Jobs, Affordable Housing and Healthy Lifestyle Available In Northern BC Coastal Town
Downtown Kitimat’s welcoming sign. @Paula Keech photos
KITIMAT – People looking for well-paying jobs in a friendly town with plenty of recreational opportunities and very affordable housing should turn their eyes towards the northern coast of BC.
The town of Kitimat is growing and is wanting more citizens to take up residence in the area to help build the community and the economy.
Cameron Orr, Business and Communications Manager for the Town of Kitimat, says “It’s a great town and we want people to move here, stay here and work here.”
Kitimat’s current population is 8,500, and the town continues to be filled with construction workers on projects like the LNG Canada construction and the proposed Cedar LNG export facility- majority-owned by Haisla Nation – which recently received approval from the provincial government and will produce about three million tonnes of Liquefied Natural Gas per year. Before that, Rio Tinto completed its major Kemano hydropower project.
“We have a lot of people that have been here for the construction of the projects,” Orr notes. “We think it’s a springboard for more projects over the next couple of years.”
A view of the ocean from the Kitimat waterfront
“There are lots of jobs available, and a lot of opportunities in construction. Basically it seems that just about everywhere else, almost every company is looking to hire people,” he adds. “Trades people and professional positions are open, and there are opportunities for pretty much every type of employment, including local government services.”
The average single family home price was $393,625 in March, which is roughly half of homes in the Okanagan, Vancouver Island, and, of course, the Lower Mainland.
“We’re a great small town with affordable real estate,” he says. “It’s feasible to buy and own a home here, where you’re not very far from where you work, and the average commute is five minutes or so.”
Orr moved to Kitimat in 2007 to work as a reporter with the Northern Sentinel newspaper, then held a communications position with Haisla Nation for six years before joining the District of Kitimat team.
A Haisla totem pole in Kitimat
“I like it here, and it’s a good town to raise a family in,” he says. “We have two kids now, and I’m very happy that we moved here. It’s a better pace than the big city, and I own our own home. That’s a lot harder to do in bigger centres, plus you can find work here much easier.”
Kitimat has good, accessible recreation facilities including two ice sheets, a swimming pool and a recreation centre. That is in addition to the obvious abundant outdoor recreational activities like fishing, hunting and hiking, with a new waterfront nature park, Minette Bay West, opened last summer, and bike trails under construction.
“We’re pretty famous for our fishing,” he notes, adding it was a good year for freshwater fishing on the Kitimat River and salt water fishing in Douglas Channel.
“I tell my friends down south about what we have in terms of facilities,” he says. “And we’re close to the airport, so we can get in and out whenever we want or need.”
By Business Examiner Staff