Economy
In its early inception, Courtenay's economy relied heavily on the extraction of the natural resources, like coal, logging, fishing, and agriculture. Over the years as this natural resource extraction decreased, Courtenay has focused its economic growth on supplying services to the large retiree community and the military families at CFB Comox, who is the largest employer in the Valley supplying approximately 1,400 jobs. Tourism has also been steadily increasing and has now become a vital part of the Comox Valley economy. St. Joseph's General Hospital, Mount Washington home of the Critically Endangered Vancouver Island marmot, Crown Isle Golf Course, Kingfisher Resort and Spa and the Coast Westerly Hotel, and the Airforce base at Comox are in the top 15 employers in the Comox Valley providing 1,200 jobs.
Approximately $573.8 million are spent in the retail industry in the Comox Valley, with half of the sales coming from supermarkets, gas stations, and car sales. The average household income is $59,136 which is 16% less than the BC average and 18% lower than the Canadian average. In Courtenay, 60% of the income sources is employment, 19% from pensions, and 6% coming from investments.
Read more about this topic: Courtenay, British Columbia
Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“I favor the policy of economy, not because I wish to save money, but because I wish to save people. The men and women of this country who toil are the ones who bear the cost of the Government. Every dollar that we carelessly waste means that their life will be so much the more meager. Every dollar that we prudently save means that their life will be so much the more abundant. Economy is idealism in its most practical terms.”
—Calvin Coolidge (1872–1933)
“It enhances our sense of the grand security and serenity of nature to observe the still undisturbed economy and content of the fishes of this century, their happiness a regular fruit of the summer.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The counting-room maxims liberally expounded are laws of the Universe. The merchant’s economy is a coarse symbol of the soul’s economy. It is, to spend for power, and not for pleasure.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)