Nanaimo news

• Harbour Air acquisition of Pacific Coastal to create B.C. regional airline group

  15-09-2026 22:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Harbour Air is set to acquire Pacific Coastal Airlines, bringing the two British Columbia-based carriers under common Canadian ownership while keeping their brands and operations independent.
  The airlines announced the proposed acquisition on Sept. 15, saying the deal would combine Harbour Air’s seaplane network with Pacific Coastal’s wheeled-aircraft network to expand regional connectivity across B.C.
  The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and the airlines did not provide
  
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• UBCM president delivers sharp rebuke to provincial government in annual address

  16-09-2026 22:05 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Union of B.C. Municipalities President Cori Ramsay blasted the provincial government in her annual address on Wednesday, expressing deep frustration on a wide range of issues.
  “If I were to characterize how our members are feeling right now, the word that comes to mind is frustration,” Ramsay told local government delegates at the UBCM convention in Vancouver.
  UBCM presidents serve one-year terms. This conference concludes Ramsay’s time in the role, and Squamish Coun. Jenna Sto
  
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• Okanagan curling team second at Saville Shootout in Edmonton

  16-09-2026 22:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  New rink, nice result.
  Vernon’s Jim Cotter returned to competitive men’s team curling with a second-place finish at the 20-team Saville Shootout in Edmonton.
  Cotter, 51, fell 5-4 in the final Monday, Sept. 14, to Benny Kapp of Fuessen, Germany. The Cotter rink collected $4,000 for second place. Kapp pocketed $6,000.
  Playing with Cotter are third Jared Kolomaya of Kamloops, second Connor Deane of Kelowna, lead Erik Colwell of Vernon, and alternate player Brad Wood of Penticton.
  The ne
  
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• UPDATE: First responders respond to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital after construction worker injured

  16-09-2026 21:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo Fire Rescue, police and B.C. Ambulance Service were on the scene at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for a rescue incident.
  First responders were called out to the cancer centre construction site just before noon on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
  According to John MacKenzie, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations, it involved a man who was working at the site.
  “Our crews were called for industrial accident here at NRGH for a worker who fell, from what I’m told, approximatel
  
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• UPDATE: First responders head to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital after construction worker falls, injured

  16-09-2026 21:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo Fire Rescue, police and B.C. Ambulance Service were on the scene at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for a rescue incident.
  First responders were called out to the cancer centre construction site just before noon on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
  According to John MacKenzie, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations, it involved a man who was working at the site.
  “Our crews were called for industrial accident here at NRGH for a worker who fell, from what I’m told, approximatel
  
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• UPDATE: First responders at site at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital after worker injured

  16-09-2026 21:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo Fire Rescue, police and B.C. Ambulance Service are at the scene at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for a rescue incident.
  First responders were called out to the cancer centre construction site just before noon on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
  Traffic was closed off on Dufferin Crescent by the hospital, but has since re-opened.
  According to John MacKenzie, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations, it involved a man who was working at the site.
  “Our crews were called for industria
  
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• First responders head to Island hospital after construction worker falls, injured

  16-09-2026 21:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Fire crews, police and B.C. Ambulance Service were on the scene at a hospital on Vancouver Island for a rescue incident.
  First responders were called out to the cancer centre construction site at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital, just before noon on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
  According to John MacKenzie, Nanaimo Fire Rescue assistant chief of operations, it involved a man who was working at the site.
  “Our crews were called for industrial accident here at NRGH for a worker who fell, from what I&
  
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• First responders at site of incident at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital

  16-09-2026 21:32 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Nanaimo Fire Rescue, police and B.C. Ambulance Service are at the scene at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for a rescue incident.
  First responders were called out to the cancer centre construction site just before noon on Wednesday, Sept. 16.
  Traffic is closed off on Dufferin Crescent by the hospital.
  More to come.
  – Files from Jessica Durling, News Bulletin
  [email protected]
  
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• $2M from province for Chemainus wood products manufacturer for expansion

  16-09-2026 20:15 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A Chemainus wood products manufacturer is expanding its operations with the help of up to $2 million in provincial funding.
  Ron Anderson & Sons has broken ground on an expansion of its Chemainus manufacturing facility that will increase production capacity, introduce new prefabricated wood products and create up to 35 new jobs.
  The project is being supported through the B.C. government’s BC Manufacturing Jobs Fund, which is providing funding for facility expansions and equipment upgrad
  
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• What’s On, Sept. 16

  16-09-2026 20:12 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  MUSICTony McManus will be playing at Ladybug’s Mew in Yellow Point Farm and Garden Store Concert Stage on Sept. 17. Opening by Dusty Roads Duo. Tickets are available at https://ladybugsmewinyellowpoint.ca.Fleetwood Magic will be playing at the Port Theatre on Sept. 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at www.porttheatre.com.
  Carolyn Mack w/ Al Tuck and Manuel Focus will be performing at The Vault Cafe on Sept. 17 at 9 p.m. Cost is $15.
  Black Pontiac, Danger Box and Chronic Fatigue will be
  
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• North Cowichan’s E-Comm bill projected to reach $1.5 million by 2029

  16-09-2026 20:10 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  North Cowichan is facing a steep increase in the cost of its police call-taking and dispatch services, with its annual E-Comm bill projected to reach more than $1.5 million by 2029.
  Council received a report on the projected increases at its Sept. 2 meeting, learning the municipality’s E-Comm service fee is expected to rise from approximately $888,000 in 2026 to $1.12 million in 2027, $1.26 million in 2028 and $1.52 million in 2029.
  That represents an overall increase of about 71 per cent
  
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• RCMP investigating ATM theft in Ladysmith

  16-09-2026 20:07 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Ladysmith RCMP are investigating after an ATM was stolen following a break and enter from a business in the 1300 block of Simpson Road.
  On Sept. 9, at approximately 4:50 a.m., RCMP were notified of a break and enter in progress. Preliminary evidence gathered at the scene indicated that a red and tan coloured, single-cab, older model pick up truck was used to pull the ATM from the business.
  Two suspects wearing face coverings and gloves were observed on video surveillance.
  The suspect was later r
  
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• B.C. restaurants squeezed by rising costs: Report

  16-09-2026 19:46 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  B.C.’s restaurant industry is absorbing cost pressures more sharply than the rest of the country, according to new data from EconoLease’s 2026 Hospitality Operator Report.
  The report reveals that the province’s hospitality sector is under financial pressure, due to tariffs, costs of upgrades to cooking equipment and disproportionately high startup costs.
  The report, released Sept. 15, surveyed 250 Canadian foodservice and hospitality operators and found that 90 per cent of B.C
  
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• Island-wide benchmark price for single-family home currently above $788K

  16-09-2026 19:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The benchmark price for a single-family home in Parksville Qualicum Beach is up one per cent over the same period a year ago, sitting at $926,800.
  A month ago, the number was at $927,700.
  According to a press release from the Vancouver Island Real Estate Board, Nanaimo’s year-over-year benchmark price increased by one per cent to $820,100. In Campbell River, the benchmark price of a single-family home was $690,000 last month, up one per cent from August 2025. The Comox Valley’s year-
  
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• Man arrested after midnight attacks in a Vancouver Island college campus’s residence

  16-09-2026 19:26 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Comox Valley RCMP are currently investigating an aggravated assault at Courtenay’s North Island College campus.
  Police responded to multiple calls at 12:53 a.m. reporting an assault with an edged weapon at one of the campus’s residence buildings. Police located two victims with injuries quickly after arriving at the scene. Officers identified and arrested the suspect, a 21-year-old man from Burnaby. The man is currently in custody pending a court appearance.
  As of 10 a.m., the scene
  
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• Metallica will play in Vancouver for first time in 10 years next spring

  16-09-2026 19:12 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Metal music trailblazers Metallica will perform in Vancouver next spring for the first time in close to a decade.
  The Saturday, May 8 date at BC Place Stadium will kick off an extended M72 World Tour, with Limp Bizkit and Avatar opening for the “Enter Sandman” band.
  Metallica last played in Vancouver in August 2017, also at BC Place.
  The new Live Nation-promoted tour, launched in 2023 and set to continue four years later, includes stadiums across North America, the company announced
  
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• 5 children rescued in the Philippines after B.C. sexual exploitation case

  16-09-2026 18:46 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A New Westminster man has been charged with multiple child sexual exploitation offences in an international investigation that led to the rescue of five children in the Philippines.
  Gerard Saunders, who lived in New Westminster at the time of the alleged offences, is charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, making child sexual abuse and exploitation material and agreeing or making an arrangement with a person to lure a child, police said in a release Tuesday (Sept. 15).
  Saunders w
  
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• ‘No more band-aids:’ province chooses Campbell River areas for Working Forest Landscape Model

  16-09-2026 18:27 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Province of British Columbia, in partnership with the Na̲nwak̲olas Council and four of its member First Nations — Tlowitsis, We Wai Kai, Wei Wai Kum and K’ómoks — has identified areas near Campbell River as the first candidate area to explore a proposed Working Forest Landscape Model.The area was selected through targeted engagement with industry and existing land-use and forest-planning processes.
  The proposed model is a co-ordinated, three-zone approach t
  
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• One man dead after incident involving truck in downtown Nanaimo

  16-09-2026 18:25 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A man is dead following a motor vehicle incident in the parking lot of the Co-op gas bar on Victoria Crescent in downtown Nanaimo on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 16.
  Nanaimo RCMP said the investigation is in the early stages, but can confirm that one man has died in the incident.
  Kevin Shaw witnessed the event at the approximately 6:30 a.m.
  He said he heard a fuel truck backing up towards the gas pumps in the parking lot of the gas station and the driver was blowing his horn to warn anyone th
  
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• Nanaimo Port Authority shortlists applicants for president, CEO position

  16-09-2026 14:30 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Nanaimo Port Authority has had 186 applications from across the globe for its president and CEO position since the job was first posted in May.
  NPA chair Donna Hais said the selection has been shortlisted down to four, and the final interviews are expected to be concluded by the end of September.
  “We expect that we’ll be making an announcement on who our new president and CEO will be made by the middle of October,” she said.
  Ian Marr, the current president and CEO of the NP
  
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• B.C. attorney general ‘hopeful’ on DRIPA changes this fall, but won’t commit

  16-09-2026 04:12 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  While B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma wouldn’t commit to amending the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (DRIPA) this fall after a summer of consultations with First Nations, she did say she is “hopeful” a path forward can be found.
  “Our government has been contacting various leaders. They gave us ideas. And we’re making really good progress,” she told reporters at the Union of B.C. Municipalities meeting in Vancouver on Tuesday. “I wi
  
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• Papers cut in Nanaimo for Crime Stoppers fundraiser

  16-09-2026 03:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Documents and bills were cut to ribbons in a Central Vancouver Island Crime Stoppers in Nanaimo this past weekend.
  The group’s community paper shredding event took place Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Country Grocer at Bowen Road in Nanaimo, offering people a chance to come with their personal papers and have them cut up and safely disposed, for a donation.
  Brian Cornborough, CVI Crime Stoppers’ president, said people were eager to have their documents and papers cut up.
  “People cam
  
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• Ski club unveils state-of-art training facility in Vernon

  16-09-2026 01:39 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  It’s new. It’s state of the art.And it rests comfortably on a North Okanagan mountain.
  The Silver Star Freestyle (Ski) Club (SSFC) has unveiled its new dryland training facility at SilverStar Mountain Resort.
  The facility will create unprecedented training opportunities for freestyle skiers and snowboarders in B.C., Western Canada, and beyond.
  “This is a really exciting moment for freestyle skiing and snowboarding in our region,” said Carson Dorward, SSFC president. &ldqu
  
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• Mid-Island Co-op customers fuel up for a good cause

  16-09-2026 01:31 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  It felt like a party at the Mid-Island Co-op gas bar on Bowen Road today.
  On Tuesday, Sept. 15 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., employees were at the entrances of the gas bar with pom-poms encouraging motorists to pull in for gas, while other waited to wash their windows as they filled up their tanks.
  It was all for a good cause as 10 cents for every litre of gas sold at the gas bar, as well as Mid-Island Co-op’s 16 other gas stations on the Island, during that time, went to the Children’s Healt
  
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• UFV agricultural report shines spotlight on decline of mid-size B.C. farms

  16-09-2026 01:06 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  A recent Statistics Canada report revealed a $457 million net loss for the B.C. agricultural sector in 2024, but the BC Agriculture Council and BC Dairy have now responded with a study of their own.
  In a new report created by staff at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), the two agricultural groups cited findings that they said help paint the full picture of the current state of the agricultural sector.While Statistics Canada shared that the province’s farms suffered a total loss of
  
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• VIDEO: Team Leavitt wins pull time at Kelowna’s annual Haul for Hope

  16-09-2026 00:26 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The KF Centre for Excellence in Kelowna was an exciting place to be the morning of Sept. 15.The annual Haul for Hope fundraiser took place starting at 9 a.m. with 13 teams raising funds for Hope Air and competing for the best time in pulling a 67,000 pound WestJet plane.There to share her story with competitors was Penticton’s Rhonda Caron, a Hope Air patient who was diagnosed with acute leukaemia.Caron stayed with family in Vancouver while receiving treatment she could not get locally, bu
  
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• Campbell River-area Tlowitsis Nation calls for end to ‘vandalism of our new community’

  16-09-2026 00:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Tlowitsis Nation’s chief and council has issued a statement regarding ongoing vandalism to their property and belongings at its new community, Nenagwas.
  “Over this past weekend heavy damage was done to our beautiful canoe entrance at our new community entrance on York Road,” the statement read.
  “Every ground light used to light up the canoes at night was smashed with rocks and a paddle was ripped from one of the two canoes and thrown on the ground. There were several
  
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• Body found in burning vehicle in Victoria

  15-09-2026 23:00 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Victoria Police Department says they’re investigating a vehicle fire where a person was found dead in the 700-block of Queens Avenue – which has been closed most of the day.
  Around 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15, a VicPD officer who was on their way to work came across the burning vehicle and called 911. The Victoria Fire Department attended and extinguished the flames within minutes of arrival, police say.
  “Major Crime Unit detectives are investigating and have a robust prese
  
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• CBSA removes 111 individuals linked to extortion from Canada since August 2025

  15-09-2026 21:58 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  The Canada Border Services Agency has removed 111 people from Canada since August 2025 who have been linked to extortion.The CBSA said in a news release Monday (Sept. 14) that most of those removed have been in the Pacific region, which includes B.C. and the Yukon. The agency issued 91 orders for people in the Pacific region, removing 58 individuals. The agency said it issued 50 removal orders for individuals in the Greater Toronto Area, removed 23 people, and issued 47 removal orders in the Pra
  
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• New partnerships bringing drone and aerospace innovation to Kelowna

  15-09-2026 21:55 via nanaimobulletin.com
  
  Kelowna is going to be the home of drone and aerospace innovation in B.C.
  ​The City of Kelowna, Kelowna International Airport (YLW), FireSwarm Solutions and Okanagan College (OC) have launched partnerships to build a future hub for AI-enabled drone and aerospace innovation.
  ​A Memorandum of Understanding was recently signed by FireSwarm and the City of Kelowna, along with a second one between FireSwarm and Okanagan College.
  ​FireSwarm is a Canadian aerospace and defence startup
  
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