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Thompson-Okanagan

photograph of the British Columbia Houses of Parliament in Victoria
Source

Overview

The Thompson-Okanagan region in BC’s central interior lies between the Cascade and Monashee mountains, and borders Alberta and Washington. It is a popular tourist destination, renowned for its sunny climate and beautiful landscapes. The region is also an area of remarkable geographical diversity, comprising desert, mountains, lakes, and rivers. 

With its hot, dry summers, Thompson-Okanagan is popular as both a vacation destination and a place for retirees to live. Due to the above average amount of retirees living in this region, the unemployment rate is consistently higher than the provincial rate, as is the median age of its residents.

The pleasant climate and the many recreational activities have been credited for the region’s increasing population growth, now the third largest region in BC. There are 609,300 people living in this region, with about three-quarters of them residing in urban centres and one-quarter in more rural areas. Kelowna is the largest city in the region. Other key cities include Vernon, Kamloops, and Penticton.

map of B.C. with the Thompson-Okanagan region highlighted

Job Outlook

The Thompson-Okanagan region accounts for the third largest percentage of provincial employment. Over the next decade (2023-2033), it is projected that there will be 124,620 job openings, with an average annual employment growth rate of 1.2%. The following careers are expected to see the highest proportion of job openings.

table listing top ten occupation employment counts in Thompson Okanagan region

Source: WorkBC 

Key Industries

The diverse economy in the Thompson-Okanagan region is based on the industries of health care, manufacturing, technology, agriculture, livestock, forage production and ranching, mining, logging, and tourism. Key growth industries include information and communications technology, film and digital media, clean energy, viticulture and wine production, aviation, and health care.

Thompson-Okanagan has some of the best agricultural land in the province and is a prime location for vineyards and orchards. There are also some cattle ranches in the region. A large share of BC’s Agriculture employment is located in this region.

This region also has a relatively large share of provincial employment in some services sector industries due to its popularity as a vacation destination.

table listing key industries employment counts in Thompson-Okanagan region

Sources: WorkBC,  Trade and Invest BC, Central Okanagan EDC