for tourism is going to come from—other
Islanders, Vancouver, out of province,
international? And she said, quite wisely
I think, that it's the Lower Mainland, par-
ticularly with the transportation and the
costs in Vancouver. If you want a weekend
away, come here without a vehicle, explore
the downtown. So much is available within
walking distance." And maybe, like Amy
Ferris and Adrian Symonds eight years ago,
you'll end up staying.
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B C B U S I N E S S . C A
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 2 5 L e o n a r d K r o g : D ir k H e y d e m a n n o f H A P h o t o g r a p h y ; To u r i s m N a n ai m o
In 2018, city hall was reeling from years of
ineffectiveness largely due to a group of
councillors colloquially known as the Gang
of Five. "All it took was for someone to act
like an adult," he says.
When I posed to people in town what
top question they would have for the mayor
if they could ask him anything, some were
amused by the question. Three separate
people simply answered that they could,
in fact, ask him anything, directly, if they
ever wanted to.
"There's an awful lot to bring one here
and an awful lot of reasons to stay," says
Krog. "It's not like what Father Leo Roberts
said in 1972, when he called [Nanaimo] a
coal town with a coal town's mentality. In
those days it was starting to turn but was
still a community where you wanted to
come from but not come to."
In the 2021 census, the Nanaimo metro-
politan area was named one of the coun-
try's five fastest-growing regions, a fact
Krog happily notes while making his point
about the city's evolution since that diss
from the clergyman. "The biggest growth
was in 25-to-44-year-olds," he says. "Those
are the folks that are pursuing careers, buy-
ing houses, having kids, being productive.
To me, that's important."
Krog also points to Vancouver Island
University as an important piece in the
city's efforts to gather newcomers: "Last
year, VIU graduated students from 89 differ-
ent countries. It's a small university, yet it's
attracted people from around the world,
many of whom want to stay." He calls
Nanaimo's population of some 108,000 a
"diverse and attractive community."
There are challenges, of course. Krog
has been open about advocating for secure
and voluntary care for some of the city's
more vulnerable residents for a long
time—well before his old party, the BC
NDP, adopted the same messaging ahead
of last year's provincial election. He also
notes that the city is large in area relative
to its amount of residents, making it tough
to manage infrastructure like bike lanes
and transit.
His eye, of course, often wanders
toward attracting others to the city: "I
asked [Tourism Nanaimo executive direc-
tor] Carly [Pereboom] where our growth
"The biggest growth was
in 25-to-44-year-olds.
Those are the folks that are
pursuing careers, buying
houses, having kids,
being productive.
To me, that's
important."
-Leonard Krog,
mayor of Nanaimo
