It’s all about Accessibility and Infrastructure

Kamloops is known as the “hub” city, where four of the province’s major highways meet, the CN and CP main lines converge and the North and South Thompson Rivers merge. In addition to that, Kamloops has a busy regional airport connecting residents to all parts of the globe. Kamloops is an economic hub with links across the province, country and the world.

Transportation


Kamloops is a vital transportation hub in Western Canada, with direct links to the rest of Canada, the U.S., Europe and the Pacific Rim.

Proximity to Major Centres
Location Kilometres Miles
Kelowna, BC 168 104
Vancouver, BC 309 192
Prince George, BC 494 307
Calgary, Alberta 591 367
Edmonton, Alberta 811 504
Winnipeg, Manitoba 1906 1185
Toronto, Ontario 4227 2627
Seattle, Washington 497 309
Spokane, Washington 513 319

Highways & Trucking

Kamloops is strategically located at the intersection of Western Canada’s four major highways: Coquihalla (Hwy 5), TransCanada (Hwy 1), Yellowhead (Hwy 5), and Highway 97.

Over 50 trucking and transport companies who ship goods throughout British Columbia, across Canada, and into the United States are located in Kamloops.

New funding of $95 million has been approved to complete the four-laning of the Trans Canada Highway from Kamloops to Chase with tentative completion slated for early 2017.

Rail

Both the Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) service Kamloops. The railways intersect in Kamloops.

Canadian Pacific Railway is a transcontinental carrier operating in Canada and the U.S. It serves the principal centers of Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, and the U.S. Northeast and Midwest regions. Alliances with other carriers extend its market reach throughout the U.S. and into Mexico. CPR is expanding its capacity to move more bulk commodities and resources to the Port of Vancouver to meet the demand of Asian markets. CPR is also moving increasing volumes of finished goods arriving from Asia to consumers in the U.S. and Canada.

Air

Kamloops Airport (YKA) is one of the fastest growing regional airports. It is operated by YVR Airport Services Ltd. and is the main airport in the Thompson Nicola Regional District, providing air service throughout North America with connections to virtually every part of the world.

The airport handles both passenger transport and air cargo. There is a solid industrial base, including aircraft sales, parts and maintenance, nearby at Fulton Field. Charter operations, forest service protection branch, air traffic control, ground transportation and storage hangars all operate as airport tenants. Aircraft re-fuelling, Customs and Border Services are available.

Direct Flight Times
City Time
Vancouver 50 minutes
Calgary 1 hour
Airlines that service Kamloops
Airline Comments
Air Canada Air Canada is Canada’s largest full-service airline and the largest provider of scheduled passenger services for flights within Canada, between Canada and the U.S, and to every major international destination.
West Jet Since 1996, West Jet has been offering nothing less than fun and friendly low-cost service. The WestJet culture is un-changed and their mission is to provide safe, friendly and affordable air travel.
Central Mountain Air Established in 1987 Central Mountain Air (CMA) is a Western Canadian privately owned and operated company offering scheduled and charter flights to over 18 British Columbia and Alberta communities

Water Supply


The Kamloops Centre for Water Quality (KCWQ), commissioned in 2005, uses innovative membrane filtration technology to provide high quality drinking water to residents and visitors. “Green” building technology was used extensively in the construction of the KCWQ, to maximize efficiency, prevent pollution, and contribute to the sustainability of our community.

Waste Water


Wastewater is disposed of via two primary means. The first and most prominent is the community system which serves over 95% of the City’s population, as well as a portion of the Kamloops Indian Band lands. This system includes:

  • Collection pipes which convey raw wastewater from buildings through an extensive network to the Wastewater Treatment Plant located on Mission Flats Road;
  • Where necessary, pump stations to overcome topographic constraints in moving raw wastewater (there are over 100 such stations);
  • Wastewater treatment facilities which comprise a series of anaerobic (oxygen-free) and aerated ponds coupled with phosphorus removal, chlorination / dechlorination and sludge disposal facilities.
  • Disposal system for treated wastewater, including direct outfall to the Thompson River (approximately 80% of total discharge), and spray irrigation of effluent onto Cinnamon Ridge Farm and adjacent lands located between the Airport and Tranquille Lands.

A $38.5 million expansion to the sewage treatment plant was completed in September 2014. The facility was converted from an aerated lagoon process to a unique modified activated sludge process with improved sludge handling processes, increased treatment capacity, and lower chemical treatment cost due to the integration of biological treatment. This expansion will allow for incoming wastewater flows up to 54,000 m³/day, which will allow for a population growth in the City of Kamloops to the year 2031 based on 2% growth annually.

The plant upgrades included a new administration/control building; a new headworks building; two 44 m diameter concrete clarifiers; UV disinfection; an impermeable gas collection cover for odour control and methane gas collection; and a sludge withdrawal system.

Utilities


Kamloops is ideally located within the transcontinental fibre optic cable routes allowing optimal high speed internet, cable and phone services. With the help of our local networks, BC Net, which spans 1400 km across BC, and the Kamloops Community Network (KCN) of over 50km of fiber optics, we are guaranteed ideal coverage.

Our major service providers include Telus, Bell and Shaw who provide our community with various services including data, video, cable, internet and both wired and wireless voice plans to name a few.

Our main natural gas provider is Fortis BC and our main electricity provider is BC Hydro.

Communications (voice & data)


Kamloops is an IT committed community that is ideally positioned to support IT industry of all types. On par with major metropolitan areas in terms of communications infrastructure, Kamloops’ extensive fibre optic network allows the ability to provide high-speed digital voice and data access. Kamloops is fortunate to be located on most of the Canadian transcontinental fibre optic cable routes, as they tend to be built along the railway right away. Kamloops is one of only two cities in Canada that both the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways pass through.

Together with this backbone of connectivity, Kamloops also has the “Kamloops Community Network” (KCN). This network, of over 50km of super high-speed fiber optics, runs throughout the business districts of Kamloops, allowing direct fiber access to all the major building locations in Kamloops. The KCN has speeds of 1Gb/s and multiple VLAN’s. – MO

Natural Gas


Fortis BC: provider of electricity, natural gas and propane, plus integrated energy solutions such as geothermal and district energy. The company aims to deliver energy safely and reliably, at the lowest reasonable cost. Fortis BC serves approximately 1.1 million customers in more than 135 communities, and delivers approximately 22% of the total energy consumed in British Columbia.

Electricity


BC Hydro: BC Hydro is a provincial Crown corporation with a mandate to generate, purchase, distribute and sell electricity. As one of the largest electric utilities in Canada, BC Hydro serves more than 1.6 million customers in an area containing over 94 per cent of British Columbia’s population.