Top Kootenay Employers

Kootenay Business presents its annual list of the Top Kootenay employers based on employee numbers

In December we compiled the statistics for our annual Top 120 employer list, based on the number of regular employees in each business, and found that our list this year is at 110. If any of the usual names are missing from the list, it may be because those companies have opted to stay out of the limelight this year. We welcome Roxul Inc. of Grand Forks to our 2014 list in position No. 28. For further information on this newcomer to our list, see our story on page 34. From the West Kootenay, we’ve added International Forest Products (No. 20), with operations in Grand Forks and Castlegar, along with Selkirk College (No. 15), which has a number of campuses in the area. And from the East Kootenay, we’ve added the following businesses to our list: Fernie’s Island Lake Lodge (No. 59), and three Cranbrook businesses, Wildstone Golf Course (No. 63), the Heritage Inn (No. 68) and Rocky Mountain Diesel (No. 94). You can read more about Rocky Mountain Diesel on page 29. And see the facing page for a story on Cranbrook’s Home Hardware (No. 76).

  Company Location Employees
1Teck Coal Ltd.Five Mines in the Elk Valley4055
2FortisBC Inc.Throughout BC2200
3BC Government & Service Employees Union (Members)East & West Kootenay2192
4Teck - TrailTrail, BC1610
5School District 8Nelson (Kootenay Lake)787
6CanforCranbrook/Elko/Canal Flats776
7School District 5 (Southeast Kootenay)Cranbrook & Elk Valley650
8Fernie Alpine ResortFernie600 Winter
9Panorama Mountain VillagePanorama500 Winter
10Canadian Mountain Holidays Inc.East & Central BC486
11Zellstoff Celgar Limited PartnershipCastlegar444
12School District 20 (Kootenay-Columbia)Trail/Castlegar/Rossland/ Fruitvale/Robson443
13School District 6 (Rocky Mountain)Kimberley/Invermere/Golden426
14Pacific Insight Electronics Corp.Nelson400
15Selkirk CollegeCastlegar/Trail/Nelson/Grand Forks/Kaslo/Nakusp353
16Kimberley Alpine ResortKimberley350 Winter
17Tamarack CentreCranbrook300-350
18St. Eugene Golf Resort & CasinoCranbrook320
19Paper ExcellenceCranbrook & Skookumchuck300
20Downie Timber Ltd.Revelstoke300
21International Forest Products LimitedGrand Forks and Castlegar300
22Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd.Golden & Malakwa265
23College of the RockiesEast Kootenay247
24Kootenay Savings Credit Union13 Kootenay Locations244
25School District 51 (Boundary)Grand Forks/Christina Lake/Greenwood/Midway/Rock Creek/Big White230
26Whitewater Ski ResortNelson225 Winter
27Revelstoke Mountain ResortRevelstoke210 Winter
28ROXUL Inc.Grand Forks, BC204
29City of NelsonNelson203
30City of CranbrookCranbrook200
31Real Canadian SuperstoreCranbrook200
32Red Mountain ResortRossland200 Winter
33Ferraro FoodsTrail & Rossland175
34Hume Hotel & Best Western Baker Street Inn (Martin Hotel Group)Nelson154
35Prestige Hotels & ResortsGolden, Radium, Nelson, Cranbrook, Rossland150
36Columbia Brewery (Labatt)Creston143
37WalmartNelson140
38Kalesnikoff Lumber Co. Ltd. Castlegar135
39Amec Americas LimitedTrail135
40Canada SafewayCranbrook130
41Porcupine Wood Products Ltd.Salmo125
42Sutco Contracting Ltd.Creston, Salmo, Chilliwack, Salmon Arm120
43City of TrailTrail110
44Canada SafewayCastlegar109
45Wynndel Box & Lumber Co. Ltd. Wynndel100
46Vic Van Isle GroupRevelstoke75-100
47City of RevelstokeRevelstoke100
48Nohels Group of CompaniesSparwood100
49Ktunaxa Nation CouncilCranbrook/Creston/Grasmere/Windermere100
50City of FernieFernie95
51Falkins Insurance Group - A Partner of Western Financial GroupEast & West Kootenay95
52Selkirk PavingCrescent Valley92
53Home DepotCranbrook83
54Maglio Building Centre (Trail) Ltd. / Maglio Building Centre Ltd.Trail & Nelson80
55J.H. Huscroft Ltd.Creston78
56Kootenay Country Store Co-opNelson75
57Fab-Rite Services Ltd.Cranbrook70
58Certified Coating Specialists Inc.Castlegar - with satellite offices in the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island70
59Island Lake LodgeFernie, BC70 (winter)
60Royal LePage East Kootenay RealtyEast Kootenay68
61East Kootenay Community Credit UnionCranbrook/Fernie/Elkford/Sparwood68
62Nelson & District Credit UnionNelson/Rossland/Crawford Bay65
63Wildstone Golf CourseCranbrook65 April-October
64RHC Insurance Brokers Ltd.Nelson/Castlegar/Trail/Rossland/Grand Forks/ New Denver63
65Overwaitea FoodsFernie61
66Regional District of East KootenayCranbrook & Columbia Valley56
67Canadian TireTrail55
68Heritage Inn Cranbrook55
69Galena ContractorsNakusp54
70Canadian TireCastlegar51
71Grand Forks Credit UnionGrand Forks50
72New Dawn Developments Ltd.Cranbrook/Kimberley/Fernie/Invermere/Panorama50
73Atco Wood Products Ltd.Fruitvale50
74Revelstoke Credit UnionRevelstoke50
75Unifab Industries Ltd.Grand Forks40-50
76Home Hardware Building CentreCranbrook47
77Selkirk Signs & Services Ltd.Cranbrook47
78Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Child & Family ServicesCranbrook/Creston/Windermere46
79Kicking Horse CoffeeInvermere45
80Investors Group Financial ServicesEast & West Kootenay44
81Columbia Power CorporationCastlegar42
82Columbia Basin TrustCastlegar, Creston, Golden, Nakusp42
83Koocanusa Publications Inc.Cranbrook40
84Box Lake Lumber Products Ltd.Nakusp40
85Liberty FoodsFruitvale40
86The Kootenay Import Auto GroupCranbrook38
87A.M. Ford (Sales) Ltd.Trail38
88Brisco Wood Preservers Ltd.Brisco38
89BDO Canada LLPCranbrook/ Invermere/Golden/Nakusp/Revelstoke38
90Elkford Motor InnElkford37
91Kootenay Innovative Wood Ltd.South Slocan35
92Boundary Electric (1985) Ltd.Grand Forks30-35
93Cranbrook DodgeCranbrook34
94Rocky Mountain Diesel Ltd.Cranbrook34
95Heritage Credit UnionCastlegar/Slocan Park/Greenwood33
96Dusk Building Systems Ltd.Invermere31
97District of InvermereInvermere30 (Summer)
98Dacota Freight Service Ltd.Cranbrook29
99Denham Ford (BC) Ltd.Cranbrook28
100Big Red Cat Skiing (Red Shutter Inn Ltd.)Red Mountain/Rossland28
101Nelson ChryslerNelson26
102HR PacificGolden26
103Parastone Team of CompaniesFernie25
104Creston & District Credit UnionCreston24
105Fernie Ford Sales Ltd.Fernie23
106Canadian Timberframes Ltd.Golden22
107Glacier HondaCastlegar20
108Columbia Valley Credit UnionGolden16
109TransCanada Pipelines Ltd.Kootenays16
110ReMax Caldwell Agencies Ltd.Kimberley/Cranbrook and area13

Think your business should be on our list? Email Kootenaybiz and let us know how many employees your business has.