Doing Business in Kamloops

Community Facts 2008

Population Data
Kamloops	85,000
Catchment area	93,000
Regional District	137,000
Growth rate (2001 to 2006)	+ 4.4%
Source: Statistics Canada 2007

Growth Rate
2007 projected growth in Kamloops	2.0 - 2.5%

Unemployment Rate
2005 Average Unemployment rate	5.1%
2006 Average Unemployment rate	5.3%
2007 Average Unemployment rate	5.0%
Source: Labour Market Update Service Canada 2007

Climate Facts
Kamloops is the warmest city in Canada
#1 in Canada for hottest summers
#1 for most hot days above 30
#2 for warmest spring
#2 for driest city
#2 most sunny days in warm months
Hours of Sunshine	2040 hrs
Median high temp	21.0 oC
Median minimum temp	-4.2  oC
Annual Rainfall	217.9 mm
Source: Kamloops Community Profile & Environment Canada 2005

Average Cost of Property (March 2008)
Commercial, Light Industry (Leased)	$7-$9 per sq/ft.
Light Industrial -  (Purchase)	$250,000+ per/ac
Office & Retail (Leased)	$10-20 per sq/ft (plus common costs $3.75- $5.00)

       

Business Licenses (2008)
2007 Number of business licenses issued	5,033
2006 Number of business licenses issued	4,899
671 new business started in 2007 - 2.3 % increase
Visit Business Licence Directory

Power (March 2008)
Local Power Supplier:	BC Hydro http://www.bchydro.com/
Reliability Rate:	99.97%  Average Service Availability Index
Basic Charge:	(35kW=/month): $4.26/month
Demand Charge:	First 35kW for Nil, next 115 kW @ $6.37/Kw,  additional kw @ $6.37 per kw
Energy Charge:	First 14,800 kW @ $0.0649/kW  additional kw @ $0.068.kw  additional kw @ $0.0327 / kw

Natural Gas Prices (Industrial/Commercial) (March 2008)
Supplier: Terasen Large Commercial Service  (Rate 3 - accounts with annual consumption of 2,000 GJ or more)
Basic Charge	$120.40
Delivery Charge per GJ	$2.136
Midstream Charge per GJ	$0.537
Cost of Gas per GJ	$6.938

Major Employers List	Employees
Royal Inland Hospital	2117
School District #73	1784
Thompson Rivers University	1270
Convergys	1200
Highland Valley Copper Mine	1060
Domtar	650
City of Kamloops	630
Kamloops Daily News Overlander Extended Care Hospital	503 367
Wal-Mart	322
BC Lottery Corporation	310
Horizon North (formerly Northern Trailer)	280
NRI-Distribution Weyerhaeuser	240  200
Pollard Banknote	175
For more employer information visit the Kamloops Manufacturing Directory

Source: Kamloops Community Profile, 2007

Kamloops Municipal Tax Rates 2007 (Per $1,000 of Assessed Value)  Includes all government taxes  (City, Thompson Nicola Regional District, Hospital, School, British Columbia Assessment Authority)
Residential	9.5711
Recreational Non-Profit	14. 7715
Farm	19.0715
Business/Other	27.7070
Light Industry	36.3256
Utilities	62.2990
Major Industry	80.7694
Source: City of Kamloops - April  2007

          

Average Incomes
Median Family Income	$56,188 CAD
Source: BC Stats 2005

             

Housing Values
Median Residential Price  - March 8, 2008	$379,000 CAD
Average 2 Bedroom Rental/Monthly	$721.00 CAD
Housing Starts
(2007)	612 units
(2006)	780 units
(2005)	864 units
By Dwelling Type (2007)
Single Family	332 units
Multi Family  - 3 or more unites	124 units
Multi Family  - apartments	63 units
Multi Familty - Duplex	42 units
Multi Family - Single units	21 units
Mobile home	18 units
Duplex	12 units
Building permit values (2006)	$206.8 million
Building permit values ( 2007)	184.9 million
Industrial, Commercial & Institutional	$48 million
Residential	$136.9 million
Source: City of Kamloops Development and Engineering Services, 2007 Annual Report  and District Real Estate Associations, CMHC Market Insight, 2006

 

Vacancy Rates - 2007
Rental vacancy rates - overall average	1.0%
South Shore	0.2%
North Shore	1.9%
Townhouses – overall average	1.0%
Source: CMHC Rental Report, December 2006

Accessibility & Airport
Airport Type	Regional/USA
Flight time to Vancouver  Fligh time to Calgary	50 minutes 70 minutes
Driving time to Vancouver	3 ½ 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, Victoria, Calgary, Seattle and Prince George	http://www.flykamloops.com/ http://www.kamloopsaiport.com/

Educational Attainment
% of population – Bachelor degree or higher	12%
% of population – 2 year degree only	34%
% of population – high school graduate only	13%
Source: BC Stats 2005

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.

Educational Institution
Thompson Rivers University	10,000 on-campus Students
	1,275 Faulty & Staff
Thompson Rivers University offers over 50 undergraduate and  graduate degree options and more than 40 diploma and  certificate programs in academic, applied and professional fields.	http://www.tru.ca/

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. 41 km of fibre optic cable connects 37 connects public sector facilities, secondary schools, provincial government buildings, and the Thompson Rivers University with an open access point at City Hall.

    

Community Recreation	$50 million in new sports facilities
Parks (82)	1350 ha
Museums (3)	Kamloops Museum, Fire Hall Museum,  Secwepemc Museum & Heritage Park
Live Theatres (3)	Western Canada Theatre, Sagebrush Theatre, Ashcroft Opera House
Art Gallery	Kamloops Art Gallery, Hampton Gallery
Wildlife Park - BC ZOO	70 wildlife indigenous species – 42 ha of park
Sports Facilities:	Tournament Capital Centre 7 arenas (Olympic size ice-sheet) WHL Hockey Club - Kamloops Blazers Junior B Hockey Club- Kamloops Storm
	10 Championship Golf Courses 45 tennis courts 3 indoor pools, 1- Olympic size Indoor Track & Field Centre FIFA Soccer Field Canadian Footbal Stadium Gymnastics Centre & Club 12,000 sq ft McArthur Island Sprts Centre - National standards baseball stadium 9 baseball diamonds, 9 soccer fields Bike Ranch - International Mountain Bike Park - 26 ha Skate board park - Largest in Western Canada, BMX Circut
League play participants:	8,000 plus
Ski Resort
Sun Peaks www.sunpeaksresort.com	4 seasons world famous resort 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, Dining, 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 Number of lifts(3). 1-triple chairs, 2-T-bars Number of trails(15), Longest run 366 metres (1,200 ft)

                 

Tournament Capital of Canada
Number of Tournaments (2007)	110
Out of town Participants	30,000
Number of tournament days	100,000
Economic Spin-off	$12.3 million
Number of Kamloops volunteers	3,200