Hornby Island holds one of the highest per capita densities of artists in all of Canada.
Hornby Island is a small community of just over 1250 year-round residents, which easily quadruples in size during the summer months. Previous studies and consultations, including community engagement exercises, have identified key areas of opportunity or improvement, including digital infrastructure, short and long-term workforce housing, additional support for businesses and the arts sector, affordability and transportation, green energy, and food and water security and accountability.
This project seeks to gain greater insight into current trends and key concerns on the island through a new five-year action plan and document. This latest economic development strategy will replace a prior economic development action plan, funded in 2015 by the Trust. The renewed strategy will align with major events of the past three years that require an updated perspective and planning.
As part of the project, a new board committee will be created to provide oversight of the strategic process. Preliminary engagements with a working group will be carried out, alongside a review and compilation of existing data. The strategy will exist as a living document that can be revisited, reviewed, and revised as needed.
Island Coastal Economic Trust approved funding for this project in 2023 through the Investment Readiness program.
We work in reciprocal relationships with coastal communities across the ancestral territories of the Kwak̓wala, Nuučaan̓uɫ, Éy7á7juuthem, Ligwilda'xw, Pəntl'áč, She shashishalhem, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Hul’q’umi’num’, diitiidʔaatx̣, SENĆOŦEN, Lekwungen, and T’Sou-ke speaking peoples.
