Forestry & Mining

The forest industry continues to be a major factor in the economic health and well being of Kelowna and the Central Okanagan. Located within the Okanagan Timber Supply Area (a forest management unit that is managed on a sustainable basis), the area is home to a very diversified forest products industry with both primary mills and remanufacturing plants. The quality and diversity of products produced is a reflection of the timber quality obtained from the high quality lodgepole pine, spruce and douglas-fir stands in the region as well as the highly experienced and trained workforce.

Tolko Industries (formerly Riverside Forest Products) and Gorman Bros. Lumber are the two largest companies in the area, together employing close to 1,000 employees and contractors in Kelowna and the Central Okanagan. Both companies have licenses that allow them to harvest public lands, providing they meet stringent forest management standards set by the provincial government.

The Regional District of Central Okanagan contains more than 110 documented mineral occurrences. The region includes one very large past-producing open pit molybdenum-copper mine (Brenda Mine on Pennask Mountain at Hwy 97C), and several smaller past producing mines. L&D Petch Contracting Ltd. currently mines decorative rock from their Canyon Rock Quarry (McCulloch Forest Road), which is marketed as far south as California.

Additional information on the forestry and mining industries can be found in our Economic Profile as well as through the provincial Ministry of Forests and Ranges and Ministry of Energy, Mines, & Petroleum Resources.

Forestry & Mining