The Tally · September 2026 edition
How the Tally is made
This is the long version of the Tally, for anyone who needs to check it or cite it: grant writers, planners, reporters and researchers. It has the full comparison with official figures, how each measure works, and where every business comes from.
The List beside the official count
Grant forms ask how many businesses a place has. The official answer leaves gaps, so here is the List beside it, district by district.
Regional District of
East Kootenay
- People (2021 census)
- 65,896
- Businesses on the List
- 2,489
- On the List, per 1,000 people
- 37.8
- Locations with employees (Statistics Canada)
- 2,967
Regional District of
Central Kootenay
- People (2021 census)
- 62,509
- Businesses on the List
- 2,495
- On the List, per 1,000 people
- 39.9
- Locations with employees (Statistics Canada)
- 2,640
Regional District of
Kootenay Boundary
- People (2021 census)
- 33,152
- Businesses on the List
- 738
- On the List, per 1,000 people
- 22.3
- Locations with employees (Statistics Canada)
- 1,239
All three together: 161,557 people, 5,722 businesses on the List, and 6,846 locations with employees in Statistics Canada's count. One place on the List could not be placed in a district from official records, so its businesses are left out of these totals.
Why the two numbers differ
They count different things. Statistics Canada counts business locations with at least one person on payroll, so a chain with five stores counts five times. Its register leaves out a business that has no payroll, is not incorporated and earns under $30,000 a year. (Statistics Canada, Business Register guide) And it publishes counts of businesses without employees only for the provinces and territories, never for a district or a town. (Statistics Canada)
The List counts businesses you can find: a shop, a phone that rings, a website. It includes the one-person shops, and it names every one, town by town. It misses businesses that keep no public front door, like a company that only files taxes. So neither count holds the other, and neither is the whole story.
Where the List is thin. In Kootenay Boundary, the List has 738 businesses beside Statistics Canada's 1,239 locations with employees. Read the Kootenay Boundary figures as a floor. I'm still adding businesses there.
For context: BC Stats
BC Stats counts small businesses a third way, including the self-employed. By its count, the Kootenay region had 80.9 small businesses for every 1,000 people in 2024, against 94.8 for BC as a whole: about 14,300 small businesses across the same three districts. BC Stats, Small Business Profile 2025. That count swings a lot from year to year, so I don't read a trend into it.
What each town leans on
Some towns do a bit of everything. Others lean on one or two kinds of business. A town that leans hard on visitors or one industry feels a bad season more.
- Cranbrook1,015 businesses · 114 kindsServe visitors3%Spread0.88
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Apartments & rentals (4.4×) · Print & signage (2.9×) · Electronics & Appliances (2.9×)
- Castlegar777 businesses · 117 kindsServe visitors4%Spread0.92
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Nail salons (6×) · Couriers & Delivery (3.7×) · Pest control (3.7×)
- Nelson709 businesses · 110 kindsServe visitors10%Spread0.91
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Kids stores (2.9×) · Clothing & boutiques (2.6×) · Design Services (2.6×)
- Fernie386 businesses · 100 kindsServe visitors13%Spread0.90
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Photographers & Video (5.2×) · Marketing & Advertising (3.8×) · Equipment Rental (3.7×)
- Creston311 businesses · 86 kindsServe visitors5%Spread0.91
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Farms & farm stands (5.9×) · Feed & farm supply (5.5×) · Butchers & meat (5.2×)
- Kimberley311 businesses · 100 kindsServe visitors6%Spread0.89
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Repair Services (8.7×) · Arts, music & lessons (3.5×) · Chiropractors (2.8×)
- Trail270 businesses · 90 kindsServe visitors1%Spread0.94
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Funeral & Cremation (4.2×) · Car dealerships (3×) · Insurance brokers (2.9×)
- Invermere266 businesses · 93 kindsServe visitors6%Spread0.90
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Home builders (3.9×) · Insurance brokers (3.6×) · Non-profits & Charities (2.6×)
- Rossland176 businesses · 77 kindsServe visitors14%Spread0.94
Has more of these than the region, for its size: B&Bs & Guesthouses (4.9×) · Sporting goods & outdoor gear (4×) · Physiotherapy (3.6×)
- Kaslo131 businesses · 63 kindsServe visitors18%Spread0.93
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Vacation Rentals (4.3×) · Museums & Galleries (4.2×) · Gift Shops (4×)
- Sparwood105 businesses · 62 kindsServe visitors5%Spread0.92
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Butchers & meat (6.5×) · Mining & Forestry (5.9×) · Manufacturing (2.9×)
- Elkford99 businesses · 57 kindsServe visitors6%Spread0.94
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Cleaning services (3.9×) · Hair salons & barbers (3.1×) · Spas & esthetics (2.7×)
- Grand Forks95 businesses · 47 kindsServe visitors9%Spread0.92
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Arenas & rec centres (5.2×) · Kids activities & classes (4.2×) · Hotels & lodges (3.8×)
- Radium Hot Springs83 businesses · 36 kindsServe visitors46%Spread0.85
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Motels (19×) · Hotels & lodges (4.9×) · Lodges & Resorts (4.1×)
- Nakusp72 businesses · 47 kindsServe visitors17%Spread0.96
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Convenience Stores (4.9×) · Vacation Rentals (2.9×)
- Fruitvale56 businesses · 39 kindsServe visitors4%Spread0.96
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Arenas & rec centres (8.8×) · HVAC & heating (3.7×) · Government & Public Services (2.8×)
- Midway51 businesses · 29 kindsServe visitors20%Spread0.92
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Hotels & lodges (6.1×) · Landscaping & lawn care (5.3×) · Government & Public Services (3.1×)
- Windermere42 businesses · 33 kindsServe visitors17%Spread0.95
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Cafes & coffee (4.2×) · Non-profits & Charities (2.8×) · Restaurants (2×)
- Fairmont Hot Springs41 businesses · 31 kindsServe visitors22%Spread0.94
Has more of these than the region, for its size: Campgrounds & RV Parks (4.5×) · Restaurants (2.4×)
- Serve visitors
- The share of a town's businesses that mostly serve visitors: b&bs & guesthouses, campgrounds & rv parks, hotels & lodges, lodges & resorts, vacation rentals, motels, guides & outfitters, ski & snow sports, golf courses, marinas & boating. Restaurants and shops serve both, so they are left out.
- Spread
- How evenly a town's businesses are shared across kinds of business, from 0 (all one kind) to 1 (perfectly even). Economists call this Shannon evenness. Higher usually means a town can ride out one bad industry.
- More than the region
- A kind of business that makes up a bigger share of the town than of the whole region. 2× means twice as common. Economists call this a location quotient. Only kinds with three or more businesses in the town are shown.
Towns with at least 40 businesses on the List. Smaller towns swing too much on a single business to measure this way.
Ten everyday services, town by town
Every town of 500 people or more, checked for ten things a household needs: grocery store, pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, childcare, gas station, mechanic, bank or credit union, hardware store, veterinarian.
All ten are on the List in 10 towns: Cranbrook, Castlegar, Nelson, Fernie, Creston, Kimberley, Trail, Invermere, Grand Forks, Nakusp.
- Rossland4,140 people · 9 of 10
- Not confirmed yet: veterinarian
- Kaslo1,049 people · 9 of 10
- None found, nearest is Silverton, about 35 km: dentist
- Sparwood4,148 people · 9 of 10
- None found, nearest is Fernie, about 30 km: veterinarian
- Elkford2,749 people · 8 of 10
- None found, nearest is Sparwood, about 30 km: hardware store
- None found, nearest is Fernie, about 60 km: veterinarian
- Radium Hot Springs1,339 people · 3 of 10
- None found, nearest is Invermere, about 15 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, childcare, hardware store, veterinarian
- Not confirmed yet: bank or credit union
- Fruitvale1,958 people · 9 of 10
- Not confirmed yet: hardware store
- Midway651 people · 6 of 10
- None found, nearest is Grand Forks, about 25 km: childcare, veterinarian
- Not confirmed yet: mechanic
- None found, nearest is Greenwood, about 10 km: bank or credit union
- Windermere1,511 people · 3 of 10
- None found, nearest is Invermere, about 5 km: pharmacy, dentist, bank or credit union, hardware store, veterinarian
- Not confirmed yet: doctor or clinic, mechanic
- Fairmont Hot Springs781 people · 2 of 10
- None found, nearest is Invermere, about 25 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, bank or credit union, hardware store
- None found, nearest is Windermere, about 15 km: childcare
- None found, nearest is Canal Flats, about 20 km: mechanic, veterinarian
- Salmo1,140 people · 8 of 10
- None found, nearest is Fruitvale, about 20 km: dentist
- Not confirmed yet: bank or credit union
- Christina Lake1,329 people · 6 of 10
- None found, nearest is Grand Forks, about 15 km: dentist, bank or credit union, veterinarian
- Not confirmed yet: hardware store
- Jaffray510 people · 3 of 10
- Not confirmed yet: grocery store, mechanic
- None found, nearest is Fernie, about 20 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, bank or credit union, veterinarian
- Canal Flats802 people · 5 of 10
- None found, nearest is Invermere, about 40 km: pharmacy, dentist, bank or credit union, hardware store
- Not confirmed yet: doctor or clinic
- Wynndel692 people · 2 of 10
- None found, nearest is Creston, about 10 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, childcare, mechanic, bank or credit union, hardware store, veterinarian
- Greenwood702 people · 4 of 10
- None found, nearest is Midway, about 10 km: pharmacy, dentist, hardware store
- None found, nearest is Grand Forks, about 20 km: childcare, mechanic, veterinarian
- Genelle756 people · 3 of 10
- None found, nearest is Castlegar, about 15 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, mechanic, bank or credit union, hardware store, veterinarian
- Montrose1,013 people · 2 of 10
- None found, nearest is Fruitvale, about 5 km: grocery store, pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, bank or credit union, veterinarian
- Not confirmed yet: mechanic
- None found, nearest is Trail, about 10 km: hardware store
- Warfield1,753 people · 2 of 10
- Not confirmed yet: grocery store
- None found, nearest is Trail, about 5 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, mechanic, bank or credit union, hardware store, veterinarian
- Edgewater720 people · 2 of 10
- None found, nearest is Invermere, about 25 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, bank or credit union, hardware store, veterinarian
- Not confirmed yet: childcare, mechanic
- Bonnington555 people · 0 of 10
- None found: grocery store, pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, childcare, gas station, bank or credit union, hardware store, veterinarian
- Not confirmed yet: mechanic
- Procter568 people · 0 of 10
- Not confirmed yet: grocery store, gas station
- None found, nearest is Nelson, about 30 km: pharmacy, doctor or clinic, dentist, veterinarian
- None found, nearest is Balfour, under 5 km: childcare, mechanic
- None found, nearest is Crawford Bay, about 10 km: bank or credit union
- None found, nearest is Gray Creek, about 15 km: hardware store
“Searched, none found” means I looked for one in September 2026, in regulator lists, municipal and chamber directories and on the web, and found nothing in that town. “Not confirmed yet” means I found a lead that needs a phone call before I list it. “Not checked” means the List has none, but nobody has searched yet, so the town may well have one. Distances are straight lines between town centres. The drive is longer. Know one I missed? Add it to the List.
How businesses show up online
68% of businesses on the List have a website I could find. It depends a lot on the trade, and the sites that do exist are not all in good shape.
Has a website, by kind of business
Every share is “at least”: I can only count the sites I found. 1,962 businesses link to social media pages from their own site.
The websites themselves
I visited the front page of every business website on the List once, in September 2026, and checked four things. These are totals only. No business is named.
96.2%
are secure (the address starts with https)
93.7%
are set up to fit a phone screen
105
of 3,873 addresses didn't load, showed a security warning or an error, or were parked for sale
12.3%
let you book or order online, through a tool I could recognise
323 working sites show a copyright year of 2022 or earlier at the bottom of the page, which can mean nobody has touched the site since.
Another 156 sites turned the check away at the door. Most were firewalls, and those sites work fine in a browser, so they are not counted as broken.
What the working sites are built with
Out of 3,580 sites that loaded. The rest were custom built or could not be told apart.
How sure each number is
A count is only as good as its sources. Here is where every business on the List comes from, and how many were confirmed more than once.
How each business is backed
- 912 (16%) are on a regulator's or licence list, such as Interior Health, Technical Safety BC or a professional college.
- 2,769 (48%) are confirmed by two or more separate sources, such as their own website and a chamber of commerce.
- 2,047 (36%) rest on one public source. They are real listings with a way to reach them, but only one place vouches for them.
Where the names come from
Businesses backed by each kind of source. Many are backed by more than one, so these add up to more than 5,728. 281 different outside websites in all.
When each was last checked
93% have a phone number, 78% a street address and 68% a website. Every one has at least one way to reach it, or it doesn't go on the List.
How this was made, and what it can't tell you
You shouldn't have to take my word for any of this. Here is exactly how the count is made, where it is weak, and what it can't answer.
- What counts as a business
- A business, shop, office, service or public service that is open today and that a person can reach: a street address, a phone number or a website. A listing with none of the three is left off. Each place is counted once, in the town where it trades.
- Where the names come from
- Public records only: municipal and regional registers, regulator and licence lists, chambers of commerce, tourism organizations, community directories, OpenStreetMap, and the businesses' own websites. Every listing keeps the links it was found at, and the date it was last checked. See every source.
- Checking and duplicates
- Listings are rechecked against their sources, and against the business's own website where it has one. Two listings that share a phone number, an address or a website are compared by hand, and merged if they are the same place. Businesses that closed are taken off.
- Kinds of business
- 120 kinds, grouped into families like Home & Trades or Eat & Drink. A business can be filed under more than one kind. Where a count is by family, each business is counted once, under its main kind.
- Towns and districts
- Towns are the names on the businesses' own addresses, so a town's count includes the rural roads around it. Each town was placed in its regional district by its official point in BC Geographical Names, tested against the province's regional district boundaries (DataBC).
- People and rates
- Populations are from the 2021 Census of Population (Statistics Canada). Rates per 1,000 people are most reliable at district level, where the businesses and the people sit inside the same line. A town's rate uses the town's own census area, which often leaves out the rural customers its businesses serve, so town rates run high.
- The website check
- One visit to each front page, in September 2026. The visit named itself as KootenayListCheck, respected each site's robots.txt rules, and went slowly. Only totals are published.
- The official comparison
- Statistics Canada, Table 33-10-1176-01: Canadian Business Counts, with employees, census metropolitan areas and census subdivisions, June 2026. I added up the published census subdivisions in each district. Places with fewer than 10 employer businesses are not published, so each total is a floor.
- What this can't tell you
- How many people work at these businesses, how much they earn, or whether a town is growing. The List records when it found a business, not when it opened, so a change in the count is not a business opening or closing. Trends need several editions, and this is the first one published this way.
- Corrections
- Every business can fix or remove its own listing, and anyone can report a mistake. The next edition carries the fix. Fix a listing.
Cite it, or take the numbers with you
Use these numbers in a grant, a plan, a report or a news story. Credit The Kootenay List and link back, so readers can check them.
Cite this edition
The Kootenay List. (2026). The state of Kootenay business, September 2026 edition [Data set]. Kootenay Made Digital. https://kootenaylist.ca/stats
This page always shows the newest edition. The September 2026 numbers stay at the download links below, and they never change, so a citation always points at the numbers you used.
Download the data, September 2026
- towns.csv 7 KB
One row per town: district, 2021 population, businesses, per 1,000 people, websites, phones, addresses, kinds of business, spread and visitor share.
- trades-by-town.csv 172 KB
How many businesses of each kind are in each town.
- study.json 186 KB
Everything on /stats and this page in one file, with the sources for every outside figure.
Free to reuse. The tables are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence: use them for anything, as long as you credit The Kootenay List. Some listings draw on OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors, under the Open Database License. Business-by-business details are on each listing's own page, not in these files.