Okanagan businesses could benefit from languishing loonie

Silver lining of low loonie

The loonie hitting a five-year low isn’t a benchmark many celebrate, but some Okanagan industry leaders are seeing a silver lining.

Michael Ballingall wears two hats in the Central Okanagan. He’s best known for being the vice-president, marketing and sales at Big White Ski Resort, but also sits on the executive of the Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association.

With decades of business experience under his belt, he said he can see the opportunities a lower dollar offers for, among other things, B.C. resorts and even the film industry.

At the resort, he’s seen it before.

“This is sort of what it was like in 1999 going into 2000,” he said, noting that it drove American buyers to pick up 54 per cent of the housing built on the mountain in that era.

“For years and years and years, they would come and and enjoy a holiday. That's why we started opening (on) USA Thanksgiving.”

When the loonie almost hit par with the greenback, the Americans sold and “made a fortune,” Ballingall said. In the end, though, it was the economic breakdown of 2008 that saw them disappear from the local ski hills.

That, however, is poised to change courtesy of the low dollar and several other factors.

“The first thanks is to Alaska Airlines putting the non-stop flight from Seattle daily and now WestJet starting Jan.17, 2025 matching that,” Ballingall said.

“Then you add to that the Los Angeles non-stop.”

These are some of the biggest ski markets in the world and Canadian tourism providers are already trying to get the word out that a dollar spent at a great B.C. ski resort is going to go a lot further than anywhere else, and it’s a relatively short distance away— two hours travel from Seattle and four from Rodeo Drive. And, Ballingall stressed, it’s cheap for Americans when the dollar is factored in.

“All of a sudden we can start going back to the group (travel) business, which really is the starting point for any destination resort,” he said, adding that those opportunities had gone elsewhere previously as conditions became less than ideal.

“Now we're back on the menu because we've got good flights, good access.”

Already, he said, the report has seen group business bookings up this year, by double digits. Free individual travellers, those not booking through a travel agency, are also up by double digits.

Bringing the Americans back into play, he said, “is huge.”

Local film to get a boost

Beyond tourism, Ballingall is also counting on the dollar and increased connectivity having an impact on the local film industry.

“The film industry is starting to come up this way, and that's because people have shot here before, with the Hallmark movies and everything that we've done in the Okanagan Valley,” he said.

“The Okanagan Valley is now, all of a sudden, one non-stop flight away from Los Angeles.”

That incentive is something that producer Costa Vassos is also contemplating.

Vassos, an award-winning film and TV producer, moved to Kelowna in 2020 and has taken his share of the movie business with him. He’s expecting to see more like-minded producers do the same while the dollar stays low.

“It is very good for the film industry,” Vassos said.

“Most productions are coming through the US, and now (a US dollar) is $1.40 so for film, it brings more bang for your buck and you get the tax credits on top of that,” Vassos said.

“The anticipation for the industry is that in 2025 will be much better than 2024.”

It could also mean that the Okanagan’s take of so-called Hollywood North could grow, with bigger films being enticed by the combination of cost and growing industry infrastructure.

Vassos said that getting there will mean a few things need to fall into place, like a studio and some more experienced crews.

“We have more work to do but a lower dollar will incentivize that work,” he said.

The Canadian dollar is now trading at just above .71 USD, which is its lowest point in nearly five years.

It is nearly four per cent below where it was trading in September and its slide comes as the U.S. greenback is soaring on the re-election of Donald Trump.

Trump has promised to introduce sweeping tariffs on all U.S. imports.

Katherine Judge with CIBC Capital Markets says the threat of tariffs will likely keep the Canadian dollar low for months, though she says it could rebound in the first part of 2025 if Canada is able to successfully negotiate with the Trump administration.

While the dollar stays low, the price for almost all goods imported from the United States, from manufacturing supplies to fruits and vegetables will go up.