CPABC said the region added 4,033 residents, with gains from B.C. migration offsetting weaker international inflows and natural decline as Kelowna remained one of the province’s fastest-growing urban markets.
Thompson-Okanagan's population reached 669,958 on July 1, 2025, up 0.6% from a year earlier, according to the Chartered Professional Accountants of British Columbia's quarterly BC Check-Up release. The region added 4,033 residents over 12 months as intraprovincial migration from elsewhere in B.C. contributed 4,327 people and international migration added 1,752, down 77.2% year over year. The region recorded a net inflow of fewer than 500 people from other provinces for a second straight year, while natural growth reduced the population by 2,488. Karen Christiansen, FCPA, FCA, said slower growth reflected fewer newcomers from other countries and weaker interprovincial migration. Kelowna, the region's largest census metropolitan area, added 2,957 residents, or 1.2%, between July 1, 2024, and July 1, 2025, while Kamloops lost 259 people. Since July 1, 2020, Kelowna's population has risen 12.6%, or 28,400 people, narrowly surpassing Greater Vancouver's 12.3% increase to become British Columbia's fastest-growing CMA. The release said housing markets in the Thompson-Okanagan were relatively resilient through the first half of 2026 despite weaker sales across the province. Year-to-date home sales in the Okanagan and Shuswap/Revelstoke regions totaled 4,220 in June 2026, roughly unchanged from the same period in 2025, with the average sale price little changed at $766,266. In the Kamloops and District region, 1,182 housing units sold, down 1.2%, while the average sale price fell 1.7% to $608,380. In Kelowna's rental market, average monthly apartment rent rose 10.0% year over year to $1,904 in October 2025, even as the vacancy rate climbed 2.6 percentage points to 6.4%, the highest among Canadian CMAs. Christiansen said the market is out of balance after a surge in purpose-built rental supply, underscoring near-term pressures alongside the broader challenge of improving affordability.