HOW THE SAUSAGE IS MADE
Nanaimo has heard this pitch before.
A separate economic-development outfit is created. The language is polished. The charts are impressive. The words sound modern: collaboration, resilience, shared prosperity, systems, well-being. The promise is always the same — this time, with the right structure and the right people around the table, prosperity will follow.
That is why taxpayers are right to be cautious.
The old Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation was sold with its own strategic language and institutional confidence. Then came the City’s 2016 Core Services Review, which said NEDC had not clearly established itself as a lead partner and that its economic-development efforts were hampered by continuous change at the senior management level. That is not ancient history. That is Nanaimo’s own record.
Now we have the Nanaimo Prosperity Corporation.
NPC is not some grassroots private-sector uprising. Its own charter says it is a City of Nanaimo local government corporation, jointly owned by the City, Snuneymuxw First Nation, the Nanaimo Port Authority, the Nanaimo Airport Commission, the Chamber, and VIU. The City’s own economic-development page says NPC is the corporation through which business, government, First Nation, and community partners collaborate to build Nanaimo’s economy.
The money is not trivial. NPC’s 2023 business plan said total funding in 2022 was $643,750. City records then budgeted $515,850 for NPC in 2025, and the 2026 business plan shows the City still delivering its own in-house economic-development services while also overseeing NPC. By the end of 2024, the public commitment was already well into seven figures.
So what is the public getting?
That is where the déjà vu gets stronger.
The City still has its own Economic Development Officer. The City still offers business support directly. The City’s own “Local Resources” page says Nanaimo Economic Development provides personalized business start-up, expansion and relocation assistance — while the NPC listing on that same page simply says “Coming soon!” Amrit Manhas is still publicly listed as the City’s Economic Development Officer and business contact.
That raises the obvious question: what exactly is NPC adding that City Hall was not already supposed to be doing?
A quick look at the website does not answer that question very well. The recent stream of posts is heavy on “Insights & Advice,” quality-of-life essays, and airy framework language. One recent piece begins with the line “We’re Over GDP.” Another asks, “What if GDP is lying to us?” The site even still carries leftover copy saying “Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation will keep you updated on all things Nanaimo.” That may be a website oversight, but symbolically it is almost too perfect.
There is nothing wrong with using more than one economic yardstick. GDP is not everything. But when a taxpayer-funded economic-development corporation starts sounding almost embarrassed by output, production, jobs, wages, and investment, people are entitled to ask whether they are being prepared for another round of elegant language in place of hard results.
Tell the laid-off mill worker who cannot make the mortgage that we are “over GDP.” Tell the family being crushed by housing and food costs that the real answer lies in softer words like belonging, resilience, and trust in institutions. Real prosperity is still painfully concrete. It means jobs, paycheques, productive enterprise, business growth, and a tax base strong enough to support the community without crushing households.
That is the issue.
Not whether NPC can produce thoughtful essays.
Not whether it can adopt fashionable frameworks.
Not whether it can host another conversation about prosperity.
The issue is whether it can point to measurable economic results that justify the money already spent.
Nanaimo has seen this show before. The logo is different. The vocabulary is newer. The packaging is cleaner. But until the public sees clear, hard deliverables, this still looks less like a new economic engine and more like the old economic-development industry with a fresh coat of paint.
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