Powell River and Texada Island sit on the upper Sunshine Coast, a ferry ride from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. For more than a century, the paper mill set the pace in Powell River. The mill is gone now, but the town is not standing still. In 2026, the old mill site is filling with new tenants. Tla’amin Nation is building homes at its original village site. And on October 1, Texada Island showed up on a federal pipeline map. Below, we look at what is changing on the upper Sunshine Coast. Then we look at what it means for hospitality property in the area.

The Old Mill Site Is Coming Back to Life

The former Catalyst Paper Tis’kwat mill stopped running in December 2021, and the closure was made permanent in August 2023. Today, about 75 per cent of the site belongs to Cranberry Business Park. Tla’amin Nation chose the remaining 25 per cent. In July 2026, Cranberry chair Thomas Ligocki told the Powell River Peak the group had spent more than $10 million on cleanup and demolition. About 50 people were working on the site, mostly in demolition and cleanup.

New tenants are arriving. Vertigrow Bios is already growing strawberries in vertical farming containers on the site. Cranberry has also been in talks with homeD, a Canadian maker of modular homes. homeD wants to build homes at the mill site and ship them out through its deep-sea port. Cranberry has also been negotiating with Westinpower to manufacture energy infrastructure on the site. According to Ligocki, that deal alone would create 250 full-time jobs.

Tla’amin Nation Returns to tiskʷət

The mill was built on tiskʷət, an original Tla’amin village site. In September 2024, the Province and BC Housing selected Tla’amin Nation to build 30 affordable rental homes there, at 5903 Arbutus Avenue. The two and three bedroom homes are for Tla’amin families and other Indigenous people in the qathet region. Ground was broken in 2025. It is the Nation’s first major housing development outside its main community of t̓išosəm.

“For the first time in 150 years, our people… will once again be reconnected,” said hegus John Hackett. Through its modern treaty, Tla’amin Nation regained more than 8,300 hectares of its territory.

Pacific Link Puts Texada on the Map

On October 1, 2026, the federal government named the Pacific Link oil pipeline a project of national interest. The preferred route follows the Trans Mountain corridor to an expanded terminal at Roberts Bank, south of Vancouver. However, Alberta’s filing also includes an alternate route that “remains under consideration.” It would leave the Trans Mountain corridor near Clearwater and head to the coast. Those documents list the Sunshine Coast, Texada Island and Howe Sound as proposed terminal areas.

The route is not final, and the alternate faces strong opposition in the Sea to Sky region. In Powell River, mayor Ron Woznow told Canada’s National Observer the idea is worth considering. He pointed to the city’s deep-water port and the loss of the mill. A conditions document for Pacific Link is due by September 1, 2027, and construction can begin after that.

A Growing Town That Needs Homes

Powell River has been growing again. The city’s population rose from 13,157 in 2016 to 13,942 in 2021, a six per cent increase. In December 2024, the city’s interim housing needs report set a target of 988 new homes over five years. Over 20 years, the target is 2,544 new homes. More people living in Powell River means more visiting friends and family, and more business travel to the area.

The Sunshine Coast Trail and Texada Island

Tourism on the upper coast is built on the outdoors. The Sunshine Coast Trail runs 180 km from Sarah Point to Saltery Bay. It is Canada’s longest hut-to-hut hiking trail, with 14 free huts and one more planned. Hikers come from around the world to walk it. Desolation Sound, Lund and the region’s lakes draw paddlers, boaters and anglers.

Texada Island is a short ferry ride from Powell River, from Westview to Blubber Bay. The route is served by the Island Discovery, BC Ferries’ first hybrid electric vessel. Texada is the largest of the Gulf Islands, with a quiet, rural pace. Limestone quarrying has shaped the island since the late 1800s, and it still does today. For visitors, Texada offers beaches, trails, wildlife and a slower stay away from the crowds.

What It Means for Sunshine Coast Hospitality Property

In short, the upper Sunshine Coast is in the middle of a reset. The mill is gone, and new industry is moving onto the site. Tla’amin Nation is building at tiskʷət, and the city is planning for nearly 1,000 new homes. In addition, Texada now appears on a federal pipeline map as a possible terminal area. Meanwhile, the trail, the ocean and the islands keep drawing visitors. For an owner-operator, the appeal is a coastal lifestyle in a region with both tourism and new economic activity.

For more on activity elsewhere in BC, see our look at the Arrow Lakes and Slocan Valley.

BC Commercial Group currently has properties listed on the upper Sunshine Coast:

  • Powell River: Marland Motel, a 19-unit motel and cottage complex with 13 full-kitchen units, an owner’s suite and an adjacent titled lot
  • Texada Island: Rocky Valley Resort, a 10-unit glamping and cottage resort with a forest spa, event pavilion and outdoor theatre on 10.3 acres

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