Friday - March 21, 2025 - Tariffs likely to hit Fraser Valley hard

🌦 High 8C

Good morning!

When I first entered the world of adulthood, I was excited to file my taxes. It felt like a rite of passage, like having your first legal drink or buckling yourself into the driver’s seat for the first time. I looked forward to scrutinizing a physical T4, double- and triple-checking I had the right number on the right line. Sadly, a decade later, the novelty has worn off—although I suspect it might be because I spend more time trying to remember my CRA login information than actually filing my taxes.

Speaking of fiscal responsibility, thank you to everyone who signed up for a paid subscription during our membership drive! Because of your support, we were able to meet our goal of 200 new paid subscribers—and we can keep on trucking along with our journalism. We can’t put this newsletter together without your financial and moral support, and we are so grateful for how generously you have provided both.

– Grace

(P.S. If you haven’t become a member yet, it’s not too late! We always welcome latecomers. You can become a member here.)

Keep local journalism alive by supporting The Current. Become a Current Insider member today and help bring local stories to life.

Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope 

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

NEWS

The Fraser Canyon’s new energy source?

The Boston Bar First Nation is hoping geothermal technology will keep the lights on in the Fraser Canyon.

The band recently proposed a feasibility study to build a geothermal power plant and green hydrogen project on a roughly 10-acre site on a reserve next to North Bend. The property was once a saw mill.

It hopes the seven megawatt plant won’t just produce electricity from Spences Bridge to Spuzzum—a corridor highly susceptible to outages—but also rejuvenate the local economy by extracting hydrogen for export.

• Today, Josh writes about a green technology that could brighten the Fraser Canyon.

Related

Need to Know

🏗 Ground has finally been broken for a new 56-bed supportive housing project in Hope [Hope Standard]

✊ The Tesla Takedown movement is planning a non-violent protest at Langley’s Tesla dealership Saturday [Langley Advance Times]

🤝 Chilliwack MLA Á’a:líya Warbus talked about the difficulties in getting provinces and First Nations to agree on treaties [Air Quotes Media/YouTube]

🗳 Langley’s Citizens’ Assembly is now underway, with 29 residents coming together to discuss community safety [Langley Advance Times] / The Current reported on the assembly when the idea was still in its infancy [FVC]

🔎 Chilliwack RCMP are asking for help to find a 51-year-old man who has been missing for nearly two weeks [Chilliwack Progress]

🍝 Abbotsford and Chilliwack hospitals are now offering $5 meals for seniors in their public cafeterias [Abbotsford News]

🗳 Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to call an election this Sunday; sources say voting day could be as soon as Monday, April 28 [CBC]

🧓 BC cities are preparing for more seniors, but some worry not enough is being done [Vancouver Sun]

🔥 More than 1,700 people have signed up to join BC’s wildfire fighting teams this year; the crews are already battling holdover fires from last season [CBC]

👨‍🦽 Are you a diverse learner looking to start your career? Discover KPU’s Employment and Community Studies program. Join the free info session on April 3.*

*Sponsored Listing

Enjoying our newsletter? Help us make it even better!

Become an Insider member and help keep local journalism and storytelling alive in the Fraser Valley.

MEMBERS ONLY

This week’s FVC Insiders’ Edition

In tomorrow’s members-only newsletter, Tyler gives a brief update on what’s going on at Carpenter Media, the company that bought Black Press and the Fraser Valley's English-language newspapers last year. (Tyler’s coverage of Carpenter Media is up for another journalism award; you can read his last update here.) Plus, Tyler shares his favourite word in journalism, and reveals whether Insiders think a federal election should happen now or later.

Get this weekend’s edition in your inbox tomorrow at 7am—and support our daily journalism—by becoming a member here.

The Agenda

Tariffs likely to hit Fraser Valley harder than surrounding areas

Thousands of Fraser Valley workers could see their jobs affected by American tariffs, new analysis from the Institute of Research on Public Policy suggests.

According to census data analyzed by the IRPP, nearly 20% of the Fraser Valley’s workforce is employed in industries that export goods to the United States. These industries include farming, wood-product manufacturing, wholesale trade, and motor-vehicle production.

The analysis notes that the Fraser Valley will likely be among the hardest hit regions in BC, thanks to the high volume of workers in tariff-affected industries. Other regions likely to be hard hit include Kitimat-Stikine (where 5% of the workforce is employed in aluminum manufacturing) and the Peace River region (where more than 4% of employees work in oil and gas extraction).

Impacts on one sector will likely trickle down to the region’s broader economy.

“In these communities, it is not just workers directly employed at affected companies that face disruption; it can include everyone from local suppliers to restaurants,” Ricard Chejfec wrote in his report for IRPP.

You can see the full dataset and analysis here.

The Current wrote about the potential impact of tariffs on Fraser Valley businesses in February, before the current 25% tariffs officially came into effect. You can read that story here.

Cultus Lake stewards plan area’s future

Cultus Lake advocates and a team of UBC Okanagan researchers are examining the future of Cultus Lake on an economic and environmental level.

Over the next two years, the Cultus Lake Stewards will be working with environmental economist John Janmaat on a Cultus Lake ecosystems values study. The project is intended to measure, in detail, how much Cultus Lake contributes to the region’s economy, and the importance of the lake’s environmental health.

The study will also look at ways the lake's environmental health can be preserved or enhanced, including managing invasive species and preventing eutrophication.

“Together we hope to make the case why this lake is worth saving,” Marion Robinson, one of the lake stewards, wrote in an email. “It takes a village.”

Share

You can share this newsletter by forwarding it or copy and pasting this link—https://fvcurrent.com/p/march-21-2025/—into a social media post.

Community journalism needs the entire community for it to succeed.

Become a Current member today and join 1,200+ other local supporters who help keep our lights on.

As part of a membership, you get our special weekend roundup of all the things you might’ve missed each week!

🗓 Things to do

Pup picnic: Abbotsford's Taves Estate Winery hosts a Pup Picnic on Saturday from noon to 4pm. Tickets include a dog toy, a special flight of pup-friendly drinks, and a cider flight for the humans. Details and tickets online.

Berry talk: Brian Minter hosts a presentation on local fruits and berries at Minter Country Garden in Chilliwack on Saturday. Learn about the berries adapted for the Fraser Valley and get tips on growing them. Details online.

Toonie movie: The Abbotsford Recreation Centre hosts two $2 movies on Sunday. Moana 2 plays from 5 to 7pm, while Night at the Museum is on from 7:30pm to 9:30. Details online.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Catch up

That’s it!

Thanks for reading Fraser Valley Current today ♥️ 

If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another local.