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Doing Business in Kamloops

Community Facts

Population Data 2009

Kamloops 87,017
Catchment Area 93,000
Regional District 131,675
Source: Statistics Canada 2009

 

Growth Rate

2009-2013 Projected Growth Rate in Kamloops 1.0 - 1.9%
Source: BC Stats

 

 Census Data - 2006

Click on the the link below to access the 2006 census tract profile
for the Kamloops catchment area.

HTML version 

PDF version

 

Unemployment Rate

June 2010 8.9%
Source: BC Stats

 

Kamloops Climate Facts

 This is where Kamloops ranks among other Canadian cities

Hottest Summers #1
Most hot days above 30 #1
Driest city #1
Warmest Spring #2
Most sunny days in warm months #2
Hours of sunshine 2040 hrs
Median high temp 21.0˚C
Median minimum temp  -4.2˚C
Annual rainfall 217.9mm
 Source: Kamloops Community Profile & Environment Canada 2005

 

Average Cost of Property

Property Type Average Cost
Commercial, Light Industry (Leased)  $7 - $9 per sq/ft
Light Industrial - Serviced (Purchase) $300,000+ per acre
Office & Retail (Leased)  $12 - $15 per sq/ft (plus common costs $3.75-$5)

 

Kamloops Business Licenses

  YTD Jun. 2010
Business Licenses Issued 411
Source: Kamloops Business License Directory

 

Power

  Apr. 2010
Local Power Supplier BC Hydro http://www.bchydro.com/ 
Reliability Rate 99.97% Avg. Service Availability Index
Basic Charge (35kW): $17.16/day
Demand Charge First 35kW for Nil, next 115kW @ $4.18/kW, additional kW @ $8.02/kW
Energy Charge First 14,800 kW@ $0.0816/kW additional kW @ $0.0393/kW
Source: BC Hydro

 

Natural Gas

  Jan. 10
Supplier Terasen Large Commercial Service (Rate 3 - accounts with annual consumption of 2,000 GJ or more)
Basic Charge $132.52
Delivery Charge per GJ $2.219
Midstream Charge per GJ $1.266
Cost of Gas per GJ $5.609
Source: Terasen Gas

 

Kamloops Major Employers 2010

Major Employers  # of Employees 
Interior Health Authority 3000
School District #73 2000
Thompson Rivers University 1725
Highland Valley Copper Mine 1134
City of Kamloops 630
Domtar 448
BC Lottery Corporation 433
Safeway 400
CN Rail 350
Save-On Foods and Cooper's 326
Walmart 322
NRI-Distribution 247
Northern Trailer 244
Costco 238
Overlander Extended Care 225
Kamloops Daily News* 200
* includes carriers
Source: VK Jul. 2010

 

Kamloops Municipal Tax Rates 2010
(Per $1,000 of Assessed Value)

Includes all goverment taxes: (General - City of Kamloops, Regional District, Hospital District, School, BC Assessment Authority  
Residential 7.9083
Supportive Housing 5.5698
Recreational/Non-Profit 14.7998
Farm 19.5798
Business/Other 23.4535
Light Industry 32.9582
Utilities 54.5521
Major Industry 78.2746
Source: City of Kamloops 2010

 

Income

  2005
Median Family Income $64,117
Source: Stats Can 2006 Census

 

Housing Values

Median Residential Price  June 2010
Kamloops Only $357,500 CAD
Kamloops Area $341,100 CAD
Avg. Two Bedroom Rental/Monthly $825.00 CAD
 
Housing Starts  
2009 430 units
2008 574 units
2007 612 units
By Dwelling Type  2009
Single Family 167
Multi Family (3 or more units) 263
Building Permits 2009
Total Construction Value $160,392,496
Source: City of Kamloops Development and Engineering Services, 2010

 

Vacancy Rates

  Apr. 2010
Rental Vacancy Rate 2.3%
Source: CMHC Rental Report, 1st 1/4 2010

 

Accessibility & Airport

Kamloops Airport (YKA)  
Airport Type Regional
Flight time to Vancouver 50 mins
Flight time to Calgary 70 mins
Driving time to Vancouver 3.5 hours
Driving time to Seattle 5 hours
Driving time to Calgary 6.5 hours
Driving time to Edmonton 8.5 hours
Kamloops Airport has non-stop direct flights to Vancouver, Calgary and Prince George http://www.kamloopsairport.com/ 

 

Post Secondary Institutions

Thompson Rivers University www.tru.ca
Thompson Rivers University - Open Learning www.tru.ca/distance.html
TRU World www.truworld.ca/
Sprott Shaw Community College www.sprott-shaw.com/

 

Specialized Training Programs

MBA
Bachelor Applied Computer Science
Bachelor of Technology
Bachelor of Arts & Science
Bachelor of Business Administration
Bachelor of Tourism
Cooperative Education
International Education
Trades & Technology Diploma

 

Telecommunications

Services Available ISDN, DSL, ATM, Frame Relay, DS#, T1, T3, E10, E100
Local Fibre Loop Extensive fibre network in place from multiple suppliers
Optic-Fibre BCNet Kamloops Transit Exchange (KAMTX), provides redundant access to the Canarie CA *Net4 research and education network at speeds as high as 10 Gbs. Telus, Bell, and BigPipe/Shaw have committed to connect to KAMTX.
41km of fibre optic cable connects 37 public sector facilities, secondary schools, provincial government buildings and TRU with an open access point at City Hall

 

Kamloops Recreation

Parks (82) 1,350 ha
Museums (3) Kamloops Museum, Fire Hall Museum, Secwepemc Museum & Heritage Park
Live Theatres (3) Western Canada Theatre, Sagebrush Theatre, Ascroft Opera House
Art Galleries (2) Kamloops Art Gallery, Hampton Gallery
BC Wildlife Park 70 wildlife indigenous species - 42 ha of park
Sports Facilities Tournament Capital Centre
7 areas (Olympic size ice sheet)
WHL Hockey Club - Kamloops Blazers 
Junior B Hockey Club - Kamloops Storm
13 Championship Golf Courses
45 tennis courts
3 indoor pools, 1 Olympic size
Indoor Track & Field Centre
FIFA Soccer Field
Canadian Football Stadium
Gymnastics Centre & Club 12,000 sq ft
MacArthur Island Sports Centre - National standards baseball stadium
9 baseball diamonds, 9 soccer fields
Bike Ranch - International Mountain Bike Park - 26 ha
  Skateboard park - Largest in Western Canada, BMX Circuit
Ski Resort  
Sun Peaks 4 seasons world famous resort
www.sunpeaksresort.com/ 3 mountains, 1 village centre, 350,000 ski & snowboard visitors
6,000 tourist beds and 500 residents, 4,000 skiable acres of terrain
Race Centre, Terrain Park, Nordic Skiing, Ice Skating, Tube Park
Golf, Bike Park, Hiking, Sports Centre, Shopping, Dinings, Real Estate
Master-planned community - over $700 million invested
  Certified ISO 14001
Harper Mountain Midweek T-Bar and Handle Tow, Night Skiing T-Bar, Tube Park, Toboggan Hill & Skating Pond
www.harpermountain.com Number of lifts (3): 1-Triple chair, 2-T-Bars
Number of trails (15), Longest run 366 metres (1,200 ft)

 

Kamloops Centre for Water Quality

$48.5 million state-of-the-art membrane filtering water treatment plant provides high-quality water 365 days a year for residents and visitors. 

http://www.kamloops.ca/water/kcwq.shtml 
 

 

 Canada's Tournament Capital

  2008
Number of Tournaments 116
Participants 27,613
Economic Spin-off $11.1 million
Grants Distributed $49.2K
Source: City of Kamloops 2008 Annual Report