State of the Economy

Last Thursday, the Chamber of Commerce luncheon featured a presentation by Mayor Krog on the "State of the Nanaimo Economy". Plenty of interesting information and data, all of which suggested that there are many positive things happening in our community. A sampling: Total building permits in city in 2022 reached a value of $410.3 million, an increase of 51% over 2021. Housing starts were up by 9%, with multi-unit developments accounting for 77% of new housing starts. Our labour force grew by 6.9%, and new job posting were up by 38.7%. Nanaimo's unemployment rate of 3.6% was lower than the Island and provincial rate. In the past five years an average of 3400 new residents relocated to the Regional District of Nanaimo, with our average age dropping to 44.8 years. There was lots more. For the full report, visit www.nanaimo.ca/doing-business/economic-development.