INVEST in BC 2 0 2 4 33
RIGHT:
TOURISM
KELOWNA/MICHAEL
HINTRINGER
PHOTOGRAPHY
of living in the wake of the COVID -19
pandemic. And they've brought with them
yet more in-demand skills, ideas, capital
and consumer tastes.
Okanagan College is beginning
construction this summer on a Centre for
Food, Wine and Tourism at its Kelowna
campus at a cost of $56 million. The
facility, slated to open in 2026, will expand
education in the culinary arts, local food
and beverage production and world-class
hospitality services, aiming to help meet a
skills shortage in these areas.
BETTER CONNECTED
THAN EVER BEFORE
The region owes its growing economic
diversification in large part to improved
transportation links with surrounding
regions and the world outside, combined
with its own quality of life. One of the
fastest-growing airports in Canada,
the Kelowna International Airport is
committed to $422 million in upgrades
between 2024 and 2033, including a
terminal expansion, new industrial and
commercial space, 245-room Sutton Place
Hotel and new parking garage as well as
safety and sustainability improvements.
Not all new developments in the
Thompson Okanagan are big and flashy,
however. Some simply fill in gaps in the
local economy that have lingered too long.
Sweláps Market, a supermarket focused
on fresh, local food, opened in the autumn
of 2023 on the T'kemlúps te Secwépemc
reserve in the heart of Kamloops. The store
AVIATION HUB: One of Canada's
fastest-growing airports, Kelowna
International (above) has embarked
on $422 million in upgrades
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Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association in special partnership with BCBusiness.
