Business Advantages

Take A Look At Kamloops

• Quality of life and public infrastructure second-to-none
• Low cost of doing business
• Outstanding weather and no traffic congestion
• Transportation hub: easy access to major markets
• Affordable housing and land prices
• Canada's most comprenhensive University with over 15,000 enrolled students
• Immigration resources

Kamloops Business Advantage

Low interest rates and strong demand have fuelled the housing market, creating many construction jobs. The recent increase in demand for construction materials has led to increased output and distribution companies relocating to Kamloops.

The superior transportation and communication infrastructure, the low-cost freight advantage and industrial land provides a strong business case for the relocation of major distribution companies. These global companies have direct access to North American and Asian markets through the Ports of Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

Higher commodity prices have led to increased mining exploration. More than 125 fabrication and manufacturing companies operate in the Kamloops Area. Wood value-added manufacturing represents 16% GDP output for the region.

The climate, which is so conducive to the emerging agricultural-science industry, also attracts a large number of tourists and retirees to the region.

Development Costs

The City of Kamloops offers competitive development costs which allow the city to be a leader in promotion of new infrastructure.

Development cost charges (DCCs) are a cost-recovery tool used by local governments throughout BC to recover from developers monies to off-set the capital costs of altering or expanding infrastructure such as sewage, water, drainage, highway facilities and providing or improving parkland.

Infrastructure improvements provide for the broader community needs, and not just those of a specific site or development.

For DCC rates  visit Development Cost Charge By-law for details.

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Municipal Processing Times

Kamloops offers efficient processing times for business development permits. The average City of Kamloops processing times are accelerated compared to those experienced in other cities of similar size and population. This makes Kamloops a very development friendly community with fast results.

Visit   www.kamloops.ca/building/index.shtml for more information on building permits.
Visit  2008 Annual Report Section II - Application Performance & Efficiency - view pages 9 & 10

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Logistics

Kamloops is situated at the hub of leisure and commercial travel in BC due to its location at the crossroads of BC's major highways - the Coquihalla (Hwy 5), Trans Canada (Hwy 1), and Highway 97. Over 25 trucking and transport companies that ship goods across BC, Canada and the U.S. are located in the region. See page 16 on Site Selector

Kamloops is one of only two places in Canada that is serviced by both national railways; Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Railways. Deluxe tourist passenger service is also provided by Rocky Mountaineer Vacations between Calgary and Vancouver, stopping overnight in Kamloops.

Kamloops Airport offers service between Kamloops and Vancouver, Calgary, Prince George.  In addition to passenger transport, the airport handles a considerable amount of air cargo. See page 17 on Site Selector

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Business Climate

Venture Kamloops provides a full-spectrum of business support for new and expanding business within the City of Kamloops,

Kamloops has many organizations and associations geared to helping business prosper. The city's newly created business and client services division will unravel red tape, deal with contractual matters, and conduct business liaison and best-practice research, making it a more streamlined service. Other associations include FrontCounterBC, Ministry of Economic Development, Business Improvement Associations, Tourism Kamloops, the Kamloops Home Based Business Association, Kamloops Chamber of Commerce and the Accommodation Association just to name a few.

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Available Land

Construction activity in Kamloops has hit its highest levels in the past 10 years - currenly $2 billion of resort residential projects are currently in progress.

Construction values have climbed to more than 200 million for 2008. Venture Kamloops is proud to show these figures and encourages new development throughout Kamloops and Area.

For a complete look at the property available in Kamloops please feel free to look at a detailed report of available industrial land within the City of Kamloops.  Click here to link to the document.

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Housing Costs

Click here to see the Housing & Taxation Profile for Kamloops.

Labour Force

Click here to see the Labour Force Profile for Kamloops.

education 

Click here to see the Education Profile for Kamloops.

Lifestyle

Click here to see the Quality of Life Profile for Kamloops.