Campbell River, Vancouver Island, BC
What Campbell River is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 1,660 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.
1,660 businesses on file · 108 trades · 32 sectors · census population 35,515 · registry population 38,000 · built from geonet.nanaimo on 2026-10-07
The two disagree: the registry says 38,000 and the 2021 census counted 35,515 for the municipality. The registry figure is often a metropolitan population. Both are shown; neither is corrected into the other.
Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Campbell River → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.
The local economy
What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.
Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.
Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.
What this city is specialised in
Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 10 CA metro tables. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.
Thin against the national pattern
Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.
The base against the entry screen
Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.
How to read the survival figure
Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.
Weighted over 95% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
And what it does not measure
A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.
Who lives here, and who the city is for
The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.
The register says what trades exist. The census says who lives here — and it is the only thing on this page that counts people. Figures are Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population for Campbell River, City (CY), the municipality proper, and every comparison is against the population-weighted average of all 5,161 census subdivisions in Canada.
Who the city is for
Three readings, each built from real numbers against real benchmarks. This is not an index. Every signal is shown with its own value, its benchmark and which way it points, and the band simply counts how many point the same way — so a reader who disagrees with one signal can drop it and still use the rest.
Seniors
strongIs this a place to grow old, and is the care here?
| Residents 65 and over | 26.1% | ▲19% |
| Residents 85 and overthe group that needs care rather than the group that is merely retired | 2.7% | ▲2.3% |
| Median age | 48 years | ▲42.1 years |
| Low income among 65+against a 15% reference, not a national figure | 12.8% | ▲15% |
| Medical clinics per 1,000 residentsfrom the business register | 0.39 | – |
| Pharmacies per 1,000 residentsfrom the business register | 0.42 | – |
| Nursing and elderly care operatorscounted in the register, which lists few of them | 0 | – |
| Median rent | 1170 $/mo | –1175 $/mo |
A high share of over-65s says other people made this choice; it does not by itself say the care exists. The register lists clinics and pharmacies but has no category for a hospital at all, so the one thing a family would most want — distance to an emergency department — is still missing.
Students and young adults
thinIs there a reason to be here between 19 and 25, and can they afford it?
| Residents 20 to 24 | 4.4% | ▼6% |
| Residents 15 to 19the cohort arriving next | 4.9% | ▼6% |
| Renter householdsa rental market is what makes a place possible to move to | 28.2% | ▼33.2% |
| Median rent | 1170 $/mo | –1175 $/mo |
| Unemployment rateMay 2021, mid-pandemic — high everywhere in this census | 8.7% | ▲10.4% |
| Degree holders in the adult populationagainst a 32% reference | 15.1% | ▼32% |
| Drinking places and recreationfrom the register | 18 | – |
Post-secondary institutions in the city are listed further down this page; where there are none, a high 20-to-24 share usually means work rather than study.
Newcomers and other-language speakers
thinIs there already a community here, and has anyone built anything for it?
| Immigrants in the population | 10.5% | ▼23.2% |
| Arrived 2016 to 2021a recent arrival means the route here is current, not historical | 1.1% | ▼3.7% |
| Speak a non-official language at home | 2.2% | ▼12.7% |
| Languages spoken at home above the reporting floor | 1 | – |
| Community institutions in the register | 2 | – |
| Non-permanent residentsstudents and work-permit holders | 0.6% | ▼3.7% |
The census counts speakers; the business register shows whether a community has built anything — a church, a society, a credit union, a grocer. Both columns appear in the language table below, and the interesting rows are the ones where they disagree.
What is spoken at home, and whether anyone built for it
Where the census and the business register disagree. A language spoken by hundreds with no institution behind it is a gap in local provision — or a gap in the register. An institution with no matching language usually means an older community that has shifted to English at home.
| Spoken most often at home | Speakers | Share | Community in the register | Institutions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vietnamese | 105 | 0.3% | Vietnamese | 0 |
The rest of the profile
| Characteristic | Here | Canada |
|---|---|---|
| Residents 65 and over | 26.1% | 19% |
| Residents 85 and over | 2.7% | 2.3% |
| Residents 20 to 24 | 4.4% | 6% |
| Arrived 2016 to 2021 | 1.1% | 3.7% |
| Non-permanent residents | 0.6% | — |
| Speak a non-official language at home | 2.2% | 12.7% |
| Renter households | 28.2% | 33.2% |
| Spending 30% or more on shelter | 21.4% | 20.6% |
| Participation rate | 56.5% | 63.7% |
| Unemployment rate | 8.7% | 10.4% |
| Median household income, 2020 | 78000 $ | — |
| Median after-tax household income, 2020 | 70000 $ | — |
| Prevalence of low income (LIM-AT) | 10% | — |
| Bachelor degree or higher | 15.1% | — |
The one thing to keep in mind
Census day was 11 May 2021, so income is for 2020 and the labour figures were taken during the pandemic — Toronto's 13.9% unemployment rate is a May 2021 reading, not a current one. Census 2021 count for the census subdivision, which is the municipality proper. It will differ from the figure in wander.regions, which is sometimes a metropolitan population.
Source: Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population — 98-401-X2021005 — Canada, provinces, territories, census divisions and census subdivisions, Statistics Canada, under the Open Government Licence – Canada. National comparison: Population-weighted across all 5,161 census subdivisions in the 2021 Census Profile. Median rent and median age are weighted means of local medians, which is an approximation, not a national median.
The communities the register shows
A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.
| Community | Institutions | Worship | Trade | Where it shows |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Asian | 1 | 1 | — |
SIKH TEMPLE |
| French | 1 | — | — |
Campbell River Francophone |
| Japanese | — | — | 2 | |
| Indigenous | — | — | 2 | |
| Thai | — | — | 1 | |
| Swedish | — | — | 1 | |
| Austrian | — | — | 1 |
Where the communities are
Streets, not neighbourhood names. The data knows that Greek institutions sit on one street and Greek restaurants on another; it does not know the word "Greektown", so it does not use it.
What the city is made of
Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 1,660 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.
| Sector | Businesses | Share | What is in it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Business | 142 | 8.6% | government (49) · association (44) · accounting (24) · consulting (21) · auction (1) |
| Construction | 97 | 5.8% | general contractor (14) · electrician (14) · excavating (10) · plumbing (10) · heating and cooling (9) · painting (9) · carpet (8) · machinery (6) |
| Living | 88 | 5.3% | place of worship (22) · furniture (14) · cleaning (10) · daycare (10) · apartment (10) · veterinary (6) · janitor (5) · laundry (3) |
| Retail | 81 | 4.9% | gifts (19) · convenience (17) · department store (12) · restaurant supplier (6) · photography (6) · flowers (6) · jeweler (5) · pet supply (3) |
| Health | 74 | 4.5% | physician (14) · medical clinic (14) · pharmacy (9) · optical (6) · chiro (6) · fitness club (5) · health foods (3) |
| Dining | 73 | 4.4% | restaurant (59) · pizza (8) · pubs (3) · diner (2) · steakhouse (1) |
| Automotive | 66 | 4% | autos (31) · auto repair (13) · auto parts (7) · tires (2) · scooter (1) · motorcycle (1) |
| Beauty | 57 | 3.4% | hair stylist (36) · dentist (11) · barber (8) |
| Education | 51 | 3.1% | school (46) · writing (1) · library (1) · garden (1) |
| Finance | 49 | 3% | insurance (14) · bank (10) · loans (2) · real estate (1) · mortgage (1) |
| Travel | 44 | 2.7% | motel (16) · hotel (12) · travel agent (5) · bnb (4) · pubs (1) · parking (1) · airline (1) |
| Athletic Sports | 44 | 2.7% | |
| Manufacturing | 36 | 2.2% | fabrication (13) · industrial supplier (13) · machinery (8) · salvage (1) · greenhouse (1) |
| Logistics | 36 | 2.2% | truck transportation (14) · towing (7) · storage (6) · packaging (3) |
| Living & Home | 35 | 2.1% | |
| Construction & Realty | 31 | 1.9% | |
| Retail Goods | 30 | 1.8% | |
| Sports | 27 | 1.6% | boating marine (22) · martial arts (2) · golf course (2) · pubs (1) |
| Entertainment | 20 | 1.2% | games (7) · museum (4) · amusement (2) · nightclub (1) · music instruments (1) |
| Tech | 18 | 1.1% | computers (16) · wireless (2) |
The franchises already here
Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.
20 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.
| Brand | Category | Here | Worldwide |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7-Eleven | convenience | 3 | 30,000 |
| Salvation Army | retail | 3 | — |
| Petro Canada | fuel | 2 | 1,512 |
| Royal Canadian Legion | club | 2 | 160 |
| U-Haul | car | 2 | 13,700 |
| Best Western | businesshotel | 1 | 4,200 |
| Big O Tires | auto | 1 | 540 |
| Blockbuster Video | video | 1 | 5,900 |
| Boston Pizza | pizza | 1 | 250 |
| Buns Master Bakery | coffee | 1 | 29 |
| Canada Post locations | post | 1 | 23,000 |
| Canadian Tire | retail | 1 | 455 |
| Color Your World | retail | 1 | 98 |
| Curves For Women | fitness | 1 | 10,000 |
| Dairy Queen | fastfood | 1 | 5,900 |
| Fountain Tire | auto | 1 | — |
| Great Canadian Bagel | deli | 1 | 48 |
| Home Hardware | home | 1 | 1,000 |
| Island Hearing | specialty | 1 | 80 |
| Kal Tire | auto | 1 | 200 |
| Little Caesars Pizza | pizza | 1 | 1,800 |
| Merle Norman Cosmetics | retail | 1 | 2,000 |
| Movie Gallery | video | 1 | 4,700 |
| NAPA Auto Parts | auto | 1 | 18,000 |
| Northern Reflections | retail | 1 | 150 |
| Panago Pizza | pizza | 1 | 155 |
| Peoples Jewellers | retail | 1 | — |
| Rent-A-Wreck | car | 1 | — |
| Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory | dessert | 1 | 320 |
| Rotary Club | club | 1 | — |
| Royal Bank | bank | 1 | — |
| Save On Foods | supermarket | 1 | 69 |
| Shoppers Drug Mart | pharmacy | 1 | 927 |
| Showcase Cinemas | entertainment | 1 | 19 |
| Source For Sports | retail | 1 | 150 |
| St. John | retail | 1 | — |
| Super 8 | economyhotel | 1 | — |
| Superior Propane | fuel | 1 | — |
| TD Canada Trust | bank | 1 | — |
| Telus Mobility | wireless | 1 | — |
| Tim Hortons | coffee | 1 | 2,890 |
| Town Shoes | retail | 1 | 26 |
| Limited name only | retail | 3 | — |
| Manor name only | retail | 3 | — |
| Cartier name only | retail | 2 | — |
| Honda name only | car | 2 | — |
| Aldi name only | supermarket | 1 | 5,000 |
| Beltone name only | specialty | 1 | 1,500 |
| Bootlegger name only | retail | 1 | — |
| CIBC name only | bank | 1 | — |
| Fabricland name only | retail | 1 | 170 |
| Greyhound name only | travel | 1 | — |
| Husky name only | fuel | 1 | — |
| Intersport name only | retail | 1 | 60 |
| Jeep name only | suv | 1 | — |
| Midas name only | auto | 1 | 1,800 |
| Progressive name only | supermarket | 1 | 150 |
| Reitmans name only | retail | 1 | 343 |
| SAAN name only | retail | 1 | 140 |
| Sears name only | inc | 1 | 2,300 |
| Toyota name only | car | 1 | — |
| Zellers name only | retail | 1 | — |
Real estate as a local trade
Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.
Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.
Selling homes
5312Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.
Named in the register
- CHICALO BURRIDGE LAND SURVEYING GEOMAT — Dogwood Street
- COAST REALTY GROUP CAMPBELL RIVERLTD — 300 St. Ann's Road 101
- Cunningham and Rivard Appraisals — 990 Cedar St
- Holly Hill Development — 2285 Steelhead Rd
- Household Financial Hfc — 1007 Shoppers Row
- NEW WAY REALTY INC — 916 B Island Highway
- RE MAX Check Realty — 950 Island Highway
- Royal Le Page Advance — 1302 Shoppers Row
- Willow Point Realty — 2247 Island Hwy
Owning and letting
5311Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.
Named in the register
- British Columbia Housing Management Commission — 300 Robron Road
- Creekside Terrace — 535 Rockland Road
- DISCOVERY RIDGE APARTMENTS — 795 9 Avenue 303
- Discovery Village — 283 1st Avenue
- DISCOVERY VILLAGE — 283 1 Avenue
- HIGHLAND COURT — 644 C 4 Avenue 206
- Regal Manor — 600 South Island Highway
- Seaview Manor — 860 Alder Street
- Terrace View Apartments — 961 Cedar St
- Westerly Manor — 710 Dogwood Street
Building new homes
2361Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.
Named in the register
- Ashdown Construction — 342 Mccarthy St
- Berry and Vale Contracting — 3815 Discovery Dr
- BRUFATTO L CONTRACTING — 505 Birch Street
- Campbell River Rock and Tile — 2914 Quinsam Rd
- Custom Cut Firewood — 780 Nursery Rd
- Elkhorn Developments — 1310 Spruce St
- Forbes Landing Log Homes — PO Box 807
- K K Contracting — 329 Mccarthy St
- Ltj Construction — 1360 Homewood
- Northland Developments — 2007 Fairway Dr
- Seymour Pacific Developments — 300 St. Ann's Rd
- TAYCO PAVING CO — Gold Riv Highway
- Top Island Enterprises — 560 Quadra Ave
- Woodburn Manufactured Homes — 2700 Woodburn Rd
Financing it
5222Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.
Named in the register
- INSTALOANS FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS CENTRES — 909 Island Highway 104
- Northland Mortgage and Invstmnt — 300 St. Ann's Rd
- SORENSENS LOANS TIL PAYDAY INC — 644 11 Avenue
Who actually owns it
The full property record →From the /property research for this city, which asks a different question: not who trades in property here, but who owns it. An owner is named there only where a document says so. Title $11.06 a search; LOTR names the people behind companies.
Landowners
- Privately held land (owner not published) — about 93,016 ha of 173,396 ha of land, 53.6%
- Province of British Columbia (provincial Crown) — about 77,780 ha of 173,396 ha of land, 44.9%
- Western Forest Products Inc. — 344,177 ha of Crown tenure; 4,042 ha of freehold in the box
- TimberWest Forest Corp — 125,635 ha of Crown tenure; 316 ha of freehold in the box
- Wei Wai Kum First Nation and We Wai Kai Nation — 487.5 ha of federal reserve inside the city, 3.2% of its land
- City of Campbell River — $47,116,004 of land at cost; about 651 ha of municipal parcels and parks
Homebuilders
- Seymour Pacific Developments Ltd. — 19,000+ units in 30 years; 1,500+ a year
- Broadstreet Properties Ltd. — $729,481.86 of 2025 municipal taxes across two listed entities
Commercial landlords
- Northwest Realty Inc. (dba Northwest Properties) — 442,760 sq ft at Discovery Harbour Centre; 73.9% stake stated
- Wei Wai Kum First Nation — co-owner of a 442,760 sq ft centre, plus marina, RV park and fuel sales
- City of Campbell River — the 1300-block of Shoppers Row, retained freehold
7 marquee buildings examined, 6 with an owner established.
On "how many doors"
How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the /property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.
Work where you go to them
The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you.
A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 157 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 0 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.
The 157 Service=1 rows in search.local: work where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.
home services
events
pets
luxury
healthcare
sporting goods
sports
business
outdoors
construction
travel
tools
Schools and colleges
wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.
In the business register
Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.
Health and care
What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.
Matched on the name "hospital"
- Greenwood Animal Hospital — 1105 Greenwood St
- 470 HEALTH CENTRE INC — 470 S Dogwood
- Quinsam Health Center — 664C Head Start Cres
- Pharmasave Health Centre — 277 Evergreen Road
- Dogwood Dental Health Center — 150 Dogwood St
- Coastland Veterinary Hospital — 2056 South Island Hwy
geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.
Mayor & politics
Who holds office here and who is asking to, from the official lists on /politics: the council, the riding’s Member of Parliament and the provincial member. Each name opens its row there.
Everyone who represents Campbell River, and everyone running →
Realtors in Campbell River — the brokerages and licensed agents to call →
What this record cannot tell you
Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.
- Census figures are 2021, taken on 11 May 2021: income is for 2020 and the labour figures were measured mid-pandemic, so the unemployment rate on this page is a 2021 reading rather than a current one.
- wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
- No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
- 17.7% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 97.4%.
Built from
geonet.nanaimo— the local business registerwander.regions— city name, population, metrosearch.local— trait vocabulary and the come-to-you servicessearch.cozfranchises— 2,024 franchise brands