FILE PHOTO - Kelowna at sunset.

Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

An estimated 6,467 new people arrived in the Central Okanagan in 2022, the largest single annual increase in the past decade.

There were 5,475 new people in 2021 and only 2,521 in 2012.

The rate of growth was 2.8%, which is the second highest in the past decade, falling short of 2016’s 2.9% when the population grew by 5,695.

READ MORE: Kelowna, Kamloops among three fastest-growing larger cities in Canada, new census data shows

That’s according to Statistics Canada’s population estimates as posted on a new data portal created by the Central Okanagan Economic Development Commission.

It shows the regional population reached 235,472 last year.

The labour force totalled 126,600 in May with a regional unemployment rate of 2.8% when compared to a national unemployment rate that hit 5.4% in June and a provincial rate of 5.6%.

READ MORE: Here's a quick glance at unemployment rates for June, by province

There are 32,508 businesses in the Central Okanagan regional district of which 21% or 6,838 are in the real estate, rental and leasing classification.

Construction ranked second at 12.7% of all businesses while the professional, scientific and technical services classification came in third at 10.8%.

Those are the number of businesses. In terms of employment, wholesale and retail trade accounted for the most jobs with 21,800 out of the region’s 126,600 workers, or 17.2%

Construction had the second highest number of employees at 12.1% while healthcare and social services came in third at 11%.

The real estate, rental and leasing classification, which has the largest number of business, is lumped in with finances for the employment data. That sector employed 4,800 people or 3.8% of the workforce.

The stats are based on the fed's Labour Force Survey and are a bit different than the data on the commission's portal.

Those stats are based on the 2021 census and show health care and social assistance as the top employer with 14% of the workers, retail trade at 12.7% and construction at 11.5%.

The data portal also has an interactive map with population, income, ethnicity and type of housing information for individual neighbourhoods. Those neighbourhoods are listed by StatsCan's dissemination areas, which are numbered and there is no key on the data page to define them.

By zooming in stats on the neighbourhood bounded by Cawston and Harvey avenues, Water and Richter streets in downtown Kelowna can be found.

It has 1,600 residents with an average age of 49.1 years, medium household income of $62,000, an unemployment rate of 5.6% with 26.9% working from home. Single-family houses account for 4.4% of the housing units and 27.8% are rated as unaffordable.

To check out the data portal, go here.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here.

News from © iNFOnews, 2023