THOUSANDS Unemployed in Kelowna — Here's Why

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Kelowna just received a title that nobody here wants. For the third month in a row, the Kelowna region has the highest unemployment rate in Canada. The latest number has climbed to 9.3% — which works out to roughly 13,100 unemployed people in the central Okanagan. Back in March, that number was around 9,300. In four months, about 3,800 more people joined the unemployed count.

But here's what makes this more complicated than it first sounds: at the same time unemployment is going up, Kelowna is actually adding jobs. So what's going on?

Jobs Are Being Added — So Why Is Unemployment Rising?

In July alone, Kelowna added about 3,300 jobs. Yet the unemployment rate still crept higher. The reason: even more people entered the labour force — roughly 3,600 additional people started looking for work that month. Since April, the region has added around 6,300 jobs, but about 8,700 additional people have entered the labour force during that same period.

The jobs are there. They're just not being created fast enough to keep up with the number of people looking for them. That's a very different situation from one where businesses are cutting back. It's still a problem worth paying attention to — but it's a different kind of problem.

The Seasonal Economy Problem

A big part of Kelowna's economy is tied to industries that run on tourism — hospitality, wineries, golf courses, construction. These jobs tend to spike in the summer and fall off in the winter. The July numbers reflected that seasonal surge, but if the region is going to grow into the city it's becoming, it needs more year-round, higher-paying employment.

It's worth noting that at the time these numbers were released, the Okanagan was surrounded by significant wildfires — including a large fire in Summerland and another in the Vernon area. That smoke and those evacuations likely had some effect on summer tourism activity, which could show up in future employment numbers.

What Kelowna Is Doing About It

With a municipal election approaching, the unemployment numbers have become part of the conversation about what kind of city Kelowna wants to be. The current mayor has pointed to major events — the Memorial Cup, Hoopfest, Touchdown Kelowna, and the BC Summer Games — as generating over $100 million in economic impact and supporting local jobs. The focus has been on attracting events that bring spending into hotels, restaurants, and local businesses.

Other voices are focused on reducing barriers for business investment, keeping property taxes in check, and building a conference centre to attract events in the slower shoulder seasons.

One area where there's broad agreement: the airport. KF Aerospace is already a major employer. Okanagan College is developing an aerospace training centre. There's a real opportunity to build a larger aviation and aerospace industry around Kelowna International Airport — the kind of industry that offers higher-paying, year-round jobs that aren't dependent on tourist season.

The Bigger Question: Can Kelowna's Economy Keep Up?

Kelowna has grown rapidly over the past 20 years and that growth is still ongoing — airport expansion, UBCO's continued growth, an established tech and healthcare sector, new residential construction. The question isn't just whether the unemployment rate drops next month. It's whether Kelowna can build an economy over the next decade that actually matches the size and cost of the city it's becoming.

Creating jobs solves part of the problem. But if wages don't keep up with the cost of housing and living, and if workers can't afford to live here, those jobs don't help much. And if the population keeps growing faster than employment, more people end up competing for the same jobs — which is at least part of what these numbers are showing right now.

A 9.3% unemployment rate doesn't mean Kelowna's economy is falling apart. The job creation numbers actually show the opposite. But three straight months at the top of that list — during what should be the strongest employment season of the year — is a signal worth taking seriously.