Highway and downtown commercial and industrial lands within the Town boundary are largely developed, with some scattered undeveloped or underutilized land within these zones. The Town’s Economic Development Plan 2025-2030 identified the need to complete a Residential, Civic, Commercial and Industrial Land Inventory Assessment for best utilization of land within the Town boundary as Phase 1 in advancing various strategic aims related to infrastructure planning and community facilities.

Drawing a link between land, quality job creation, tax revenue growth, and ability to pay for desired services and amenities is critical to the stability, growth and diversification of the Town. A key objective of the project is economic diversification to identify suitable locations for innovation and to provide alternative sites supporting existing industries such as mining & exploration, transportation, forestry, cultural spaces, etc. The outcome of the Project will result in a thorough analysis of the undeveloped or underutilized properties and their zoning, and provide the Town with optimal land use options for future developments and strategic placement of services.

Given the limited availability of land within Smithers, there is a need to focus on increasing density and maximizing the use of underutilized properties to encourage new investments, growth and diversification. This project will help position Smithers to meet the needs of the current and future workforce while attracting new investment.

Urban Systems has been awarded the contract to develop the Land Needs Assessment (Phase 1) in accordance with Clean BC’s “Complete Communities Guide”.