With a mission to inform, empower, celebrate and advocate for British Columbia's current and aspiring business leaders, BCBusiness go behind the headlines and bring readers face to face with the key issues and people driving business in B.C.
Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1441359
JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022 BCBUSINESS 33 BCBUSINESS.CA Category weights shown in brackets. Full methodology on page 41 RENTAL VACANCY RATE PER 10,000 POPULATION (10%) RESIDENTIAL SALES PER 10,000 POPULATION (10%) HOUSING STARTS PER 10,000 POPULATION (10%) CHANGE IN JOBS PER 10,000 POPULATION (10%) AVERAGE ANNUAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE (10%) ECONOMIC DIVERSITY (15%) 2021 RANK 2.5% 201 265 78 5.2% 885 1 1.6% 163 160 336 7.6% 707 2 1.7% 146 183 339 6.3% 902 3 2.2% 238 117 –33 5.6% 786 4 1.1% 202 142 339 6.3% 856 5 2.6% 179 52 336 7.6% 757 6 2.8% 174 108 336 7.6% 715 7 1.3% 98 33 78 5.2% 768 8 2.2% 146 102 336 7.6% 733 9 1.0% 204 115 339 6.3% 858 10 2.8% 143 43 336 7.6% 755 11 3.4% 173 39 498 6.7% 795 12 2.1% 236 53 –65 7.4% 749 13 3.2% 138 103 336 7.6% 730 14 2.8% 112 55 336 7.6% 761 15 2.3% 167 125 78 5.2% 861 16 0.0% 146 48 498 6.7% 827 17 (No. 47) and Quesnel (No. 49), struggled to make any gains over the previous year. Despite having B.C.'s lowest unemploy- ment rate for much of 2021, Northeast cities joined them at the bottom. With its communities accounting for half of this year's top 10, Vancouver Island makes another strong showing. Even Vic- toria, which languished in the lower half in 2021 along with many of Metro Vancouver's largest urban centres, jumped 15 spots to a respectable No. 16. Strong population growth, stable household finances, a boom- ing development industry, low residential GHG emissions, and solid job and unem- ployment numbers all worked together to make Vancouver Island the province's top- performing region. T H E Y E A R ' S L E A D E R I N R E S I L I E N C E Langford—fuelled by high population growth and a sizzling property develop- ment industry—has reinvented itself over the past decade. Once little more than a bed- room community of Victoria, it's become an urban centre with its own unique and grow- ing array of business services and amenities, including a dynamic restaurant scene. "The past decade has seen immense growth, with everything from full-service restaurants to cafés, coffee shops and eth- nic cuisine," says Doug Stuart, owner and operator of Poncho's Café and Catering Co. in Langford's Goldstream Village. Stuart, a longtime resident of the city, bought Pon- cho's with his wife, Arlene, in 2018. Another of Langford's independent establishments, House of Boateng, also opened its doors in Goldstream Village in 2018. "The way this city is growing, it's really amazing to see," says Castro Boateng, owner and executive chef of the award- winning restaurant. Boateng chalks up Langford's growth partly to its relatively affordable housing: "I think the fact that Langford is more afford- able than Victoria is bringing more younger people this way." Other draws include the city's excellent recreational options, including mountain biking and hiking, and a wealth of job opportunities provided by new businesses and the city's booming con- struction industry. "It's almost become that you don't need to go to Victoria anymore