Business View Civil and Municipal | Volume 2, Issue 7

155 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 2, ISSUE 7 REGIONAL DI STR I CT OF NORTH OKANAGAN, BR I T I SH COLUMB I A With so many new jobs available, the Regional District of North Okanagan is definitely growing. Young families are moving into the area after being priced out of the lower mainland housing market. “The Planning Department said 2020 was the second busiest year in over a decade for planning and building applications,” Acton states. “I talked to a real estate broker and she said houses are selling so fast she’s had some go for $100,000 over asking.” While some residents worry the area is growing too fast, Gregerson asserts that the RDNO has a reasonable Strategic Growth Plan in place. “It’s our highest-level planning document guiding our actions. We also have official community plans for certain areas because we want to hear from the community. These plans are focused on public feedback. We recently completed a Regional Housing Needs Assessment. We looked for industry gaps, whether incomes are equal to current housing prices, and we found some. We recently held housing round tables to identify with the Institute for Sustainable Food Systems at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, potentially for a satellite university on food sustainability and agricultural experimentation. That’s a neat project that might be coming forward.” Agriculture is a significant economical driver to the area. The mild climate is ideal for traditional farming and fishing, but also for modern industrial marijuana grow-operations. Logging is another big industry with Tolko Industries Ltd., a forest products company, based out of Vernon. It’s all about diversity when it comes to employment opportunities. The movie industry is a strong presence, since the government offers the Film Incentive BC Tax Credit. The technology market is also huge. Especially, the expanding advanced technology industry sector that includes information technology (IT) and biotechnology. There is already an established research and development community, so it’s an ideal place for young entrepreneurs to start companies. Climate Smart Municipalities Program