32 INVEST in BC 2 0 2 4
THOMPSON OKANAGAN
▷
Barriere
▷
Cache Creek
▷
Clearwater
▷
Clinton
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Golden
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Kamloops
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Kelowna
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Lytton
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Merritt
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Oliver
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Osoyoos
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Peachland
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Penticton
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Princeton
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Revelstoke
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Salmon Arm
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Summerland
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Vernon
SHARE OF B.C.
POPULATION 12%
TOP:
TOURISM
KELOWNA/SHAWN
TALBOT
PHOTOGRAPHY
Urban
Makeover
An influx of people, money and ideas has seen the Thompson
Okanagan economy grow and mature in unexpected ways
W
hen the University of British
Columbia opened its Okanagan
campus on the northern outskirts
of Kelowna in 2005, there were 3,000
students. Today, the student body is four
times as large. In addition to new space,
the institution felt the need for greater
engagement with community partners in
health, technology, business and arts and
culture.
That was the impetus behind UBCO
Downtown, a 43-storey, 415,000-square-
foot building currently rising in downtown
Kelowna that will have classroom space
for approximately 1,000 students as well as
473 housing units. In addition, it will have
spaces where academe and the general
public can meet and mingle, including a
public engagement suite, art gallery, maker
space and wine tasting lab.
It's all a far cry from the Thompson
Okanagan region's roots in cattle ranching,
fruit growing, forestry and mining. Those
primary industries are still here, but
today there's so much more: robotics,
aerospace, winemaking, finance. Just
under 20,000 people work in advanced
manufacturing in the region and more than
3,000 in information and communication
technology. Like Vancouver Island, the
southern Interior has seen an influx of
remote workers from major Canadian
cities seeking a more affordable cost
ALL GROWN UP: Downtown
Kelowna (right) is densifying
and diversifying; UBC
Okanagan is building a
43-storey campus and
residential tower downtown
to augment its existing
facilities (below)
Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association in special partnership with BCBusiness.
