Help Wanted in the Okanagan

The issue was that we couldn’t afford to just come back and hope one of us would get a good job.

Brandie Gariepy

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Welcome to Shangri-flawed

With help wanted signs sprouting like roadside weeds, it’s not surprising that Okanagan employers are struggling to cope. But just when you’d expect job seekers to be sitting in the driver’s seat, many wannabe workers are getting a bumpy ride. High housing costs and stagnant wages are obvious culprits, but the following three case studies, along with our salary comparisons, reveal there’s more to this picture.

Illustration by Will Enns

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Read more of the original stories celebrated in our 30th-anniversary issue.

Feature: Okanagan POTibilities

Feature: Okanagan POTibilities

Cultivating the cannabis industry The business of legalizing marijuana is creating a buzz in the Okanagan. Whether you call it pot, weed or Mary Jane, cannabis becomes legal across Canada on July 1, 2018, when the federal government officially enacts Bill C-45. The...

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Lake Country calls out to artists

Lake Country calls out to artists

The Lake Country Art Gallery is opening a call for submissions for their upcoming exhibit: Who are we? A visual narrative of our community. The exhibition will run March 1 to April 1. The call is open to everyone of all ages. Individual and collaborative works...

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Freestyle skier to speak at UBC Okanagan athletics breakfast

Freestyle skier to speak at UBC Okanagan athletics breakfast

Mike Shaw will talk about his devastating injury and his incredible comeback As inspirational speakers go, it doesn't get much better than this. For the 13th annual Valley First/UBC Okanagan Athletics Scholarship Breakfast, homegrown hero Mike Shaw will be the special...

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Chefs arrive in Kelowna for national competition finale

Chefs arrive in Kelowna for national competition finale

The 2018 Canadian Culinary Championships (CCC) is taking place this weekend in Kelowna, February 2 and 3. Representing BC is Chef Alex Chen of Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar in Vancouver. Chen took top spot in the Victoria championships. He chose to create his...

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Rollin’ on the River

Rollin’ on the River

Excellent, Amsterdam would fit perfectly into the plan. (Did I forget to mention my tiny, little personal agenda—a river cruise.) With a dozen big ship voyages from Cape Horn to the Baltic under my lifebelt, I’d been dying to marry the one-bed, one-packing comfort of floating travel with a tour of Old World sights in the heart of Europe. And Amsterdam happens to be the terminus of one of the best river cruises of all—the Rhine. I called my travel agent.

Residential Care: The big step

Residential Care: The big step

Canadians now live an average of nearly two decades past their 65th birthday, often forcing boomer generation kids and aging spouses to make the heart-wrenching decision to place a loved one in residential care …