NNN’s Last 10: Population growth in Nanaimo carries pros and cons

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Bluesky
• Share on X
• Copy Link

However, the increased number of people continues to strain the region in a variety of different ways, from housing to recreation to roads and infrastructure.

10th anniversary coverage

NNN's Last 10: Population growth in Nanaimo carries pros and cons

1h ago

conserve water

Stage four water restrictions coming Friday for Nanaimo Regional District

2h ago

heat wave

Smoke and heat warnings cover much of B.C. as Lytton reaches 40 degrees

3h ago

A multi-year look at the Woodgrove area of north Nanaimo highlighted population growth as a substantial challenge moving forward, with the neighbourhood population expected to grow considerably in the next 10 to 20 years.

Increased levels of other services such as garbage collection, snow removal, and a growing demand for recreation services have all resulted from the influx.

Ensuring those people have places to live continues to dominate discussions around housing initiatives, with supply struggling to match demand.

It’s evident in monthly rent cost numbers, which show Nanaimo continues to be among a handful of communities across the country seeing prices increasing year-over-year, while a majority of other areas are seeing considerable drops in monthly rent.

More people, however, isn’t solely a bad thing, as a growing Nanaimo region is helping more services and businesses successfully establish themselves locally.

A ballooning population in both Nanaimo and Vancouver is no doubt aiding stability and growth for Hullo Ferries, which launched in 2023 and appears to be avoiding the pitfalls which had scuttled previous iterations of a downtown-to-downtown connection.

The wave of people moving to the mid-Island is not poised to stop any time soon, and how our region meets the challenges connected to more people living locally remains at the forefront of nearly every local and regional government discussion on a daily basis.

Follow us on Facebook. Join Everything Nanaimo on Facebook and stay connected with everything happening on central Vancouver Island.

info@nanaimonewsnow.com

Follow us on: Twitter (X) | Bluesky | Facebook