Business closures up 32% in Kelowna

The COVID-19 pandemic’s specific effects on Kelowna include a 32% spike in business closures and elevated unemployment, and a plunge in transit and air travel.

Traffic on major city streets dropped 30% from March through June with more people working from home, but usage by cyclists and hikers of the Okanagan Rail Trail has risen 25%.

For every person working at home, greenhouse gas emissions fall by about 1.5 tonnes annually because they aren’t driving as much, city officials say.

For Monday’s council meeting, staff have prepared a report that examines the pandemic’s impact on Kelowna from economic, social, and planning perspectives.

It contains suggestions on ways near-term planning decisions could be affected by the pandemic that are said to be beneficial in addressing “climate change, healthy community design and economic inequality.‚Äù

“For example, transportation investments in infrastructure could encourage walking and cycling to promote enduring behaviour change that will lead to cleaner forms of transportation, creating a greener and more equitable city for all,” reads part of the report, from planners Ross Soward and James Moore.

The city should also move away encouraging large retail developments relatively far from where people live, in favour of more neighbourhood shopping areas, Soward and Moore say.

“Most people living in suburban areas rely on a car to leave their local neighbourhood and drive to busy big box retail (eg. Costco or Orchard Park mall) for many of their day-to-day needs, causing increased GHG emissions and equity challenges,” Soward and Moore write.

“The lack of local shops and services available is of greater importance during the pandemic as people turn to crowded big box stores while public health officials urge Canadians to avoid large crowds as much as possible,” they write.

Citing Statistics Canada, the report states 1,549 businesses have closed in greater Kelowna so far this year, compared to 1,179 in 2019, for a 32% increase. But those numbers compare only the period of Januaryto-April in both years.

On its website, Statistics Canada shows there were 5,381 active businesses in greater Kelowna in June of this year, down 10% from the 5,875 businesses active in January.

From January through June, 2,247 Kelowna-area businesses have closed, while 1,722 have opened. The comparable numbers for the first six months of 2019 were 1,777 business closures and 1,777 business openings.

Transit ridership is down 50% compared to last year while passenger counts at YLW are down 57%.

The current unemployment rate in greater Kelowna is 8%, having peaked at 10.2% in May, and above the 5.9% recorded in March before worsening economic conditions caused by the pandemic triggered job losses and both permanent and temporary business closures.

None of the 943 full-time city employees were laid off because of the pandemic.