Under the current council, Pitt Meadows city hall has paid more attention to agriculture, which is still one of the greatest contributors to the city economy.
The politicos are doing what they can to support farmers. In 2024 the city won an award for its Agriculture Viability Study from the Planning Institute of BC, for identifying opportunities to strengthen the industry. Pitt Meadows also hosted seven other municipalities from around the region, and took a lead role in discussions about food security and other issues.
Last year, the city surveyed its farmers, to find out what is being produced locally. Pitt Meadows also got backing from other cities around B.C. in a lobby to call on the province to increase funding for agriculture.
Mayor Nicole MacDonald said its about recognition that this foundational industry remains a key driver of the local economy – alongside the Pitt Meadows Regional Airport, the Golden Ears Business Park in South Bonson, and the business community.
“We want our farmers to succeed,” said the mayor. “That’s where Pitt Meadows strives to be a star. We are a major food source, offering food security for our region.”
She noted 20 per cent of the province’s blueberry production comes from Pitt Meadows. Some of the individual success stories include relatively new operations like UP Vertical Farms who produce greens for retail, and longtime farmers like Hopcott Farms butcher shop and family farm.
“Our legacy, and our heart, and our history is agriculture, that’s our roots, and it’s what we come from,” she said.
MacDonald said the city leadership must walk a line between having a booming economy that generates jobs and prosperity, and maintaining a small-town charm Pitt Meadows residents love.
“We have to be very smart, and we have to have strategic and planned growth, whether that’s business or residential,” she said.
“We’re not trying to correct something, we’re trying to build on, and preserve what is, with continual improvement.”
There is heavy industry such as the CPKC Railway’s Vancouver Intermodal facility, and light industrial in Onni’s Golden Ears Business Park.
Onni has leased an 825,000 square foot warehouse space to Amazon. It’s the company’s hub for the region, and an employer of more than 100 people.
“We’re happy to say their ambitions to be a good neighbour have been really positive,” said MacDonald of Amazon.
The city has the burgeoning Pitt Meadows Airport. An economic impact study in 2023 found it directly generates 490 jobs with an average salary of $82,000, and contributes $50 million to Canada’s GDP.
In recent years, YPK has seen some $60 million in investment in new hangars, office spaces, a new 45,000 square foot terminal building, and runway improvements, and continues to attract new aviation businesses. In the past eight years, some of the improvements have been a new helicopter park for maintenance and repair, a new Sky Helicopters building, new hangars by Fly Guy Aviation, Golden Arrow Properties and Pacific Airport Services.
“It’s a thriving regional airport,” noted MacDonald. “There’s a lot of different businesses operating there.”
And she said a coming development will be at the Fraser River waterfront there, where there are plans for a new float plane terminal and a destination restaurant.
The North Lougheed area, a 50 hectare property at the junction of Harris Road and Lougheed Highway, remains as a long-term economic stimulus. It has been excluded from the Agriculture Land Reserve since the 1980s, but the mayor is happy it remains undeveloped. New plans will respond to the city’s needs, she said.
She said it will likely have diverse housing, commercial space, green space, and potentially a post-secondary institution.
She calls the lack of a local college “a glaring miss in this part of the region.”
“If we’re looking at a strong economy, and skilled employees that would help us exponentially.”
She said future city councils will focus on redeveloping older commercial and residential properties, and “small, smart, incremental growth.”