View the Draft Economic Development Plan here.
The creation of an Economic Development Plan (Ec. Dev. Plan) for the Town of Smithers was identified in the Town's Official Community Plan (OCP) Bylaw No. 1935, and in Council's Strategic Priorities Plan 2023-2026.
The purpose of the Ec. Dev. Plan is:
- To reflect the current economic landscape of the community;
- To serve as a decision-making tool over the next 5 years (2025 to 2030);
- To set priorities and investment decisions made by the Town, businesses, non-profit groups, and other stakeholders;
- To enhance community well-being, economic prosperity;
- To apply for grant opportunities for economic development; and
- To position Smithers as a great place to live and do business.
The development of the Ec. Dev. Plan comprised three phases:
- Review of current Town plans, including the OCP and Strategic Priorities Plan. A Smithers Situation Analysis report was completed to present industry sector and workforce statistics to identify economic development direction and actions.
- Engagement with the community was a key component, involving: a) community stakeholder workshops on November 30, 2023 and January 30, 2024; b) Committee of the Whole presentation to Council on January 30, 2024; and c) a community survey in January 2024, receiving 237 responses.
- Data, combined with the community input, revealed the strengths, gaps and opportunities that informed the Ec. Dev. Plan content. The Ec. Dev. Plan was created to set the goals, strategies and actions that support the economic vision of the community.
The Economic Development Plan is intended to be a living document with the Action Plan to be implemented over the next five years, ensuring the actions are monitored to assess progress, or to make realignments where necessary. At the end of the five-year period, the Ec. Dev. Plan will be assessed and reviewed to ensure the recommendations and directions remain relevant and appropriate. Creation of the Town's Ec. Dev. Plan depended on the involvement of various organizations, community members, businesses and Mayor and Council. We would like to thank all those who contributed their time, knowledge and input to date.
The draft Ec. Dev. Plan is available for public review from Monday, February 3 to Friday, February 21, 2025. We value your input, and invite you to please provide your feedback and comments to ecdev@smithers.ca.