Lower Business Costs

Industrial Land Price

$540,000/acre industrial land*
$4,500,000 – $5,100,000/acre Metro Vancouver**

*based on Jan 2026 3818 Kenwood Gate Lot# B Scotch Creek 0.99 acre industrial listing (water well, fully fenced).

Commercial Lease Price

• Sorrento/Blind Bay: $15 (older)-$22 (newer)/ ft²/yr. triple net
• Falkland Area (Area D): $10-$14/ ft²/yr.
• North Shuswap (Celista/Anglemont – year-round retail space is scarce): $12-$16/ ft²/yr.

Industrial Lease Price

• Scotch Creek: $14-18/ ft²/yr.
• Tappen (north): $14-18/ ft²/yr.
• Metro Vancouver: $20.51/ft²/yr**

Shuswap industrial lease rates and commercial rates outside Sorrento anecdotal based on history/limited current availability to draw data from.

**Q2 2025 Industrial Market Report 

Workforce/Entrepreneur Housing Affordability

House Prices are deeply affordable compared to Vancouver/Kelowna, and comparable to Calgary.

House Prices (2025)*

81st best representative** house value of 161 BC urban municipalities.
22% of representative house value of City of Vancouver.
56% of representative house value of Kelowna.
73% of BC representative house value.
96% of average Calgary house resale value***.
Average residential assessment – 2025

Area C (South Shuswap incl. White Lake, Eagle Bay, Wild Rose Bay): $613,478
Area D (Falkland, Ranchero / Deep Creek, Salmon Valley, Silver Creek): $583,713
Area F (North Shuswap – Scotch Creek, Celista, Anglemont, Seymour Arm): $491,055
Area G (South Shuswap incl. Sorrento, Blind Bay, Notch Hill): $686,468
Area Average: $593,678

Src: CSRD average of average 2025 residential property assessment for aggregate Columbia Shuswap Regional District Areas C, D, F, G compared to urban municipal statistics – BC Government.

* Note: this information is general only for comparative purpose given: 1) rural districts housing statistics are not tracked by the BC Government; 2) there is a 30% average assessed value variation across the CSRD; 3) Differences between assessed and market values.
**a standardized measure of residential property values across communities in British Columbia. It is not the average or median sale price of all homes, but rather a figure intended to represent a typical or standard home in a given area for statistical and comparative purposes.
*** Src: Wealth North

Cost of Living

Toronto-based data analytics and real estate company AreaVibes indicates Columbia Shuswap Regional District Areas C, D, F and G have a cost of living approximately 25% lower than BC. Src: Area Vibes.

Municipal Utility Rates

Columbia Shuswap Regional District Areas C, D, F, G residential municipal utility costs are approximately 10-50% of the City of Vancouver and 20-70% of the City of Calgary. Columbia Shuswap Regional District Areas C, D, F, G small commercial municipal utility costs are approximately 10-50% of the City of Vancouver and 15-50% of the City of Calgary.

Water: water utility infrastructure is available in selected communities, otherwise properties have independent wells. 2025 Annual water rates (no additional consumption charge)) are specific to each water utility, and are as follows:

Comparative water rate example: City of Calgary $1430 resident/$1633 small business annually (water and sewer integrated bill). City of Vancouver $837 annually (flat rate customers). Src: Calgary Residential, Calgary Commercial. Vancouver.

Wastewater: with the exception of most (but not all) homes in Shuswap Lake Estates that have sewer connection to a modern sub-surface aerated lagoon wastewater treatment facility, all of the Columbia Shuswap Regional District has onsite wastewater systems (septic tanks/fields), with homeowners responsible for upkeep.

Comparative wastewater rate example: City of Vancouver $1173 annually (flat rate customers). Src: Vancouver.

Municipal Tax Rate

The Columbia Shuswap Regional District has the lowest (Areas C, D, F) to 4th lowest (Area G) taxes and charges on a representative house compared to 160 BC urban municipalities. Taxes and charges on a representative house are approximately 64% lower than the BC urban municipality average ($5,382).

Taxes and charges on a representative house (2025):

Area C (South Shuswap incl. White Lake, Eagle Bay, Wild Rose Bay): $1931.72
Area D (Falkland, Ranchero / Deep Creek, Salmon Valley, Silver Creek): $1858.77
Area F (North Shuswap incl. Scotch Creek, Celista, Anglemont, Seymour Arm): $1608.45
Area G (South Shuswap incl. Sorrento, Blind Bay, Notch Hill): $2134.64

Municipal Tax Burden

Columbia Shuswap Regional Distrct Municipal Tax Burden – in urban terms – is the lowest (Area D) to 5th lowest (Area C) municipal tax burden per capita of 160 urban BC municipalities.

Municipal Tax Burden Per Capita: $193-568

Area C: $1,672,972. Estimated population: 2941. Municipal tax burden per capita: $568
Area D: $880,226. Estimated population: 4558. Municipal tax burden per capita: $193
Area F: $2,025,403. Estimated population: 3648. Municipal tax burden per capita: $555
Area G: 2,181,752. Estimated population: 6547. Municipal tax burden per capita: $333

Src: Budgets: Property Taxes divided by population estimates to 2025 based on projection of 10-year growth rate to 2021. BC municipal (urban) tax burden statistics.

Vision

The Shuswap is a lifestyle-led community inspired by its lake(s) and pastoral setting.

With ease of access to major urban market, a growing population, leading construction, tourism and agriculture sectors, and one-third of workforce who are self-employed, the Shuswap offers soulful work-life balance to entrepreneurs.

The Shuswap is a complete, connected community, enabled by our efforts to create housing choice and affordability, village centres mixed-use densification, water/wastewater servicing, additional industrial and commercial land, spaces that nurture entrepreneurship, and gigabit broadband.

The Shuswap is an investment-friendly community, enabled by planning policy and a streamlined development approvals process.