Community Statistics

 

Administration & Representation

The City of Fernie was incorporated in 1904, and is governed by a Mayor and six councilors, all elected for a three year term. The Council meets regularly (usually the 2nd and 4th Monday each month), and meetings are open to the public. City Council is responsible for issues that occur within the municipal boundaries.
 Areas outside the municipal boundaries are governed and serviced by the Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK). These services include land use planning, building inspections, water and sewage disposal, fire protection, and street lighting. The RDEK also provides regional-wide services such as solid waste management. The RDEK Board is comprised of representatives from the Municipal Councils and elected officials from the various rural districts. Fernie is bordered by Regional Districts A and B, who in turn appoint their representatives to the Board. Regular RDEK Board meetings are held on the first Friday of every month in the Cranbrook RDEK offices.

City of Fernie                                                        Regional District of East Kootenay
501 3rd Ave.                                                          19 - 24 Ave. South
Box 190                                                                  Cranbrook, BC V1C 3H8
Fernie, BC V0B 1M0                                                 Ph: (250)489-2791
Ph: (250)423-6817                                                  Fax: (250)489-3498
www.fernie.ca
cityhall@fernie.ca

Provincial Government:

Member of the Legislative Assembly (Liberal)
Mr. Bill Bennett, MLA
Cranbrook, BC
Email: bill.bennett.mla@leg.bc.ca
Phone: (250)417-6022 or Fax: (250) 417-6026
Toll Free: 1-866-417-6022
Government Agent
Bag 1000, 401 4th Ave.
Fernie, BC V0B 1M0

 

Economic Profile

The businesses in Fernie not only serve the full time residents in the immediate area (approx. 6000 from Fernie & surrounding districts), but draws customers from Elkford, Sparwood, Elko, and rural areas, giving us a year round trading area of about 16,000 customers. Some industries can draw from the Crowsnest Pass in Alberta which raises the overall trading area to 22,000. Based on City business licenses and Chamber memberships, here is a summary of the business categories serving Fernie, as of January, 2001


TYPE:

QUANTITY:

%OF TOTAL:

Automotive (sales, service,rentals)

14

2.2

Communications

15

2.3

Day Care

2

.25

Computer Services

10

1.5

Consulting

5

.5

Landscaping

12

2

Culture

11

2

Service

98

15

Veterinary

1

.25

Retail

85

13

Tourism - Adventure Operators

30

5

Lodging

93

14

Forestry

1

.25

Construction (all trades)

158

24.5

Food & Beverage

51

8

Transportation

10

2

Education

4

.5

Health

26

4

Publishing

1

.25

Mining

3

.5

Other

11

2

TOTALS

646

100

 

Population Characteristics

The last year for which detailed statistics are available is 1996., and it reported a total population of 4877.  The next census is due to be carried out in spring 2001. In the meantime, BC Stats has estimated the current population of Fernie to be around 5,200 people, whose composition is broken down as follows:

AGE CATEGORIES                                                   HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION
16.69% under 35 years of age                                      12.79% - single person households
27.59% bet. 35 - 44 years of age                                 38.6% - 2 person households
26.72% bet. 45 - 54 years of age                                 18% - 3 person households
18% 55 years of age and older                                     24.14% - 4 person households
11% 65 years of age and older                                     6.4% - 5 people or more
In terms of households:  The percentage of families with NO children under the age of 18 is 61.57%.

Population Distribution for the RDEK

CITY

1991

1996

2001

CRANBROOK

16447

18329

18476

KIMBERLEY

6531

6738

6484

INVERMERE

2207

2207

2858

RADIUM HOT SPRINGS

395

530

583

FERNIE

5012

4898

4611

SPARWOOD

4211

3982

3812

ELKFORD

2846

2729

2589

OUTLYING AREAS

14719

16473

16878

TOTAL E. KOOTENAY

52368

56366

56291

 

Building Permit Activity

YEAR

RESIDENTIAL

COMMERCIAL

INDUSTRIAL

*OTHER

TOTAL

NEW DWELLIINGS

1996

$635,435.00

$467,980.00

$3,255,000.00

$244,580.00

$4,602,915.00

4

1997

$1,672,415.00

$1,950,885.00

-

$15,408,000.00

$19,031,600.00

9

1998

$5,235,727.00

$366,660.00

$9,500.00

$490,500.00

$6,102,387.00

25

1999

$6,864,490.00

$2,139,865.00

$313,480.00

$1,075,912.00

$10,393,747.00

65

2000

$12,124,860.00

$10,616,032.00

-

$3,500.00

$22,744,392.00

135

2001

$3,608,000

$988,000

-

$10,000

$4,606,000

27

*Includes signs, institutional, & farm construction

Building Permits Information

* City of Fernie 2002 


Year

Number of Permits

                    Amounts

1995

93

3,264,400

1996

87

4,918,915

1997

107

17,005,895

1998

126

7,352,387

1999

124

9,926,929

2000

123

22,645,680

2001

125

4,605,512

2002

 

 

January

2

21,400

February

4

153,360

March

3

4,520

April

4

153,360

May

11

1,375,850

June

10

367,450

July

16

169,350

Land & Building Values/Tax Rates

LAND CLASSIFICATION

ASSESSED VALUE OF LAND & BUILDINGS ($)

TOTAL MUNICIPAL TAX RATE

RESIDENTIAL

248,848,650

12.657534

LIGHT INDUSTRY

598,400

28.294222

UTILITIES

3,435,600

45.542315

MANAGED FOREST

123,000

40.632337

BUSINESS/OTHER

40,969,250

22.631539

FARM

5,200

14.045334

RECREATION/NONPROFIT

311,800

11.714134