Overview
Jobs in technology, engineering, advanced manufacturing, robotics and technical services are growing rapidly across British Columbia, and Campbell River is no exception. With a history rooted in industry, and a community surrounded by the natural resources of land, air and sea, we are uniquely placed to be at the forefront of a new industrial revolution, developing modern, technology-based solutions to solve challenges in aquaculture, forestry, mining and energy.
Municipal support for this emerging sector is strong. We recognize the positive economic, ecological and cultural impacts that these industries can create within a community. By taking steps such as building a municipally owned fibre-optic broadband network, creating investment opportunities through funding competitions and angel investor groups, and by hosting networking and professional development events, our accessibility to the tech sector is poised to see rapid and exceptional growth.
LOCAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
The municipal government works with the business community to offer strong support to all local businesses.
- Networking and professional development opportunities, such as the Modern Entrepreneur workshop series, are routinely held and well-attended.
- A new coworking space has made a significant impact on moving freelancers and solo-preneurs out
of their homes and into the community.
COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT
- We see enormous potential for the growing tech sector to focus on local issues, developing solutions for existing industries such as forestry, aquaculture, etc. This will require bringing more freelancers, solo-preneurs, startups and creatives to the region.
- Campbell River easily fits into existing global marketplaces by accommodating satellite offices, solo-preneurs and required support services.
“Campbell River is really one of the
best places on Earth—there’s no traffic,
no commute. All the amenities of a bigger city,
plus the beautiful natural surroundings.”
- Mark Sylvester, ASAP Geomatix
Municipal Support
The City of Campbell River has worked hard to create a business environment that is conducive to tech companies and startups:
- CRadvantage
- Modern Entrepreneur workshop series
- TECHatchery
- NexStream Tech Competition
Land & Real Estate
Campbell River has several types of industrial and commercial spaces, which are affordable and suitable for a wide variety of creative and technology-based services to launch and grow. Customize your own space to suit your needs.
- more than 1,000 acres of vacant airport lands, suitable for light industrial development
(Source: Campbell River Employment Land Strategy)
- More than 500 acres of vacant airport lands with airside access, suitable for a range of aerospace support services (Source: Campbell River Employment Land Strategy)
- Available office space in the downtown core, with access to the CRadvantage fibre-optic network
- Several development sites for new office and commercial development opportunities
- Recent growth in coworking and shared office spaces around the city
Quick Facts:
There was an estimated 51% increase in employment in these industries in Campbell River from 2016 to 2019, particularly in professional services like engineering.
Campbell River has also seen growth in the number of businesses offering services such as advanced manufacturing and research and development.
(Source: Consultant estimates based on Statistics Canada Business Counts, June 2016 and June 2019)
Transportation
The infrastructure is in place to support aviation service operations, commuting entrepreneurs, scientific consulting firms and more. Our community is connected by air, land and sea.
Communications
Our community understands that tech-based companies require access to fast internet and reliable communications systems, which is why the City developed and launched CRadvantage, the first municipally owned, open-access network of its kind on Vancouver Island. CRadvantage:
- Provides identical upload and download bandwidth, scalable to 1GB per second.
- Puts Campbell River on equal footing with competitors in downtown Vancouver, Palo Alto, San Francisco, or New York City, at a fraction of the cost of living and doing business.
- Has room for expansion to other areas of the city.
Education/Training Opportunities
Campbell River is home to several highly qualified and experienced business owners, entrepreneurs and innovators who continually work with education providers to develop programs and enhance training opportunities in our area. Local programs include:
- Interactive Media Certificate or Diploma
- TV and Film Crew Training
- Science Technology Engineering courses
- Industrial Automation Technician Diploma
- Metal Fabrication
- • Engineering Foundations Certificate
“There are so many people in Campbell
River with talent, knowledge and experience
that are working from home. One of our
motivations for opening a coworking space
was to pull all of that talent together and get
them out and talking to each other.”
- Matthew Fox, Campbell River Coworking