Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - Kelowna Courier
The greater Kelowna area attracted more than half of all the new arrivals to the Thompson-Okanagan region in the past five years. And the rate of job creation in the Thompson-Okanagan was tops among all areas of the province, according to a new report from the Chartered Accountants of B.C.
"Our region is firing on all cylinders," said Karen Christiansen, a chartered accountant in Kelowna with Meyers Norris Penny LLP. "This report confirms what we have seen in our community over the past few years, growth in new residents and opportunities."
Between 2002 and 2007, 35,000 people moved to the Thompson-Okanagan, with almost 60 per cent of them settling in the Central Okanagan. The greater Kelowna area‘s appeal to newcomers is based on several key factors, said economic development officer Robert Fine. "With the lake and scenery, the area sort of sells itself" as a desirable place to live, Fine said.
As well, the airport – by far the busiest in the Thompson-Okanagan region – provides quick and convenient access to several destinations across Western Canada and beyond. The establishment of UBCO in 2005 and the building boom, with greater Kelowna accounting for almost half the $25 billion worth of capital projects in the Thompson-Okanagan, gives the city a prestige and economic heft unmatched in the region.
"Success breeds more success," Fine said. "The profile of the Central Okanagan is just continuing to grow, both nationally and internationally."
Retail spending on a per capita basis in the Central Okanagan is 32 per cent above the national level, attesting to greater Kelowna‘s appeal as a shopping destination for people from throughout the B.C. Southern Interior. Between 2002 and 2007, almost 50,000 jobs were created in the Thompson-Okanagan. The 24 per cent increase was the highest of any region in B.C., the Chartered Accountants say.
Business incorporations were up 110 per cent in the past five years, a level the accountants call "astounding," while bankruptcies dropped by 60 per cent.