This May, the Minerals North conference will be held at the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre (PGCCC), with 450 to 600 delegates and exhibitors expected for the three-day show.
But the biggest mineral event in the province is not the only major corporate meeting in a city ranked No. 1 for economic growth among mid-sized Canadian cities.
“We have 10 events booked at the centre for 2017,” says PGCCC general manager Myles Tycholis, noting the packed calendar is indicative of industry awakening to the largest meeting facility, by far, in northern B.C.
“We have people come up from Vancouver and they are surprised at what we can offer,” he says.
This includes 42,000 square feet of flexible meeting space and the type of high-performance equipment and service that would make any city proud. For example, floating walls allow meeting rooms to be expanded for large events or made smaller for more intimate meetings, he notes.
“We can easily seat 1,000 for a plated dinner,” Tycholis says.
Many of the events this year are related to the resource industry and the medical community.
Last year, the Conference Board of Canada ranked Prince George No. 1 for economic growth among seven mid-size Canadian cities. Following growth of 2.4 per cent last year, the northern B.C. city’s economy is forecast to see gross domestic product rise by 2.8 per cent in 2017.
Prince George also offers the sophisticated event and meeting space at the University of Northern British Columbia campus, which includes outstanding sports facilities.
The Canfor Atrium at the Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre in Prince George can host auditorium- or dinner-style meetings for up to 120 guests.
Last year, the Marriott chain announced that it would build a new Marriott Courtyard hotel in downtown Prince George.
The Coast Inn of the North in Prince George, the closest hotel to the PGCCC, features two levels of meeting space with 8,000 square feet for events and eight conference rooms, each equipped with the latest in audiovisual systems. The Ramada hotel can accommodate up to 300 in a variety of spacious convention facilities, including seven meeting rooms.
To the east in the Energetic City of Fort St. John – a city buoyed by the federal government approval of the $36 billion Pacific NorthWest LNG proposal – 90 new hotel rooms recently opened with the completion of the Home2 Suites by Hilton.
The Hilton is part of a trend of hoteliers who have been flocking to the city. A 123-room Best Western is under construction and a Holiday Inn Express and the Microtel Inn & Suites were completed two years ago. Fort St. John’s excellent conference and event venues include the Pomeroy Hotel & Conference Centre. With meeting, conference and corporate facilities for up to 500 guests, the Pomeroy also has more than 11,500 square feet of flexible conference space.
In Dawson Creek, the Encana Events Centre – with up to 6,500 seats and well known for its big rock shows – has been named one of the top 200 arena venues in the world by Pollstar magazine.
“[That] reinforces the value of the Encana Events Centre to our region,” says Dale Bumstead, mayor of Dawson Creek.
Within the rankings, the Encana Events Centre places 17th for all venues listed for Canada in terms of ticket sales, with the centre ranking as the No. 5 venue for Western Canada.
Site of the giant Minerals North conference in May 2017, the Prince George Conference and Civic Centre has 42,000 square feet of event space and 11 meeting rooms. The water feature is a fountain in the summer and a skating rink all winter | Prince George Conference and Civic Centre
In Terrace, the popular Days Inn on the Skeena River is seeing more competition this year. The Holiday Inn completed construction in 2016 and two more hotels are near completion: the Comfort Inn and Sunshine Inn, both with approximately 100 rooms.
Meanwhile the owner of the Chances gaming centre has outlined a proposal for a $25 million downtown entertainment complex in Terrace. The proposal calls for a 100-room hotel, a conference centre to hold up to 750 people and a gaming facility of 18,000 square feet. No timeline has been set.
Both Kitimat and Prince Rupert on the northwest coast offer a variety of accommodations, including Prince Rupert’s Crest Hotel, with more than 4,000 square feet of meeting space overlooking the harbour.
But when the most famous tourists in the world arrived in northern B.C. last September, it was tiny Bella Bella where the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge touched down. Prince William and Kate dedicated B.C.’s Great Bear Rainforest to the Queen’s conservation program. A highlight of the couple’s rainy visit was the presentation of commemorative canoe paddles by the Heiltsuk Tribal Council in Bella Bella.
