Courtenay, BC (Comox Valley)

The City of Courtenay (22,533) is the largest of three municipalities in the Comox Valley and is considered the business and cultural centre of the region. Its many businesses, services and eateries straddle the meandering Puntledge River and stunning Courtenay Estuary.

At its heart is Downtown Courtenay, widely considered one of the most vibrant cores on Vancouver Island. The downtown showcases many unique shops and an incredible cultural district including the Sid Williams Civic Theatre, the Comox Valley Art Gallery, and the Courtenay and District Museum.

Comox Valley Economic Development Strategic Plan

Although the Comox Valley has several distinct communities and areas, it takes a regional approach in its economic development strategies.

In 2005 the Comox Valley Economic Development Society together with the municipalities and Regional District developed a comprehensive plan which saw key sectors and opportunities targeted as having the best economic growth potential for the region. They include:

• Food and Beverage Processing Cluster
• Air Transportation Cluster
• Knowledge-based and Environmental Technologies Cluster
• Resort Development
• 2010 Olympic Opportunities
• Value-added Wood Products

Food and Beverage Processing Cluster

Extensive agrifood research and a full-scale marketing campaign has been launched targeting agrifood producers and processors to relocated or expand their businesses to the Comox Valley. This opportunity is ideally suited to the rural areas as there is a critical mass of agricultural and processing activity already taking place and large amounts of agriculturally designated land is selling for less than other growing regions like the Fraser Valley.

Air Transportation Cluster

The Comox Valley has an unprecedented competitive advantage in developing an air transportation cluster because of the scale of the civil aviation services that have developed at the Comox Valley Airport (YQQ). The airport resides on Canadian Forces Base CFB 19 Wing Comox, and thereby boasts the second largest runway (10,000 ft. long) after Vancouver International. The region has attracted such airlines as WestJet, Air Canada, Central Mountain Air and Pacific Coastal.

2010 Olympic Opportunities

The Comox Valley is uniquely positioned to capitalize on the 2010 Games due in part to its proximity to Vancouver and the region being home to Mount Washington Alpine Resort.

The Comox Valley Spirit of BC Community Committee was the only Vancouver Island Community to send a delegation to the 2006 Torino Winter Games, and has aggressively pursued team training attraction based on Mount Washington's comparable training conditions to Whistler and Callahan Valley. To date the Swiss Nordic Ski Team and the Canadian National Nordic Ski Team have named the Valley as their 2010 training destination.