Commercial and Industrial Lands Explored

The purpose of this research project was to better understand the landscape of wealth generating lands in the Columbia Basin-Boundary region of BC. With an improved regional-level understanding of the region’s ‘employment lands’ landscape, the region will be in a better position of make informed land use decisions and attract and retain business and investment. The project explored assets and gaps in the region’s employment lands landscape, assessed whether employment lands can accommodate investment and business growth, and explored the utilization of existing employment lands and possible constraints to use. Researchers from the Columbia Basin Rural Development Institute (RDI) and Selkirk Geospatial Research Centre (SGRC) at Selkirk College worked under the guidance of a regional advisory committee and the project sponsor: Community Futures East Kootenay. Community Futures East Kootenay, the Province of BC, the Southern Interior Beetle Action Coalition, and Columbia Basin Trust provided funding for this 2-year applied research project.

Data suggest there is an adequate supply of employment lands in the region to accommodate new investment and growth with the exception of commercial lands in the Elk Valley Corridor and industrial lands in the Columbia Valley and Elk Valley Corridors. It is important to note that this analysis did not include real estate or topographic data and therefore it is unclear if the identified vacant land supply is for sale and / or on a useable slope. Future research could address these analytic gaps. Future research could also focus on addressing zoning data gaps for five communities within the Regional District of East Kootenay. Learn more.

View Employment Lands Final Report.

Inventory data and related maps were generated for each of the 28 municipalities in the region using a Retail Trade Area (RTA) scale. An analysis of the employment lands inventory at the RTA scale allows for an improved local-level understanding of available commercial and industrial lands, which could inform future planning and investment attraction efforts. Please note these maps have been updated with 2014 data.

View Community-Level Employment Lands Maps.

Investors, business owners and economic development practitioners are encouraged to use the Digital Basin site selector tool to search the employment lands inventory against a set of selection criteria (including grade/slope). View the Digital Basin Site Selector Tool Video to get started.