From The Island Trade Report, our monthly read on Vancouver Island work.
The Island Trade Report
September 2026 · Vancouver Island trades – what the numbers actually say
The Number
80.5%
of audited Island trades do not appear in the top 3 of the Google map results for their own town and trade.
That is 505 of 627 audited businesses where we could actually check.
And 109 of them (17.4%) do not show up in those searches at all.
Work on Deck
- VIREB reported 707 sales across the board area in July 2026, down about 11% on the same month last year. Active listings sat at 4598.
- The board-wide benchmark single-family price was $794,500.
- Nanaimo recorded 76 housing starts in July.
- In Victoria, starts fell to 166 in July from 581 a year earlier.
- Latest quarter (Apr-Jun): Duncan 215 · Campbell River 50 · Parksville 30 · Port Alberni 8.
- StatCan withholds Courtenay's figures.
- Campbell River issued 19 building permits in July, worth $4,081,150.
- Open work: RFQ2026-04 River Road Water Design (Town of Lake Cowichan) – closes Thursday, September 10, 2026.
Tom’s Take
Most good Island contractors do not have a workmanship problem. They have a visibility problem.
The companies homeowners see first are not necessarily the companies doing the best work. They are the companies Google understands and trusts well enough to put in front of them.
Before spending more on ads, check the basics: the right Google Business category, complete services, current photos, steady reviews and a real page for each service and town you want to win. None of that is exciting. It is simply where a surprising amount of Island work is being won or lost.
– Tom Cahill, Cahill Web Studio
Dates That Cost You Money
- Sep 2 — Now – check your 2027 WorkSafeBC classification rate. Preliminary rates are out; check your own classification rather than relying on the unchanged provincial average. (Anyone who pays WorkSafeBC premiums)
- Oct 31 — BC Hydro's heat-pump bonus ends. Eligible systems must be completed and invoiced by the deadline – review outstanding customer quotes now. (Anyone quoting heat pumps)
- Nov 2 — Q3 GST is due, and it's not Oct 31 this year. The July-September return and payment deadline lands on a Saturday, so filers get until Monday, Nov 2. (Quarterly GST filers)
Find of the Month
Got one of your own? Send me the photo and a line about it – I’ll run the best one next month with your company’s name, or without it if you’d rather. Email tom@cahillwebstudio.com.
Worth 10 minutes
Search Google for your main service and town exactly the way a customer would – for example, "roofer Nanaimo" or "electrician Courtenay". Do it on your phone, do not use your business name, and look at the three companies shown on the map. Then answer three questions: Are you there? Do their review totals and recent photos make them look like the safer choice? Does your listing make it immediately clear what you do and where you work? Ten honest minutes will tell you more than another month of guessing. If you are not in the top three, take a screenshot. That is your starting line for the next 90 days.
Shout-Out
Construction is underway on M'akola Housing Society's new five-storey building on Fourth Avenue in Port Alberni, on what used to be the Woodward's parking lot. It will hold 40 units, most of them affordable housing, built in partnership with the provincial government and funded by BC Housing. Projects like this keep Island crews working through the slower months and leave homes behind long after the equipment moves out.
Lock It, Watch It or Wait
LOCK IT: lumber-heavy quotes. The lumber index moved up 6.0% this month, so reconfirm pricing before you extend a quote's validity.
WATCH IT: Campbell River permits – 19 issued in July worth $4,081,150. That is the work reaching trades in the next few months.
WAIT: financing. The Bank of Canada rate is 2.25% and held – nothing here calls for a decision this month.
The Strip
Lumber +6.0% | Copper +0.4% | Diesel (Victoria) +10.9c/L | BoC rate 2.25% (held)Month over month. Lumber and copper are price indexes, not dollar prices.
That is this month’s Island Trade Report – useful numbers, real opportunities and no boardroom filler. If another Island contractor would find it useful, forward it along. If there is a project, crew or local business we should recognize next month, send it to tom@cahillwebstudio.com. – Tom
Every figure here is sourced. How we work these numbers out.
Sources for this issue
- Cahill Web Studio audit dataset (n=627, 2026-08-28)
- Excludes 126 audits predating the Aug 27 data correction.
- VIREB / CREA monthly statistics (July 2026)
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Monthly Housing Starts and Construction Data Tables, Table 1
- Statistics Canada, Web Data Service (housing starts collected by CMHC)
- Campbell River building permits (City of Campbell River website terms)
- CivicInfo BC
- Dates compiled by Cahill Web Studio from the issuing bodies named in each line
- Photo courtesy of Element Restorations
- Independently sourced: https://www.albernivalleynews.com/2026/02/06/construction-underway-for-affordable-housing-building-in-port-alberni/
- Independently sourced: https://chooseportalberni.ca/invest/developments
- Statistics Canada 18-10-0266-01 (IPPI), softwood lumber, Canada
- Statistics Canada 18-10-0266-01 (IPPI), unwrought copper and copper alloys, Canada
- Statistics Canada 18-10-0001-01, diesel at self-service stations, Victoria BC
- Bank of Canada Valet, V39079 (target for the overnight rate)
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