Hope’s community spirit was on full display as hundreds of people showed up to help the town be chosen for HGTV’s Home Town Takeover Canada.
More than 300 residents, organizations, and businesses arrived at the stage at Memorial Park Sunday afternoon, Nov. 23, to help AdvantageHOPE make a video showing HGTV why “Hope is the greatest town in Canada.” Despite only having a few days to prepare, the community dressed up and arrived at the park with posters, balloons, and decorations.
Some of the posters said “Home Town Takeover, come to Hope!” or simply the word “HGTV,”
“It was honestly amazing,” said Amanda Figlarska, marketing manager for AdvantageHOPE. “Honestly it was great to see how excited people were, and hear them say ‘this is so amazing’ and ‘thank you for doing this.’ We wouldn’t have been able to get this far without this community. And we are fitting the bill, for what the show is looking for, by being such an amazing place.”
Some of the organizations that showed up were the Hope Communities in Bloom, Hope Brigade Days, Hope Icebreakers, Hope & District Skating Club, Hope Fire Department, Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue, Hope Mountain Black Bear Committee, Hope Minor Softball, and Hope Mountain Centre for Outdoor Learning.
Hope has made it to the final round of casting for the show. The video filmed on Sunday will be submitted to the channel’s casting team on Friday, Nov. 28, and will be used to determine if the town will be chosen or not.
This is the first time that the show is coming to Canada, and filming will be done in 2026 over the course of four to five months. During this time, husband and wife team Ben and Erin Napier will work with Canadian designers and builders to make a big impact on the community. This includes either renovating or revitalizing residences, businesses, public spaces, historic buildings, and sharing unique stories from the community.
While it has not been confirmed for the Canadian version, homes and businesses on the American version did have to pay for their renovations. Most of these costs were covered by donations and through the municipal government’s support.
Figlarska said being chosen would still be a great opportunity for Hope as it would give the community national coverage that could help boost Hope’s economy and image for the future.
Regardless of whether Hope is chosen, she said that the community has already won in terms of the amount of spirit and care they’ve displayed.
This sentiment was shared by all the District of Hope councillors during the Nov. 24 council meeting.
“It was awesome,” Coun. Scott Medlock said. “I wasn’t sure exactly how many people were there but I’m telling everybody that there were a thousand people, because that’s what it felt like. It was fantastic and I think it’s awesome that we’re even in the running.”