The number of businesses in Kamloops actually grew in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

A new report from the city says there were 6,211 total business licenses at the end of last year, which is a four per cent increase from 2019 (5,999). Of those, more than 2,100 are home-based businesses.

There were also 803 new business licenses issued last year, compared to 619 for all of 2019, which is a 30 per cent increase.

Councillor Bill Sarai is council’s liaison for the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association, which advocates for downtown business. He says outdoor patios were a big help last year and again this year.

“Not only the patios help their own business, they help that whole block. All the retailers in different business nodes benefit from that foot traffic that is going back downtown. If you’ve noticed, in the last two weeks, there’s been more foot traffic downtown. And I know it’s got to do with the weather, but there’s also a reason they’re walking downtown. Because things are opening.”

Sarai says many businesses have not survived the pandemic, but he says the number of businesses is encouraging.

Meanwhile, the intercommunity business license program is seeing an increase in uptake as well, according to Kamloops city staff. Director of development services Marvin Kwiatkowski says there were 85 of those licenses issued last year, the first year the program came online, and he says 113 have already been issued this year.

The intercommunity business license allows contractors to work in 11 different communities in the Kamloops area, instead of those contractors having to apply for individual permits.