0 p: (250) 845-7640 e: manager@houstonchamber.ca Nellie Davis, Regional Economic Development Coordinator Regional District of Bulkley Nechako 37 3rd Ave; PO Box 820, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-3195 e: nellie.davis@rdbn.bc.ca Jordanna Evans, Economic Development Assistant Regional District of Bulkley Nechako 37 3rd Ave; PO Box 820, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-3195 e: jordanna.evans@rdbn.bc.ca Mark Fisher, Director, Electoral Area A (Smithers Rural) Regional District of Bulkley Nechako 37 3rd Ave; PO Box 820, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-3195 e: mark.fisher@rdbn.bc.ca Sarah Fitzmaurice, Economic Development Officer Community Futures Nadina PO Box 236, Houston, BC V0J 1Z0 p: (250) 845-2522 e: sfitzmaurice@cfnadina.ca Dolores Funk, Mayor Village of Burns Lake PO Box 570, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-7587 e: mayor@burnslake.ca Heather Gallagher, Manager Smithers District Chamber of Commerce PO Box 2379, Smithers, BC V0J 2N0 p: (250) 847-5072 e: heather@smitherschamber.com John Illes, Chief Financial Officer Regional District of Bulkley Nechako 37 3rd Ave; PO Box 820, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-3195 e: john.illes@rdbn.bc.ca Shari Janzen, Economic Development Assistant Regional District of Bulkley Nechako 37 3rd Ave; PO Box 820, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-3195 e: shari.janzen@rdbn.bc.ca Debbie Joujan, CAO Village of Telkwa 1415 Hankin Ave, Telkwa, BC V0J 2X0 p: (250) 846-5212 e: debbiejoujan@telkwa.ca Clint Lambert, Director, Electoral Area D (Francois/Ootsa Rural) Regional District of Bulkley Nechako 37 3rd Ave; PO Box 820, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-3195 e: clint.lambert@rdbn.bc.ca Brad Layton, Mayor Village of Telkwa 1415 Hankin Ave, Box 220, Telkwa, BC V0J 2X0 p: (250) 846-5212 e: mayor@telkwa.ca

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Jean Marr, Chair Community Futures Nadina PO Box 236, Houston, BC V0J 1Z0 p: (250) 845-2522 e: jean.marr@investorsgroup.com Kim Martinsen, General Manager Community Futures Nadina PO Box 236, Houston, BC V0J 1Z0 p: (250) 845-2522 e: kmartinsen@cfnadina.ca Bev Playfair, Mayor District of Fort St. James PO Box 640, Fort St. James, BC V0J 1P0 p: (250) 996-8233 e: mayor@fortstjames.ca Edward Quinlan, Business Analyst Community Futures Nadina PO Box 236, Houston, BC V0J 1Z0 p: (250) 845-2522 e: equinlan@cfnadina.ca Michael Riis-Christianson, Director, Electoral Area B (Burns Lake Rural) Regional District of Bulkley Nechako 37 3rd Ave; PO Box 820, Burns Lake, BC V0J 1E0 p: (250) 692-3195 e: michael.riischristianson@rdbn.bc.ca Sharon Smith, CAO Village of Granisle PO Box 128, Granisle, BC V0J 1W0 p: (250) 697-2248 e: ssmith@villageofgranisle.ca Gerry Thiessen, Mayor District of Vanderhoof PO Box 900, Vanderhoof, BC V0J 3A0 p: (250) 567-4711 e: gerry.thiessen@rdbn.bc.ca Kim Watt-Senner, Councillor Village of Fraser Lake PO Box 430, 210 Carrier Cres, Fraser Lake, BC V0J 1S0 p: (250) 699-6257 e: kwatt-senner@fraserlake.ca Economic Development Officer District of Fort St. James PO Box 640, Fort St. James, BC V0J 1P0 p: (250) 996-8233 e: edo@fortstjames.ca

CARIBOO Melissa Barcellos, Manager, Economic Development City of Prince George 1100 Patricia Blvd, Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 p: (250) 561-7583 e: melissa.barcellos@princegeorge.ca Darron Campbell, Manager of Community Services Cariboo Regional District 180 3rd Ave, Williams Lake, BC V2G 2A4 p: (250) 392-3351 e: dcampbell@cariboord.ca Joanne Doddridge, Manager of Economic Development & Planning District of 100 Mile House PO Box 340, 385 Birch Ave, 100 Mile House, BC V0K 2E0 p: (250) 395-2434 e: jdoddridge@100milehouse.com Christina Doll, Workforce Development Officer City of Prince George 1100 Patricia Blvd, Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 p: (250) 561-7633 e: christina.doll@princegeorge.ca Karen Dube, Community Economic Development Coordinator Village of McBride Box 519, McBride, BC V0J 2E0 p: (250) 569-2229 e: karen@mcbride.ca

Daniela Dyck, Community Development Coordinator Village of Clinton 1423 Cariboo Hwy, Clinton, BC V0K 1K0 p: (250) 459-2261 e: cdc@village.clinton.bc.ca Karen Eden, General Manager Community Futures Cariboo Chilcotin 266 Oliver St, Williams Lake, BC V2G 1M1 p: (250) 392-3626 e: karen@cfdccariboo.com Lyn Hall, Mayor City of Prince George 1100 Patricia Blvd, Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 p: (250) 561-7600 e: mayor@princegeorge.ca Keenan Hopson, Economic Development Officer City of Prince George 1100 Patricia Blvd, Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 p: (250) 561-7582 e: keenan.hopson@princegeorge.ca Joanna Johnston, Business Development Officer City of Prince George 1100 Patricia Blvd, Prince George, BC V2L 3V9 p: (250) 561-7633 e: joanna.johnston@princegeorge.ca Emily Kaehn, Executive Assistant/Legislative Clerk District of Mackenzie Bag 340, Mackenzie, BC V0J 2C0 p: (250) 997-3221 e: ekaehn@district.mackenzie.bc.ca Amy Reid, Economic Development Officer City of Quesnel 410 Kinchant St, Quesnel, BC V2J 7J5 p: (250) 992-2111 e: areid@quesnel.ca Miriam Schilling, Regional Economic/ Community Development Coordinator Cariboo Regional District 180 3rd Ave, Williams Lake, BC V2G 2A4 p: (250) 392-3351 e: mschilling@cariboord.ca Diane Smith, Director of Corporate Services District of Mackenzie Bag 340, Mackenzie, BC V0J 2C0 p: (250) 997-3221 e: diane@district.mackenzie.bc.ca Susan Stearns, General Manager Community Futures Fraser Ft. George 1566 7th Ave, Prince George, BC V2L 3P4 p: (250) 562-9622 e: susans@cfdc.bc.ca Beth Veenkamp, EDO City of Williams Lake 450 Mart St, Williams Lake, BC V2G 1N3 p: (250) 392-3211 e: bveenkamp@williamslake.ca

CORPORATE Stewart Anderson, Manager, Community Investment Vancity Vancouver, BC David Bennett, Director, External Relations FortisBC 16705 Fraser Hwy, Surrey, BC V4N 0E8 p: (604) 592-7850 e: davida.bennett@fortisbc.com Kevin Boothroyd, Director, Sales & Marketing Pacific Coastal Airlines 209-4440 Cowley Cresent, Richmond, BC V7B 1B8 p: (604) 214-2388 e: kevin.boothroyd@pacificcoastal.com Keith Britz, Partner Meyers Norris Penny LLP 45780 Yale Rd, Suite 1, Chilliwack, BC V2P 2N4 p: (604) 792-1915 e: keith.britz@mnp.ca

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Colin Doylend, Director Question Everything Holdings Inc. 31–45462 Tamihi Way, Chilliwack, BC V2R 0Y2 p: (587) 803-0789 e: colin@questioneverything.com Tim Fry, President 468 Communications p: (206) 660-4321 e: tim@468communications.com Allison Gavin, Global Account Executive ConferenceDirect 9396 203 St, Langley, BC V1M 3Y8 p: (604) 614-5788 e: allison.gavin@conferencedirect.com Tom Gierasimczuk, Vice President, Business Development Resonance Consultancy 801-602 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1P2 p: (604) 649-8664 e: tomg@resonanceco.com Victor Godin, CEO StartingOver BC Inc. 6065-4000 No 3 Rd, Richmond, BC V6X 0J8 p: (604) 264-4474 e: startbc@shaw.ca Marlyn Graziano, Executive Director, External Affairs Kwantlen Polytechnic University 12666–72nd Ave, Surrey, BC V3W 2M8 p: (604) 599-2913 e: marlyn.graziano@kpu.ca Brianne Harper, Director of Sales, BCBusiness Canada Wide Media Limited 230, 4321 Still Creek Dr, Burnaby, BC V5C 6S7 p: (604) 473-0366 e: bharper@canadawide.com Chris Heminsley, Senior Manager, Business & Economic Development BC Hydro 333 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5R3 p: (604) 803-3900 e: chris.heminsley@bchydro.com Ryley Iverson, Co-Founder Townfolio 229–116 Research Dr, Saskatoon, SK S7N 3R3 p: (306) 400-9107 e: ryley@townfolio.co Audra Krueger, Executive Director Co-operatives First 213–310 Wall St, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1N7 p: (306) 382-4410 e: info@cooperativesfirst.com Kim Lonsdale, CEO Lonsdale Business Development Ltd 1040 Koen Rd, V9K 1V4 p: (250) 893-2276 e: kim.lonsdale@mail.com Patrick Marshall, Business and Economic Developer Capital EDC Economic Development Company 45 Gorge Rd East, Victoria, BC V9A 1L1 p: (250) 595-8676 e: patrick.marshall@capitaledc.com Aasa Marshall, Community Engagement Coordinator Co-operatives First 213–310 Wall St, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1N7 p: (306) 382-4410 e: aasa@cooperativesfirst.com Matt Mason, Community & Indigenous Relations Manager FortisBC p: (250) 717-0815 e: matt.mason@fortisbc.com Dina Matterson, Business Development Manager BC Hydro 333 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5R3 p: (604) 699-9463 e: dina.matterson@bchydro.com

Michael McGee, EDO In Transition/Retired Aced Management Inc. PO Box 767, Gold River, BC V0P 1G0 p: (250) 283-2424 e: m4c5g6ee@mikemcgee.com Geoff Millar, Principal Millar & Associates p: (250) 709-1677 e: geoffgmillar@gmail.com Matt Morrison, CEO PNWER 460-2200 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98121 p: (206) 443-7723 e: matt.morrison@pnwer.org Tera Nelson, Relationship Manager, Business & Economic Development BC Hydro 333 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5R3 p: (604) 623-3702 e: tera.nelson@bchydro.com Colin O’Leary, Principal O’Leary & Associates Ltd. 4415 Mt Lolo Rd, Kamloops, BC V2H 6C2 p: (250) 299-3631 e: colin@olearyandassociates.ca Dave Parsell, CEO Localintel 501, 237 8 Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 5C3 p: (206) 356-6504 e: dave@localintel.co Trudy Parsons, Executive Vice-President MDB Insight 909 17th Ave SW, 4th Floor, Calgary, AB T2T 0A4 p: (855) 367-3535x 237 e: tparsons@mdbinsight.com Trista Pewapisconias, Business Development Lead Co-operatives First 213–310 Wall St, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1N7 p: (306) 382-4410 e: trista@cooperativesfirst.com Anita Rogers, Administration Legacy Pacific Land Corporation 428, 44550 South Sumas Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2R 5M3 p: (604) 824-8733 e: anita@legacypacific.com Samantha Singbiel, Government Relations and Public Affairs Manager FortisBC 16705 Fraser Hwy, Surrey, BC V4N 0E8 p: (604) 592-8264 e: samantha.collins@fortisbc.com Alissa Sklar, Vice President of Marketing GIS Planning One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 760, San Francisco, CA 94102 p: (514) 560-8559 e: asklar@gisplanning.com Diana Sorace, Corporate Communications Advisor FortisBC 16705 Fraser Hwy, Surrey, BC V4N 0E8 p: (604) 576-7159 e: diana.sorace@fortisbc.com Chris Steele, Consultant Conway Inc 1005 Boylston St 243, Newton Highlands, MA 2461 p: (617) 314-6527 e: chris@conway.com Wendy Trusler, Regional Manager, Partnerships bdc Vancouver, BC Anatalio Ubalde, CEO & Co-Founder GIS Planning One Hallidie Plaza, Ste 760, San Francisco, CA 94102 p: (415) 294-4771 e: ubalde@gisplanning.com

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Jamie Vann Struth, Principal Vann Struth Consulting Group 2395 Lakewood Dr, Vancouver, BC V5N 4T8 p: (604) 762-6901 e: jamie@vannstruth.com Laith Wardi, President ExecutivePulse 11 East Fourth St, Erie, PA 16507 p: (866) 397-8573 e: lwardi@e-pulse.net Shawn Warneboldt, Manager, Business Development Pacific Coastal Airlines 209-4440 Cowley Cres, Richmond, BC V7B 1B8 p: (604) 214-6838 e: shawn.warneboldt@pacificcoastal.com Belén Welch, Senior Advisor - Newcomer Entrepreneur Success Team bdc Vancouver, BC p: (604) 666-7858 e: Belen.WELCH@bdc.ca Kyle White, Education and Engagement Lead Co-operatives First 213–310 Wall St, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1N7 p: (306) 382-4410 e: kyle@cooperativesfirst.com Savannah Zachary, Community Engagement Coordinator Co-operatives First 213–310 Wall St, Saskatoon, SK S7K 1N7 p: (306) 382-4410 e: savannah@cooperativesfirst.com Emma Zhou, Project Director Wailain Group (Vancouver) 1916W Broadway, Unit 200, West Vancouver, BC V6J 1Z2 p: (778) 885-8693 e: emma.zhou@wailianvisa.com

GOVT/INDUSTRY Glenda Ainsworth, Public Affairs Advisor U.S. Consulate General Vancouver 1095 West Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6E 2M6 p: (604) 642-6656 e: AinsworthG@state.gov Felipe Alfaro, Political/Economic Section U.S. Consulate General Vancouver 1095 West Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6E 2M6 p: (778) 323-3415 e: AlfaroPF@state.gov David Baleshta, Portfolio Manager; Investment Capital Branch Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology Ste 730-999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1 p: (250) 574-6851 e: david.baleshta@gov.bc.ca Chris Bechard, Senior Economic Advisor Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 953-4258 e: chris.bechard@gov.bc.ca Gordon Black, Community Transition Analyst Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 952-0319 e: gordon.black@gov.bc.ca Kimberley Branch, Program Manager, Entrepreneur Immigration Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology 450–605 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5J3 p: (604) 660-0632 e: Kimberley.Branch@gov.bc.ca Sarah-Patricia Breen, Senior Policy Analyst Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9352 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9M1 p: (778) 974-3263 e: Sarah.Breen@gov.bc.ca

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Gerri Brightwell, Regional Manager, Kootenay Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 342-4207 e: gerri.brightwell@gov.bc.ca Myles Bruns, Regional Manager, ThompsonCentral Okanagan Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development Suite 510, 175 Second Ave, Kamloops, BC V2C 5W1 p: (250) 371-3931 e: myles.bruns@gov.bc.ca Michael Burridge, Senior Business Officer Western Economic Diversification Canada 8th floor – 1166 West Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6E 2R9 p: (604) 404-3983 e: michael.burridge@canada.ca Tracy Campbell, Assistant Deputy Minister; International Trade Division Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology p: (778) 698-7606 e: Tracy.Campbell@gov.bc.ca Darlene Clark, Program/Policy Analyst Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9852 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9T5 p: (250) 828-4111 e: Darlene.Clark@Gov.bc.ca David Collier, Executive Director, Technology & Innovation Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology Ste 730-999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1 p: (604) 660-1714 e: david.collier@gov.bc.ca Emily Colombo, Regional Manager, Cariboo Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 992-4442 e: emily.colombo@gov.bc.ca Tamara Danshin, Regional Manager, Northeast Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 787-3351 e: tamara.danshin@gov.bc.ca Sarah Fraser, Executive Director, Regional Economic Operations Branch Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 952-0644 e: sarah.fraser@gov.bc.ca Chris Gilmore, Cross Sector Initiatives Branch Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 952-0139 e: christopher.gilmore@gov.bc.ca Greg Goodwin, Executive Director, Design, Coordination & Outreach Branch Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 356-0778 e: greg.goodwin@gov.bc.ca Michele Haddon, Manager, Community Transition Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 356-0728 e: michele.haddon@gov.bc.ca Lindsay Harris, Community Wildfire Recovery Officer (Kamloops) Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9837 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9T2 p: (250) 828-4109 e: Lindsay.Harris@gov.bc.ca

Lori Henderson, Director, South Coast Region Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 952-0607 e: lori.henderson@gov.bc.ca Marc Imus, Director, Southern Interior Region Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 371-3741 e: marc.imus@gov.bc.ca Paul Irwin, Executive Director - East Asia Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology Ste 730-999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1 p: (604) 660-5906 e: paul.irwin@gov.bc.ca John Johnstone, Stakeholder Engagement, Pacific Region Office of Small and Medium Enterprises 800 Burrard St, Room 219, Vancouver, BC V6Z 0B9 p: (866) 602-0403 e: john.johnstone@pwgsc.gc.ca Nicola Jones-Crossley, Business Development Manager, BC Futurpreneur Canada 425 Carrall St 580, Vancouver, BC V6B 6E3 p: (604) 598-2923 ext 4128 e: njcrossley@futurpreneur.ca Wendy Koh, Regional Manager, Mainland Southwest Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology 865 Hornby St, Suite 201, Vancouver, BC p: (604) 317-7562 e: wendy.koh@gov.bc.ca Kathy Lachman, Regional Manager, North Vancouver Island/Coast Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development 370 Dogwood St S, Campbell River, BC V9W 6Y7 p: (250) 286-9376 e: kathy.lachman@gov.bc.ca Susan Low, Economic Development Analyst Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (778) 698-1690 e: susan.low@gov.bc.ca Aireen Luney, A/Director, Strategic Investment Projects; Immigration Programs Branch Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology 450 – 605 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5J3 p: (604) 775-2248 e: aireen.luney@gov.bc.ca John McDonald, Executive Director; International Business Development Division Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology Ste 730-999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1 p: (604) 775-2202 e: john.mcdonald@gov.bc.ca Cheryl McLay, Regional Manager, Vancouver Island/Coast Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 751-3217 e: cheryl.mclay@gov.bc.ca Brad McRobert, Regional Manager, Bulkley Nechako Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 847-0856 e: brad.mcrobert@gov.bc.ca Tess Menges, Supply Specialist Office of Small and Medium Enterprises 800 Burrard St, Room 219, Vancouver, BC V6Z 0B9 p: (866) 602-0403 e: tess.menges@pwgsc.gc.ca

Larry Olson, Regional Manager, South Okanagan Boundary Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 490-8261 e: larry.olson@gov.bc.ca Angela Osborne, Communications Specialist Industry Training Authority 800–8100 Granville Ave, Richmond, BC p: (778) 327-5897 e: aosborne@itabc.ca Astra Paterson-Taylor, Marketing Coordinator, BC Provincial Nominee Program Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology 450 – 605 Robson St, Vancouver, BC V6B 5J3 e: astra.paterson-taylor@gov.bc.ca Morningstar Pinto, Director, Outreach and Engagement Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 952-0643 e: morningstar.pinto@gov.bc.ca Dale Richardson, Director, Northern Region Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 624-7499 e: dale.richardson@gov.bc.ca Jo Ann Sandhu, Manager, Priority Projects and Policy Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9352 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9M1 p: (778) 698-1683 e: JoAnn.Sandhu@gov.bc.ca Susan Schooley, Manager, Service Delivery Partnerships Western Economic Diversification Canada 9th floor – 1166 West Pender St, Vancouver, BC V6E 2R9 p: (604) 366-4182 e: susan.schooley@canada.ca Mathew Scott-Moncrieff, Manager, Performance Management and Quality Assurance (Victoria) Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development p: (778) 974-4492 e: Matthew.ScottMoncrieff@gov.bc.ca Ingrid Strauss, Community Adjustment Manager Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9837 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9T2 p: (778) 698-1687 e: Ingrid.Strauss@gov.bc.ca Leslie Teramoto, Assistant Executive Director Natural Resources Ministry of Jobs, Trade and Technology Ste 730-999 Canada Place, Vancouver, BC V6C 3E1 p: (604) 775-2201 e: leslie.teramoto@gov.bc.ca Richard Toperczer, Regional Manager, North Okanagan/Shuswap-Slocan Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 550-2204 e: richard.toperczer@gov.bc.ca Marc von der Gonna, Regional Manager, North Coast Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9853 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9N7 p: (250) 638-6523 e: marc.vondergonna@gov.bc.ca Monique Willis, Coordinator, Industry Programs Destination BC 12th Floor–510 Burrard St, Vancouver, BC V6C 3A8 p: (604) 660-2861 e: contacttourism@destinationbc.ca

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

2019-04-08 10:49 AM

Sarah Wysiecki, Program Analyst Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resources Operations & Rural Development PO Box 9352 Stn Prov Govt, Victoria, BC V8W 9M1 p: (778) 974-5805 e: Sarah.Wysiecki@gov.bc.ca Economic Development Officer & Deputy Finance Officer District of Wells PO Box 219; 4243 Sanders Ave, Wells, BC V0K 2R0 p: (250) 994-3330 e: marketing@wells.ca

HONOURABLE Peter Monteith, Chief Administrative Officer City of Chilliwack 8550 Young Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 8A4 p: (604) 793-2966 e: monteith@chilliwack.com

KOOTENAY Lisa Cannady, CED/Communications Community Futures Central Kootenay 201-514 Vernon St, Nelson, BC V1L 4E7 p: (250) 352 1933 e: lcannady@futures.bc.ca Sandy Elzinga, Assistant Manager Community Futures Boundary 1647 Central Ave, Grand Forks, BC V0H 1H0 p: (250) 442-2722 e: sandy@boundarycf.com Schaun Goodeve, Manager of Economic Development City of Kimberley 340 Spokane St, Kimberley, BC V1A 2E8 p: (250) 427-9666 e: sgoodeve@kimberley.ca Diane Heinrich, CAO City of Grand Forks PO Box 220, Grand Forks, BC V0H 1H0 p: (250) 442-8266 e: dheinrich@grandforks.ca David Hull, Executive Director Summerland Chamber of Commerce PO Box 84, Cranbrook, BC V1C 4H6 p: (250) 302-7212 e: dhull@summerlandchamber.com Mark Laver, Economic Development Manager Castlegar & District Economic Development 460 Columbia Ave, Castlegar, BC V1N 1G7 p: (250) 304-8231 e: edm@castlegar.com Wendy McCulloch, General Manager Community Futures Boundary 1647 Central Ave, Grand Forks, BC V0H 1H0 p: (250) 442-2722 e: wendy@boundarycf.com Joan Thomas, Board Chair Community Futures Boundary 1647 Central Ave, Grand Forks, BC V0H 1H0 p: (250) 442-2722 e: joanhthomas@hotmail.com Terry Van Horn, Executive Director Lower Columbia Initiatives Corporation 1–1355 Pine Ave, Trail, BC V1R 4E7 p: (250) 364-6461 e: tvanhorn@lcic.ca Jennifer Wetmore, Manager of Community Economic Development Community Futures Boundary 1647 Central Ave, Grand Forks, BC V0H 1H0 p: (250) 442-2722 e: jennifer@boundarycf.com Donna Wilchynski, Community Coordinator Christina Gateway Community Development Association 1675 Hwy 3, Christina Lake, BC V0H 1E2 p: (250) 447-6165 e: donna@christinagateway.ca Andrea Wilkey, Executive Director Community Futures Central Kootenay 201-514 Vernon St, Nelson, BC V1L 4E7 p: (250) 352-1933 e: awilkey@futures.bc.ca

MAINLAND SOUTHWEST Nicole Archer, Economic Advisory Commissioner City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320 Carolyn Armanini, Planning Analyst City of New Westminster 511 Royal Ave, New Westminster, BC V3L 1H9 p: (604) 527-4536 e: carmanini@newwestcity.ca Mark Bakken, Chief Administrative Officer Township of Langley 20338–65th Ave, Langley, BC V2Y 3J1 p: (604) 534-3211 e: mbakken@tol.ca Pietra Basilij, Sustainable Community Development Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: pbasilij@vancouvereconomic.com Gina Bennett, Board Member Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: bennett.gina@gmail.com Christine Blair, Director, Corporate Administration Township of Langley 20338–65th Ave, Langley, BC V2Y 3J1 p: (604) 534-3211 e: cblair@tol.ca Sandy Blue, Councillor City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 p: (604) 851-4168 e: sblue@abbotsford.ca Cheryl Britton, Manager - Administration CEPCO 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 2P2 p: (604) 792-7839 e: britton@chilliwackpartners.com Erin Brocklehurst, Corporate Media Liaison Township of Langley 20338–65th Ave, Langley, BC V2Y 3J1 p: (604) 534-3211 e: ebrocklehurst@tol.ca Bryan Buggey, Director, Strategic Initiatives & Sector Development Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: bbuggey@vancouvereconomic.com Gary Buxton, General Manager of Development Services and Public Works District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: gbuxton@squamish.ca Claire Campbell, Marketing/Branding Coordinator Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: ccampbell@vancouvereconomic.com Navneet Chatta, Technical Assistant, Corporate Administration Division Township of Langley 20338–65th Ave, Langley, BC V2Y 3J1 p: (604) 534-3211 e: nchattha@tol.ca Brian Coombes, President CEPCO 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 2P2 p: (604) 792-7839 e: coombes@chilliwackpartners.com Stacey Crawford, Economic Development Officer District of Mission Unit B–7337 Welton St, Mission, BC V2V 3X1 p: (604) 820-3789 e: scrawford@mission.ca

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Courtney Crichton, Research & Engagement Strategist Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: ccrichton@vancouvereconomic.com Carly D’Ambrosie, Office Administrator Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: cdambrosie@vancouvereconomic.com Jeff Dawson, General Manager Community Futures of Howe Sound Suite 102–1909 Maple Dr, Squamish, BC V8B 0T1 p: (604) 892-5467 e: jeff.dawson@cfhowesound.com Darrell Denton, Economic Development & Civic Property City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7477 e: ddenton@mapleridge.ca Brad Derbyshire, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: bradley.derbyshire@mnp.ca Nichola Derksen, Social Media Contractor City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 e: nichola.derksen@gmail.com Karoline deVries, Economic Advisory Commissioner City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320 e: devriesk@douglascollege.ca Kiersten Duncan, Councillor City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 463-5221 e: kduncan@mapleridge.ca Wendy Dupley, Director, Economic Development City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 1W7 p: (604) 851-4167 e: wdupley@abbotsford.ca Justin Dyck, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: jdyck@chparchitects.com Patrick Earl, Executive Director Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: executivedirector@advantagehope.ca Joan Elangovan, Executive Director, Asia Pacific Centre Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: jelangovan@vancouvereconomic.com Karen Elliott, Councillor District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: kelliott@squamish.ca Candace English, Community Economic Development Officer Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: candace.english@southfraser.com Cheryl Ennis, Executive Assistant City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 463-5221 e: cennis@mapleridge.ca

Katie Ferland, Business Development Liaison City of Richmond 6911 No 3 Rd, Richmond, BC V6Y 2C1 p: (604) 247-4923 e: kferland@richmond.ca Jessie Fletcher, Planner District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: jfletcher@squamish.ca Monica Florence, Board Member Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: mymony12@gmail.com John Fortoloczky, Chief Administrative Officer Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 869-5607 e: cao@hope.ca Blair Fryer, Communications and Economic Development Manager City of New Westminster 511 Royal Ave, New Westminster, BC V3L 1H9 p: (604) 527-4688 e: bfryer@newwestcity.ca Valerie Gafka, Senior Manager, Corporate Adminstration Township of Langley 20338–65th Ave, Langley, BC V2Y 3J1 p: (604) 532-7305 e: vgafka@tol.ca Bryan Gagne, Board Member Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: gagne.bh@gmail.com Sara Georgees, Economic Development Coordinator City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 p: (604) 864-5670 e: sgeorgees@abbotsford.ca Manjit Gholia, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: manjitgholia@shaw.ca Paul Gill, General Manager: Corporate & Financial Services City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 463-5221 e: pgill@mapleridge.ca Anna Gladue, Board Member Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: anna.gladue@gmail.com Amanda Gleave, Film Liaison City of Coquitlam 3000 Guildford Way, Coquitlam, BC V3B 7N2 p: (604) 927-3000 e: agleave@coquitlam.ca Linda Glenday, Chief Administrative Officer District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: lglenday@squamish.ca Michelle Graham, Administrative Assistant CEPCO 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 2P2 p: (604) 792-7839 e: graham@chilliwackpartners.com Chrislana Gregory, Economic Advisory Commissioner City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320

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Matt Gunn, Planner District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: mgunn@squamish.ca Bob Hahn, Business Analyst Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: bob.hahn@southfraser.com Kerry Hamilton, Planner District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: khamilton@squamish.ca Bill Harper, Councillor City of New Westminster 511 Royal Ave, New Westminster, BC V3L 1H9 p: (604) 521-3711 e: bharper@newwestcity.ca Cathy Harry, Secretary/Treasurer Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: bbservice@shaw.ca Stephanie Hooker, Asset Development Contractor Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: stephanie@hopebc.ca Colleen Hurzin, Economic Development Assistant City of Coquitlam 3000 Guildford Way, Coquitlam, BC V3B 7N2 p: (604) 927-3905 e: churzin@coquitlam.ca Bradley Jack, Administrator Bridge River Indian Band Box 190, 1A Joseph Rd, Lillooet, BC V0K 1V0 p: (250) 256-7423 e: administrator@xwisten.ca Brent Janzen, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: brent_janzen@vancity.com Donna Jones, GM, Investment & Intergovernmental Relations City of Surrey 13450 104 Ave, Surrey, BC V3T 1V8 p: (604) 591-4289 e: dljones@surrey.ca Eric Kalnins, Tourism Manager City of Coquitlam 3000 Guildford Way, Coquitlam, BC V3B 7N2 p: (604) 927-3000 e: ekalnins@coquitlam.ca Helen Kennedy, Operation Manager/Curator Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: helen@hopebc.ca Andrea Khan, Economic Development Coordinator City of New Westminster 511 Royal Ave, New Westminster, BC V3L 1H9 p: (604) 527-4536 e: akhan@newwestcity.ca Josef Lara, Economic Advisory Commissioner City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320 e: josef@bigbangservices.com Meghan Larson, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: meghanlarson@envisionfinancial.ca Bryce Lewis, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: bryce.lewis@hubinternational.com

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Bruce Livingstone, Business Expansion Retention Officer City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320 e: blivingstone@mapleridge.ca Sean McGill, Director of Human Resources and Corporate Planning Corporation of Delta 4500 Clarence Taylor Cres, Delta, BC V4K 3E2 p: (604) 946-3218 e: smcgill@delta.ca Sarah McJannet, Planner District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: smcjannet@squamish.ca Kent McKinnon, Board Chair Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: kent.a.mckinnon@gmail.com Kristi Anne McMiken, Clerk District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: economicdevelopment@squamish.ca John McPherson, Sector Development Manager, Cleantech Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: jmcpherson@vancouvereconomic.com Tom Meier, Economic Advisory Commissioner City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320 Gerald Minchuk, Director Development Services & Economic Development City of Langley 20399 Douglas Crescent, Langley, BC V3A 4B3 p: (604) 514-2815 e: gminchuk@city.langley.bc.ca Elizabeth Model, CEO Downtown Surrey BIA Suite 330-10362 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC V3T 2W5 p: (604) 580-2321 e: elizabeth@downtownsurreybia.com Nancy Mott Basi, Executive Director, Vancouver Media & Entertainment Centre Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: nmott@vancouvereconomic.com Kate Mulligan, Economic Development Officer District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: kmulligan@squamish.ca David Munro, Manager Economic Development City of Coquitlam 3000 Guildford Way, Coquitlam, BC V3B 7N2 p: (604) 927-3442 e: dmunro@coquitlam.ca Elaine Naisby, Planner District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: enaisby@squamish.ca Parul Neufeld, Economic Development Officer City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 p: (604) 853-2281 e: pneufeld@abbotsford.ca Suzanne Oaks, Business Advisor Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: suzanne.oaks@southfraser.com

Larry Orr, Manager, Business Services City of North Vancouver 141 West 14th St, North Vancouver, BC V7M 1H9 p: (604) 990-4221 e: lorr@cnv.org Kim O’Sullivan, Economic Development Coordinator City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 p: (604) 864-5670 e: kosullivan@abbotsford.ca Tania Parisella, Director, Marketing & Research Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: tparisella@vancouvereconomic.com Steven Patterson, Vice Chair Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: sjpatter@gmail.com Oliver Perez, Economic Advisory Commissioner City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320 Aja Philp, Planner District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: aphilp@squamish.ca Teresa Pippus, Self-Employment Manager Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: teresa.pippus@southfraser.com Shanal Prasad, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: -shanal.prasad@live.com Katrina Purcell, Manager, Marketing & Events Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: kpurcell@vancouvereconomic.com Frank Quinn, General Manager: Public Works & Development Services City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 463-5221 e: fquinn@mapleridge.ca Doug Race, Councillor District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: drace@squamish.ca James Raymond, Manager, Research & Analysis Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: jraymond@vancouvereconomic.com Barb Roberts, Community & Special Events Permit Coordinator City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 p: (604) 557-1473 e: broberts@abbotsford.ca Dennis Rook, General Manager Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: dennis.rook@southfraser.com Steve Saccomano, Board Member Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: ssacco@telus.net Ramin Seifi, General Manager, Engineering & Community Development Township of Langley 20338–65th Ave, Langley, BC V2Y 3J1 p: (604) 534-3211 e: rseifi@tol.ca

Stephanie Shortt, Economic Development Liaison Bowen Island Municipality 981 Artisan Lane, Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G2 e: sshortt@bimbc.ca Lino Siracusa, Manager of Economic Development City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7319 e: lsiracusa@mapleridge.ca Peter Sparanese, City Manager City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 p: (604) 864-5501 e: psparanese@abbotsford.ca Craig Speirs, Councillor City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 463-5221 e: cspiers@mapleridge.ca Lisa Spitale, Chief Administrative Officer City of New Westminster 511 Royal Ave, New Westminster, BC V3L 1H9 p: (604) 521-3711 e: lspitale@newwestcity.ca Patrick Stafford-Smith, Chief Development Officer North Vancouver Chamber of Commerce 102-124 West First St, North Vancouver, BC V7M 3N3 p: (604) 987-4488 e: patrick@nvchamber.ca Kelly Swift, General Manager: Parks, Recreation & Culture City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 463-5221 e: kswift@mapleridge.ca Netty Tam, Manager of Business Development CEPCO 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 2P2 p: (604) 792-7839 e: tam@chilliwackpartners.com Alice To, Business Relations Coordinator District of North Vancouver 355 West Queens Rd, North Vancouver, BC V7N 4N5 p: (604) 990-2241 e: aliceto@dnv.org Katherine Treloar, General Manager, Innovation, Strategy & Intergovernmental City of Abbotsford 32315 South Fraser Way, Abbotsford, BC V2T 2W7 p: (604) 853-2281 e: ktreloar@abbotsford.ca Sharon Unger, Office Administrator Community Futures South Fraser PO Box 10, 46115 Yale Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2P 6H7 p: (604) 392-5133 e: info@southfraser.com Eric Unmacht, Manager, Communications & Strategy Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: eunmacht@vancouvereconomic.com Jonas Velaniskis, Director of Development Services District of Squamish 37955 Second Ave, Squamish, BC V8B 0A3 p: (604) 892-5217 e: jvelaniskis@squamish.ca Juvarya Veltkamp, Manager, Green Economy Initiatives Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: jveltkamp@vancouvereconomic.com

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Claire Wang, Manager of Finance Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: cwang@vancouvereconomic.com Jamie Warren, Office Administrator, Executive Assistant Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 e: EA@vancouvereconomic.com Catherine Warren, CEO Vancouver Economic Commission Suite 1500, 401 W Georgia, Vancouver, BC V6B 5A1 p: (604) 632-9668 Mike Watson, General Manager Sto:lo Community Futures Building 10–3rd Floor, 7201 Vedder Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2R 4G5 p: (604) 824-5270 e: mwatson@stolocf.ca Alexander Wells, Economic Advisory Commissioner City of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 p: (604) 467-7320 Don Wiens, Board Member Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: dwiens@telus.net Erin Wilkins, Board Member Advantage Hope Box 370, 919 Water Ave, Hope, BC V0X 1L0 p: (604) 860-0930 e: erin.wilkins@sd78.bc.ca Rocio Zielinski, Operations and Loans Manager Sto:lo Community Futures Building 10–3rd Floor, 7201 Vedder Rd, Chilliwack, BC V2R 4G5 p: (604) 824-5272 e: rzielinski@stolocf.ca

NORTH COAST William Azak, Councillor Gitwinksihlkw Village Government PO Box 1, 3004, Ts’oohl Ts’ap Ave, Gitwinksihlkw, BC V0J 3T0 p: (250) 633-2294 e: clyde.azak@Gitwinksihlkw.ca Christina Bolton, Councillor Gitwinksihlkw Village Government PO Box 1, 3004, Ts’oohl Ts’ap Ave, Gitwinksihlkw, BC V0J 3T0 p: (250) 633-2294 e: christina.bolton@Gitwinksihlkw.ca Tina Bolton, Councillor Gitwinksihlkw Village Government PO Box 1, 3004, Ts’oohl Ts’ap Ave, Gitwinksihlkw, BC V0J 3T0 p: (250) 633-2294 e: tina.bolton@Gitwinksihlkw.ca Deklan Corstanje, Economic Development Officer Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine 300-4545 Lazelle Ave, Terrace, BC V8G 4E1 p: (250) 615-6100 e: deklanc@rdks.bc.ca Michael Dewar, Director of Economic Development District of Kitimat 270 City Centre, Kitimat, BC V8C 2H7 p: (250) 632-8921 e: mdewar@kitimat.ca John Farrell, General Manager Community Futures of Pacific Northwest Suite 100-515 3rd Ave W, Prince Rupert, BC V8J 1L9 p: (250) 622-2332 e: john@cfdc-pnw.com

Bruce Haldane, Deputy Chief/Councillor Gitwinksihlkw Village Government PO Box 1, 3004, Ts’oohl Ts’ap Ave, Gitwinksihlkw, BC V0J 3T0 p: (250) 633-2294 e: bruce.haldane@Gitwinksihlkw.ca Linda Morven, Chief Executive Officer Gitwinksihlkw Village Government PO Box 1, 3004, Ts’oohl Ts’ap Ave, Gitwinksihlkw, BC V0J 3T0 p: (250) 633-2299 e: linda.morven@gitwinksihlkw.ca Charles Morven, Chief Councillor Nisga’a Village of Gitwinksihlkw PO Box 1, 3004, Ts’oohl Ts’ap Ave, Gitwinksihlkw, BC V0J 3T0 p: (250) 633-2294 e: charles.morven@gitwinksihlkw.ca Danielle Myles, Economic Development Manager City of Terrace 3215 Eby St, Terrace, BC V8G 2X8 p: (250) 615-4030 e: dmyles@terrace.ca Ethel Nyce, Chief Financial Officer Gitwinksihlkw Village Government PO Box 1, 3004, Ts’oohl Ts’ap Ave, Gitwinksihlkw, BC V0J 3T0 p: (250) 633-2294 e: ethel.nyce@Gitwinksihlkw.ca Paul Vendittelli, Manager of Transportation and Economic Development City of Prince Rupert 424–3rd Ave West, Prince Rupert, BC V8J 1L7 p: (250) 627-5138 e: paul.vendittelli@princerupert.ca

NORTHEAST Lori Ackerman, Mayor City of Fort St. John 10631–100 St, Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Z5 p: (250) 787-8160 e: lackerman@fortstjohn.ca Dale Bumstead, Mayor City of Dawson Creek Box 150, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3600 e: mayorbumstead@dawsoncreek.ca Jennifer Decker, Manager of Economic Development City of Fort St. John 10631–100 St, Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Z5 p: (250) 787-5787 e: economicdevelopment@fortstjohn.ca Jerimy Earl, Councillor City of Dawson Creek Box 150, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3600 e: jearl@dawsoncreek.ca Paul Gevatkoff, Councillor City of Dawson Creek Box 150, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3600 e: pgevatkoff@dawsoncreek.ca Dianne Hunter, City Manager City of Fort St. John 10631–100 St, Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Z5 p: (250) 787-8161 e: citymanager@fortstjohn.ca Amy Kaempf, Councillor City of Dawson Creek Box 148, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3598 e: akaempf@dawsoncreek.ca Sue Kenny, General Manager Community Futures Peace Liard 904 102nd Ave, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 2B7 p: (250) 219-4285 e: skenny@communityfutures.biz Blair Lekstrom, Councillor City of Dawson Creek Box 149, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3599 e: blekstrom@dawsoncreek.ca

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Jaylene MacIver, Director Regional Development & Planning Northern Rockies Regional Municipality Bag Service 399 5319–50th Ave South, Fort Nelson, BC V0C 1R0 p: (250) 774-2541 e: jmaciver@northernrockies.ca Ellen McAvany, Economic Development Officer District of Chetwynd PO Box 357; 5400 Hospital Rd, Chetwynd, BC V0C 1J0 p: (250) 401-4113 e: emcavany@gochetwynd.com Jessie Olsen, Economic Development Administration Assistant District of Tumbler Ridge 305 Founders St; PO Box 100, Tumbler Ridge, BC V0C 2W0 p: (250) 242-4242 e: jolsen@dtr.ca Charlie Parslow, Councillor City of Dawson Creek Box 150, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3600 e: cparslow@dawsoncreek.ca John Powell, Director of Economic Development & Tourism District of Tumbler Ridge 305 Founders St; PO Box 100, Tumbler Ridge, BC V0C 2W0 p: (250) 242-4242 e: jpowell@dtr.ca Duncan Redfearn, Chief Administrative Officer City of Dawson Creek Box 150, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3600 e: dredfearn@dawsoncreek.ca Ken Rogers, Director of Development City of Fort St. John 10631–100 St, Fort St. John, BC V1J 3Z5 p: (250) 787-8150 e: krogers@fortstjohn.ca Lyle Smith, Chief Financial Officer Peace River Regional District 1981 Alaska Ave, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4H8 p: (250) 219-7431 e: lyle.smith@prrd.bc.ca Shaely Wilbur, Councillor City of Dawson Creek Box 150, Dawson Creek, BC V1G 4G4 p: (250) 784-3600 e: swilbur@dawsoncreek.ca

THOMPSON OKANAGAN Jim Anderson, Executive Director Venture Kamloops 297 1st Ave, Kamloops, BC V2C 3J3 p: (250) 828-6818 e: jim@venturekamloops.com Frank Armitage, Mayor Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: farmitage@princeton.ca Debbie Arnott, General Manager Community Futures of Sun Country PO Box 1480, 203 Railway Ave, Ashcroft, BC V0K 1A0 p: (250) 453-9165 e: darnott@cfsun.ca Craig Broderick, Economic Development Planner City of Vernon 3400 30 St, Vernon, BC V1T 5E6 p: (250) 550-3634 e: cbroderick@vernon.ca Nicole Bruce, Economic Development Manager Venture Kamloops 297 1st Ave, Kamloops, BC V2C 3J3 p: (250) 828-6818 e: nicole@venturekamloops.com Simone Carlysle-Smith, Industry and Community Development Specialist Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association 2280-D Leckie Rd, Kelowna, BC V1X 6G6 p: (250) 860-5999 e: community@totabc.com

Robyn Cyr, Economic Development Officer Columbia Shuswap Regional District 555 Harbourfront Dr NE, Box 978, Salmon Arm, BC V1E 4P1 p: (250) 833-5928 e: rcyr@csrd.bc.ca Rosemary Doughty, Councillor Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: rdoughty@princeton.ca Cindy Dueck, Office Manager Venture Kamloops 297 1st Ave, Kamloops, BC V2C 3J3 p: (250) 828-6818 e: cindy@venturekamloops.com Lana Fitt, Economic Development Manager Salmon Arm Economic Development Society 220 Shuswap St NE, PO Box 130, Salmon Arm, BC V1E 4N2 p: (250) 833-0608 e: edo@saeds.ca Will George, Manager of Economic Development & Tourism City of Merritt Box 189, 2185 Voght St, Merritt, BC V1K 1B8 p: (250) 378-8619 e: wgeorge@merritt.ca Blair Gray, General Manager Community Futures Thompson Country 330 Seymour St, Kamloops, BC V2C 2G2 p: (250) 828-8772 e: bgray@communityfutures.net Clark Grieve, Economic Development Specialist Venture Kamloops 297 1st Ave, Kamloops, BC V2C 3J3 p: (250) 828-6818 e: clark@venturekamloops.com Corie Griffiths, Director Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission 1450 KLO Rd, Kelowna, BC V1W 3Z4 p: (250) 469-6234 e: info@investkelowna.com Leslie Groulx, Chief Administrative Officer District of Clearwater Box 157, Clearwater, BC V0E 1N0 p: (250) 674-2257 e: lgroulx@docbc.ca Anthony Haddad, Director, Development Services City of Penticton 171 Main St, Penticton, BC V2A 5A9 p: (250) 490-2520 e: anthony.haddad@penticton.ca Leigha Horsfield, General Manager Community Futures North Okanagan 3105 33rd St, Vernon, BC V1T 9P7 p: (250) 545-2215 x 256 e: leighah@futuresbc.com Carrie Kassa, Executive Assistant Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: ckassa@princeton.ca James Kay, Chair Lumby Investment Corporation 1998 Vernon St, Lumby, BC V0E 2G0 p: (250) 870-6261 e: James@LumbyInvestmentCorporation.ca Gina MacKay, Director of Planning & Development Services Town of Osoyoos 8711 Main St, Osoyoos, BC V0H 1V0 p: (250) 495-4606 e: gmackay@osoyoos.ca Sherri-Lynne Madden, Services Coordinator Thompson Nicola Regional District 300–465 Victoria St, Kamloops, BC V2C 2A9 p: (250) 674-3530 e: smadden@tnrd.ca

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Krista Mallory, Business Development Officer Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission 1450 KLO Rd, Kelowna, BC V1W 3Z4 p: (250) 469-6234 e: kmallory@investkelowna.com Glenn Mandziuk, President & CEO Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association 2280-D Leckie Rd, Kelowna, BC V1X 6G6 p: (250) 860-5999 e: ceo@totabc.com Rob Marshall, Executive Director Community Futures Shuswap PO Box 1930, Salmon Arm, BC V1E 4P9 p: (250) 803-0156 e: rmarshall@futureshuswap.com Cheryl Martens, CAO Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: cao@princeton.ca Kim Maynard, Councillor Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: kmaynard@princeton.ca Michael Mazurek, Director of Infrastructure and Parks Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: mmazurek@princeton.ca Don McArthur, Senior Planner Town of Osoyoos 8707 Main St, Osoyoos, BC V0H 1V0 p: (250) 495-4615 e: dmcarthur@osoyoos.ca Jamie McEwan, Community Development Manager District of Lake Country 10150 Bottom Wood Lake Rd, Lake Country, BC V4V 2M1 p: (250) 766-5650 e: jmcewan@lakecountry.bc.ca Roy Nuriel, Planning Assistant City of Vernon 3400 30 St, Vernon, BC V1T 5E6 p: (250) 550-3634 e: rnuriel@vernon.ca Doug Pateman, Councillor Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: dpateman@princeton.ca John Perrott, Economic Development Officer City of West Kelowna 2760 Cameron Rd, West Kelowna, BC V1Z 2T6 p: (778) 797-2215 e: john.perrott@westkelownacity.ca Kevin Poole, Manager of Economic Development & Tourism City of Vernon 3400 30 St, Vernon, BC V1T 5E6 p: (250) 550-3249 e: kpoole@vernon.ca Barry Romanko, CAO Town of Osoyoos PO Box 3010, Osoyoos, BC V0H 1V0 p: (250) 495-6515 e: bromanko@osoyoos.ca Gary Schatz, Director of Economic Development & Tourism Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: businessdevelopment@princeton.ca Shannan Schimillmann, S3 Consulting 629 Peridot Place, Kelowna, BC V1W 5E7 p: (250) 870-1414 e: shannan@s3consulting.ca

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Sheila Thiessen, Chief Administrative Officer City of Merritt Box 189, 2185 Voght St, Merritt, BC V1K 1B8 p: (250) 378-8612 e: sthiessen@merritt.ca Lyle Thomas, Director of Leisure Services Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: lthomas@princeton.ca Jerome Tjerkstra, Councillor Town of Princeton PO Box 670, Princeton, BC V0X 1W0 p: (250) 295-3135 e: jtjerkstra@princeton.ca Valentina Trevino, Business Development Officer Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission 1450 KLO Rd, Kelowna, BC V1W 3Z4 p: (250) 469-6280 e: vtrevino@investkelowna.com Jennifer Vincent, Economic Development Specialist City of Penticton 171 Main St, Penticton, BC V2A 5A9 p: (250) 490-2591 e: jennifer.vincent@penticton.ca Cole Weber, Economic Development Specialist Venture Kamloops 297 1st Ave, Kamloops, BC V2C 3J3 p: (250) 828-6818 e: cole@venturekamloops.com

VANCOUVER ISLAND/COAST Matthew Baldwin, Director of Planning City of Langford 2nd Flr–877 Goldstream Ave, Langford, BC V9B 2X8 p: (250) 391-3404 e: mbaldwin@cityoflangford.ca Sara Baxandall, Economic Development Analyst City of Campbell River 301 St Ann’s Rd, Campbell River, BC V9W 4C7 p: (250) 286-5738 e: sara.baxandall@campbellriver.ca Ian Benoit, Policy Analyst Huuayaht First Nation 4644 Adelaide St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6N4 p: (250) 723-0100 e: ian.b@huuayaht.org Iain Bourhill, Director of Long Range Planning and Sustainability City of Colwood 3300 Wishart Rd, Colwood, BC V9C1R1 p: (250) 294-8151 e: ibourhill@colwood.ca Kim Burden, Executive Director Parksville & Dist. Chamber of Commerce PO Box 99, Station Main 1275 E Island Hwy, Parksville, BC V9P 2G3 p: (250) 248-3613 e: kim@parksvillechamber.com Lori Camire, Executive Director Community Futures Alberni Clayoquat 4757 Tebo Ave, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 8A9 p: (250) 724-1241 e: lcamire@cfac.ca Karla Campbell, Senior Manager Salt Spring Island Electoral Area e: kcampbell@crd.bc.ca Francine Carlin, Chairperson Salt Spring Island Community Economic Development Commission 108–121 McPhillips Ave, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2T6 p: (250) 537-4448 e: francinezc@gmail.com Dennis Carlsen, Planner City of Colwood 3300 Wishart Rd, Colwood, BC V9C 1R1 p: (250) 478-5999 e: dcarlsen@colwood.ca

Giacomo Casanova, Research Coordinator Comox Valley Economic Development Society 580 Duncan Ave, Courtenay, BC V9N 2M7 p: (250) 334-2427 e: giacomo@investcomoxvalley.com Trevor Cootes, Executive Councillor Huuayaht First Nation 4644 Adelaide St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6N4 p: (250) 723-0100 e: trevor.c@huuayaht.org James Costello, President Tofino Business Association PO Box 1238, Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0 p: (250) 266-0075 e: tba@cablelan.net Geoff Crawford, Business Development Manager Comox Valley Economic Development Society 580 Duncan Ave, Courtenay, BC V9N 2M7 p: (250) 334-2427 e: geoff@investcomoxvalley.com Patrick Deakin, Economic Development Manager City of Port Alberni 4850 Argyle St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 1V8 p: (250) 720-2527 e: patrick_deakin@portalberni.ca Cheryl Eardly, Economic Development Assistant Huuayaht First Nation 4644 Adelaide St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6N4 p: (250) 723-0100 e: cheryl.e@huuayaht.org Pat English, Manager of Economic Development Regional District of Mount Waddington 2044 McNeill Rd, Port McNeill, BC V0N 2R0 p: (250) 956-3301 e: penglish@rdmw.bc.ca Dave Formosa, Mayor City of Powell River 6910 Duncan St, Powell River, BC V8A 1V4 p: (604) 485-6291 e: davic83@gmail.com Lara Greasley, Marketing & Communications Manager Comox Valley Economic Development Society 580 Duncan Ave, Courtenay, BC V9N 2M7 p: (250) 334-2427 e: lgreasley@investcomoxvalley.com Maggie Hathaway, Councillor City of Powell River 6910 Duncan St, Powell River, BC V8A 1V4 p: (604) 485-6291 e: mhathaway@cdpr.bc.ca Randy Humble, CAO Town of Sidney 2440 Sidney Ave, Sidney, BC V8L 1Y7 p: (250) 656-1139 e: pkully@sidney.ca Rose Klukas, Economic Development Officer City of Campbell River 301 St Ann’s Rd, Campbell River, BC V9W 4C7 p: (250) 286-5738 e: rose.klukas@campbellriver.ca CaroleAnn Leishman, Councillor City of Powell River 6910 Duncan St, Powell River, BC V8A 1V4 p: (604) 485-6291 e: cleishman@cdpr.bc.ca Kimmie MacDonald, Economic Committee Tech Huuayaht First Nation 4644 Adelaide St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6N4 p: (250) 723-0100 e: kim.m@huuayaht.org Holly MacDonald, Salt Spring Island Community Economic Development Commission 108–121 McPhillips Ave, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2T6 p: (250) 537-4448 e: Holly@sparkandco.ca

John MacDonald, Mayor Village of Sayward PO Box 29, Sayward, BC V0P 1R0 p: (250) 282-5512 e: westie@saywardvalley.net Amrit Manhas, Economic Development Officer City of Nanaimo 411 Dunsmuir St, Nanaimo, BC V9R 0E4 p: (250) 755-4465 e: amrit.manhas@nanaimo.ca David McCormick, Director, Public Relations & Business Development Port Alberni Port Authority 2750 Harbour Rd, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 7X2 p: (250) 723-5312 e: dmccormick@alberniport.ca Amy Melmock, Economic Development Officer Economic Development Cowichan 135 Third St, Duncan, BC V9L 1R9 p: (250) 746-7880 e: amelmock@cvrd.bc.ca Judy Mills, Administrative Assistant Economic Development Cowichan 135 Third St, Duncan, BC V9L 1R9 p: (250) 746-7880 e: jmills@cvrd.bc.ca Jim Palm, Councillor City of Powell River 6910 Duncan St, Powell River, BC V8A 1V4 p: (604) 485-6291 e: jpalm@cdpr.bc.ca Derek Peters, Economic Committee Member Huuayaht First Nation 4644 Adelaide St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6N4 p: (250) 723-0100 e: derek.p@huuayaht.org Scott Randolph, Director of Economic Development and Communications City of Powell River 6910 Duncan St, Powell River, BC V8A 1V4 p: (604) 485-8653 e: srandolph@powellriver.ca Cynthia Rayner, Economic Development Officer Huuayaht First Nation 4644 Adelaide St, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 6N4 p: (250) 723-0100 e: cynthia.r@huuayaht.org Rob Southcott, Councillor City of Powell River 6910 Duncan St, Powell River, BC V8A 1V4 p: (604) 485-6291 e: rsouthcott@cdpr.bc.ca Julie Sperber, Community EDO Gabriola Island Chamber of Commerce 6-490 North Rd; Box 249, Gabriola, BC V0R 1X0 p: (250) 668-5389 e: ecdev@gabriolaisland.org Teresa Sullivan, Chief Administrative Officer District of Sooke 2205 Otter Point Rd, Sooke, BC V9Z 1J2 p: (604) 642-1634 e: tsullivan@sooke.ca John Watson, Executive Director Comox Valley Economic Development Society 580 Duncan Ave, Courtenay, BC V9N 2M7 p: (250) 334-2427 e: john@investcomoxvalley.com Matthew Wheelock, Community Economic Development Officer Central Coast Regional District Box 186, 626 Cliff St, Bella Coola, BC V0T 1C0 p: (250) 799-5291 e: cedo@ccrd-bc.ca Jay Yule, Economic Development Committee City of Powell River 6910 Duncan St, Powell River, BC V8A 1V4 p: (604) 485-6291 e: jay.yule@sd47.bc.ca

Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness.

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