Affordability & Jobs

One of the key concerns for any Kelowna resident, myself included, is the cost of living. Now, the reality is that the majority of the inputs impacting the steadily rising price of many things are beyond the reach of city councils, but some are not - and Kelowna’s next city council has an obligation to explore every single way they can help make living here more affordable - both by reducing what costs it can, but also by stimulating economic activity and assisting in the creation of employment opportunities where possible.

The most critical area requiring attention with regard to affordability is home prices and rental rates. New home starts effectively doubled in 2023 to 1,518, and increased even more in 2024 to a whopping 1,989, which has helped increase Kelowna’s vacancy rate from just over 1% at one point to over 6% currently. But largely owing to a softening in the housing market and larger-scale economic factors, 2025’s new home starts were down from 2024’s figure at 1,418, and 2026’s are worryingly low, with just 302 housing starts on record from January to July of this year.

In order to ensure rent prices do not increase, Kelowna should index the cost of short-term rental licenses to that of median rental rates, in order to ensure short- and long-term rental inventories are balanced. Doing so would allow the city to ensure rental vacancy rates do not fall to the extremely low levels previously experienced, prevent the need to return to an outright ban on short-term rentals in the future, help balance nightly hotel rates to prevent hampering tourism activity and all those whose livelihood relies on it, and generate additional and much-needed income to the benefit of Kelowna’s residents.

Otherwise, Kelowna should continue the work it is already undertaking to reduce the cost of development and streamline the lengthy approval process, so as to prevent those costs from being carried by whoever ends up renting or purchasing a home here. But at the same time, Kelowna should demand accountability and foster community responsibility from those who stand to profit from development. The debacle around the historic Kelowna Daily Courier (perhaps better remembered by most as the former Keg Steakhouse) facade, which stood supported by scaffolding for years only to be dismantled when the owner of the project stepped away, should result in significant fines. Likewise, bulldozing homes only for the resulting empty dirt lot to sit vacant and fenced off for a year or more cannot be allowed to continue. Just because market conditions have changed, and may delay construction, should not harm the liveability of our neighbourhoods.

Any talk of the cost of living should also include discussions of the other side of the coin: Prosperity. A liveable city is not one that simply ensures necessities are affordable, but one that provides the foundation for its residents to thrive. And with the highest unemployment of all major metropolitan centres in Canada, and even higher youth unemployment, Kelowna is definitely not doing that.

To increase employment, Kelowna needs to foster a better business environment for small- and medium-sized enterprises. As it stands, commercial space in Kelowna costs roughly the same per square foot as space in Richmond, with the obvious difference being that businesses in Richmond have access to millions of potential customers and clients throughout the GVRD to help offset higher overhead costs, making Kelowna a riskier place for SMEs to explore.

To address this, Kelowna should examine the volume, composition, and locations of its commercial and industrial zones and, through stakeholder consultation, compare its commercial makeup and plan with what businesses need to ensure alignment. Moreover, to accelerate economic growth immediately, Kelowna should examine how to better adapt the inventory of existing commercial property to new and novel uses that better align with modern needs, with the aim of preventing the costly and time-consuming process of tearing down existing structures and replacing them. This would not only accelerate the creation of new jobs in those spaces, but also conserve materials and energy and help Kelowna preserve what history it can; especially relevant as progress is made around the former Tolko mill in the North End.

Finally, the City of Kelowna should look inward to ensure it is doing everything it can to provide responsible employment itself. The proposed lifeguard and park ranger programs would provide an entirely new avenue for youth employment, and I would also work to institute a ban on the use of AI in any customer/resident-facing role, where chatbots may otherwise occupy entry-level customer service positions and provide significantly worse quality of service.

Kelowna should take a leadership position in showcasing the various industries thriving in the area, helping to drive growth in established sectors through both public events and the ability to coordinate across academic and commercial lines.

A large-scale Kelowna Wine Week, for example, could leverage the Okanagan’s well-regarded reputation for winemaking, and Kelowna’s top-shelf venues like City Park and Meet Me On Bernard to attract large numbers of domestic tourists in the shoulder season, bringing an economic boost to the local wineries, breweries, and distilleries as well as the hospitality sector. Live music, long-table dining events hosted by local restaurants, multiple venues in our various parks, coordinated with transportation between them through wine tourism companies and the city - it could be a phenomenal highlight of the year for many and help cement our status as Canada’s wine mecca.

Likewise, a similarly-sized celebration of speed is sorely needed in Canada, and Kelowna is the perfect host: With a lake large enough for Red Bull’s famous air races and a fantastic aircraft museum operated by one of Canada’s largest aviation companies, the longstanding history of powerboat racing with the Regatta and home to one of the world’s foremost vintage boat restoration companies, and a vibrant and growing car scene that spans the gamut from hot rods and Thunder Mountain Raceway to the historic Knox Mountain Hillclimb to modern supercars with August’s Dream Car Rally, the pieces are all in place for Kelowna to host an incredible family-friendly celebration of everything that rolls, floats, or flies. This would increase the visibility of our local businesses on a grand scale, providing economic benefits from the hospitality industry to auto sales and aviation, and providing residents with free, accessible, events where people can express and share their passions.

But we shouldn’t stop there. Beyond leveraging city facilities and the ability to coordinate across a myriad of sectors to expand the scope and scale of event offerings, Kelowna should also identify specific sectors that Kelowna is particularly well suited to hosting, and strive to both ensure the city offers everything businesses considering relocation may need, and actively pursue new and burgeoning industries. For example, with an established aviation industry including an aviation electronics manufacturer, two excellent local post-secondary computer science and engineering programs, UBC’s Survive and Thrive Lab, an international airport, and tremendous ready access to the widest variety of different terrain types and climes in Canada, Kelowna is a natural home for unmanned aerial vehicle development - one of the fastest-growing and most lucrative industries in some time. By working with intergovernmental agencies and other levels of government, we can cement that position, and create an entirely new industry for our region and secure thousands of jobs.