Kelowna’s unemployment rate jumps again, worse than height of COVID-19 pandemic – Okanagan

Unemployment is on the rise in Kelowna as businesses are forced to make difficult decisions amid current economic conditions.

The Salt and Brick restaurant, once a thriving dining spot in downtown Kelowna, closed for good last month after the owner cited a tough business climate.

“It just didn’t make business sense to be open any longer,” said owner Casey Greabeiel on Sept. 26, just days head of the closure.

It’s just one example of people losing work in a city where unemployment is soaring.

“It’s always concerning to see unemployment rise in small-business-dependent communities like Kelowna,” said Ryan Mitton, B.C.’s legislative affairs director with the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

According to Statistics Canada, the jobless rate in the Kelowna area rose to 9.3 per cent in October, an increase of 2.2 per cent in just one month.

Kelowna’s jobless rate is now worse than it was at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Among the cities surveyed, it’s the second highest in B.C. after Kamloops.

Construction, tourism and agriculture are said to be among the sectors being hard hit.

While the trade war is having an impact, according to Mitton, so is the government’s high cost of doing business.

“At the same time that small businesses are trying to compete with Trump’s tariffs, they’re also facing high taxes here at home,” Mitton said. “And really that’s what elected officials need to start focusing on if we’re going to start cracking down on some of these unemployment numbers.”

The numbers are vastly different in other parts of the province, namely Victoria, where the unemployment rate factually fell slightly to 4.2 per cent last month.

“The difference between Victoria and Kelowna is a tale of two cities,” said Gavin Dew, Conservative MLA for Kelowna-Mission.

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Dew blamed the disparity on the NDP government and on what he calls bad policies.

“What really worries me is the disconnect between a growing public sector and an anemic private sector,” Dew said. “We have strong employment in Victoria and families feeling secure, and here in Kelowna, we have rising unemployment, and we have families feeling the pinch.”

While saying it understand the concerns, the ministry of jobs and economic growth stated, “In the days ahead we’ll be launching our next steps for creating jobs and prosperity.

“The plan will focus on delivering major projects, strengthening key sectors and ensuring people have the skills they need in the future of our economy, ” the ministry added.

It’s the kind of government support many say can’t come soon enough.

“One in five small businesses in B.C. say they cannot continue for another six months at this current rate,” Mitton said. “They will have to start making tough choices about laying off staff or shutting down altogether.”

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