The recreational boating industry contributed $1.3 billion to the provincial economy in 2016 and employed nearly 17,000 British Columbians, according to a new report by the National Marine Manufacturers Association Canada (NMMA).
Recreational boating is popular in Canada; around 43% of adult Canadians – or 12.4 million people – participated in the activity in 2016, and Canadians own approximately 8.6 million boats.
The core recreational boating industry in Canada is responsible for $5.6 billion of the country’s GDP in 2016, which is a 12% increase compared with 2012, and employs approximately 75,000 Canadians.
Compared with the national average, B.C. saw significantly higher growth; both the GDP and employment growth rose by nearly 30% from 2012, compared with the national increase of 12%.
Recreational boating is especially important in smaller communities around B.C., the report said. In small towns, populations were found to have doubled during the summer season, when boating happens the most.
“B.C. is home to numerous small towns where the marina is the main attraction during the summer,” says Don Prittie, president of Boating BC. “Given recreational boating’s large influence, we need to protect waterways and marinas for these communities in order to ensure even more growth in the future.”
British Columbians and foreign visitors involved in boating spent almost $1.8 million on goods and services in 2016.
