Future of Recreation: The power of catalysts

Sapphire Lakes in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park near Nelson, BC. Photo: Destination BC | Kari Medig

How pioneers, recreation sites, and a little government support can supercharge the outdoor recreation industry

From access to nature to apps and AI, the evolution of trail construction to electric power, this story is part of a series of articles looking at how recreation will change and evolve over the short and long term. 

The same geography that makes Nelson synonymous with skiing, means when the snow melts the Kootenay city is equally great for hiking. Access to mountain trails is what attracted Scott Matson to town in 2018. After hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, Scott moved from Nebraska to Nelson where he started Northern Ultralight, a company that makes backpacking gear inspired by his adventures. 

Scott’s story is part of B.C.’s outdoor rec tech sector, a manufacturing niche inside the greater outdoor recreation industry. The connection between these two often overlooked and increasingly powerful parts of the provincial economy was the topic of a recent Outdoor Recreation Council of BC webinar. One of the big takeaways from the panel discussion was the importance of pioneers in building the recreation architecture that enables businesses like Northern Ultralight to thrive.  

Few have had a better seat to observe this symbiosis than John Hawkings, one of the webinar panellists. For 15 years he worked with Recreation Sites and Trails BC, where he watched the recreation industry emerge, evolve and thrive in places like Burns Lake, Revelstoke and Valemount. 

“From my experience these communities have had some core folks, some real leaders, these central catalysts…who really make these community-centred opportunities happen,” says Hawkings, who is now the executive lead for Recreation Strategy and Service Transformation in the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. 

Burns Lake might be the most striking example. In the early 2000s a few mountain biking fans in town figured Burns Lake could and should be a mountain biking destination. At the time there was little mountain bike tourism in B.C., especially so far from the southern part of the province. Through determination and a lot of work they built a business case for the idea and the community backed them. Locally focused  economic development programs helped fund planning and development and Recreation Sites and Trails helped build the site. 

Throughout the province, Recreation Sites and Trails uses a local approach and that’s key, says Hawkings. 

“Rec officers always talk in terms of the communities they serve, rather than a landscape focus,” he says. “They’ve always supported community leaders in developing recreation opportunities and I think that then becomes the catalyst under which we see rural economic development happen.”

In turn, that drives a regional outdoor economy, including everything from visitors staying in hotels and campgrounds, to retail and restaurants, and manufacturing of outdoor products, says Wendy Koh, a manager for Regional Economic Operations in the Ministry of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation. The whole outdoor recreation economy is under-recognized, she says, but especially the companies that make outdoor gear, what she calls the outdoor rec tech sector. 

When her ministry interviewed some of these companies, they told her access to the places where their customers recreate is key to their business. It inspires their products and provides the ideal testing ground.

 “The outdoor rec tech industry is very highly place-based,” she said during the webinar. 

On Vancouver Island it’s focused on surfing, paddling and mountain biking. In the Kootenays it’s mountain sports. And in the northeast hunting and fishing companies dominate. 

Her ministry has no specific data on the size of the outdoor recreation industry, let alone the outdoor rec tech sector. Instead she points south for a sense of scale. The US Bureau of Economic Analysis has tracked the outdoor recreation economy since 2016, says Chris Perkins, another panelist and the vice president of programs at the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable in the U.S. Defined as “Any activity done for pleasure that occurs outdoors,” it was a $862-billion industry in 2021. More important, says Perkins, is that it is outperforming the U.S. economy, growing by nearly 19 percent, compared to 5.7 percent. 

“Having these numbers at our disposal, I can’t emphasise enough how much that changed the conversation,” he says. “[It] changed the dialogue. It changed the sort of doors and rooms that we were being invited into.”

Other research has further boosted the business case. For instance, when researchers asked tech workers who were moving back to Utah why they chose to return home. The number one answer, from 82 percent of respondents, was access to the outdoors. 

“I think that illustrates that when Utah invests in its outdoor recreation infrastructure and access, it’s having these spillover benefits in industries outside outdoor recreation, that help make the state more competitive,” Perkins says.

The provincial government knows about these examples, says Koh, and it recognizes outdoor recreation meets the two goals of the StrongerBC Economic Plan, inclusive growth and clean growth. During her talk, she identified several funding sources that are encouraging growth in the outdoor economy.

Regional economic development trusts, Crown corporations and economic development organizations invest in community-focused projects that boost growth and diversification. Starting in 2024, the Outdoor Recreation Council of BC will manage an outdoor recreation fund which will doll out grants to help volunteer groups improve access to recreation. And there’s Innovate BC’s Venture Acceleration Program, which helps businesses like Northern Ultralight. 

Funding from the program helped Scott Matson become a member of the Selkirk Technology Access Centre, formerly known as the MIDAS Lab. The shared advanced manufacturing and training facility, at the Trail campus of Selkirk College, makes expensive equipment available to small companies. 

Early on Matson used the lab to test materials and refine his production process.

“Having access to their laser cutter has enabled us to increase the efficiency and precision of our manufacturing process while allowing us to go from concept to in-market in just over a year,” he told Innovate BC.

Today Northern Ultralight employs six people and has a head office and manufacturing space on Baker Street in downtown Nelson. The trails are still only a short drive away.

If you want to read more stories in our series about the Future of Outdoor Recreation, click here.