Over 700 delegates are expected at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre next October for a seven day event hosted by a global science and environmental organization. (File photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

major event

Over 700 delegates expected as Nanaimo to host major international science event

Dec 1, 2025 | 5:27 AM

NANAIMO — Hundreds of delegates from over a dozen countries are expected in the Harbour City next fall for a major event.

The North Pacific Marine Science Organization (PICES) will host their annual meeting and conference in Nanaimo from Oct. 24-30, 2026 at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre, drawing leading scientific experts from around the globe.

Dr. Sonia Batten, executive director of PIES, told NanaimoNewsNOW the week-long event is part science convention, part conducting business of the organization, but always involves exploring future directions and topics of study.

“Each country has the responsibility and also a need to use the resource of the marine system as effectively as possible and they need to the best science to do that. The reason we work is that each country can learn from the things happening in the other country.”

It’s the first time in over a decade the event has been hosted in Nanaimo, when around 350-400 people attended.

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The last time it was in Canada was Victoria in 2019.

2025’s conference was hosted by Yokohama, Japan in early November, with the event drawing around 650 participants from 23 countries.

Batten said they are beginning to form discussion topics and an event agenda at the moment, but she expects it to look a lot different this year than it did the last time delegates were in Nanaimo.

“The type of topics that we’re covering now have a lot more Indigenous traditional knowledge engagement and building. We’re trying to find solutions to the resource issues that governments are facing so that’s a slightly difference focus than it was 13 years ago.”

PICES has six member countries (Canada, United States, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia), but welcomes experts from around the world at their major events.

The conference will mark one of the larger events to be hosted by the Conference Centre, with around 700 delegates expected each day.

Chuck Loewen, general manager of the facility, told NanaimoNewsNOW the facility is capable of hosting events featuring over 1,400 participants in a theatre-style setup, as they did for a science and spirituality conference in 2018.

He labeled next October’s event as “absolutely huge” for the Conference Centre and the city overall.

Data presented by Loewen to Nanaimo City Councillors on Friday, Nov. 28 showed around $550,000 in conference revenue in 2022.

The facility earned $1.5 million in similar revenue in 2024 and is projected to make $1.8 million from conferences alone in 2025.

Another $1.8 million is already budgeted for 2026.

Loewen said the conventions they host benefit surrounding hotels, but he doesn’t believe the city is at the point yet where it could support another larger one year round.

“I think we’ve got a couple of years before we can go for another hotel. We’re at the point where the newest hotel…they’re starting to come up with their occupancy rates. I think they started around 20 or 30 per cent down but they’re starting to balance up but maybe in a couple of years, or maybe look at it now for starting in a couple of years.”

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