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Introduction

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The Kootenay Development Region (KDR) encompasses 57,787 km[2,1] and includes the East Kootenay, Central Kootenay, and Kootenay-Boundary Regional Districts and extends from Radium Hot Springs in the north down to the US border, and from the City of Greenwood in the west across to the Municipality of Sparwood in the east. In 2009, the KDR’s population reached 150,654,2 with 22.1% of the region’s residents clustered in the Tri-City area,[3] and another 17% residing in the vicinity of Cranbrook and Kimberley.

Trail is a financial and service centre for the region and home to Teck Metal’s lead-zinc smelter complex, the largest one of its kind in the world. Castlegar is a regional trade and transportation centre, and Nelson’s economy is resource based (forestry and mining), and a provincial government administrative centre. Cranbrook’s economy is driven primarily by mining, forestry, transportation, and tourism. In the rest of the Development Region, forestry, mining, and tourism are the key generators of employment and income, making local economies more cyclical. The importance of manufacturing has declined in the KDR, and now ranks fifth in importance.[4]

In the KDR, the value of building permits plummeted in 2009 and the dollar value of major projects under construction declined. Mineral exploration virtually came to a standstill, a result of tight financial markets. Exploration expenditures in 2009 are projected to be just $14 million, down considerably from the previous two years.[5] The KDR’s housing market rallied by the end of the year, however, housing prices in the KDR are still well below those in the province as a whole.

There were positive developments in the KDR in 2009. In the face of falling prices and the loss of established customers, Teck’s five coal mines in the Elk Valley were able to take advantage of burgeoning sales to China—which soared by 363% for BC coal exporters in 2009.[6, 7] Teck’s mines employ over 2,800 of the KDR’s labour force and make a signficant contribution to the economy of the East Kootenay Regional District.[8]

Cranbrook’s recently expanded airport is opening up the region to international tourism.[9] And in a move to stimulate the economy, the federal and provincial governments provided funding to upgrade infrastructure—in 2009, the value of institutional and government building permits in the KDR was up by $16.5 million.[10] Projects such as the $15 million Kootenay Lake Hospital emergency department expansion and improvements to local highways and bridges also created short-term employment opportunities.

Footnotes

1. Statistics Canada, 2006 Census.
2. Statistics Canada, British Columbia Census Divisions - Annual Population Estimates at July 1st, Table 3.10-1, Catalogue 91-241-X, February 4, 2010.
3. Includes the key communities of Nelson, Castlegar and Trail, plus Rossland, Fruitvale, Warfield, and Montrose.
4. In 2004, manufacturing comprised 15.4% of KDR employment; by 2009 the share was reduced to 6.5%. Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Historical Survey, CD1, Table 33AN.
5. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Mining and Minerals Division, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 2009, January 2010
6. BC Stats, Exports, January 2010, Issue 10-01, March 2010.
7. Teck Resources Limited, News Release, “4Q Results for the 3 Months Ended December 31, 2009”, February 8, 2010.
8. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources Mining and Minerals Division, Exploration and Mining in British Columbia 2009, January 2010.
9. Canadian Rockies International Airport, www.flycanadianrockies.com.
10. BC Stats, British Columbia Building Permits for Development Regions and Regional Districts by Type 2000-2008, February 5, 2009.