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The number of self employed workers (including those administering their own incorporated companies and unincorporated businesses) in the Central Okanagan (RDCO) has grown to 11,315 in 1996. Because the number of self employed has grown faster than the overall labour force, the proportion of self employed as a proportion of the total labour force has increased form 8.8% in 1981 to 16.8% in 1996. The proportion of the labour force that is self-employed in the Central Okanagan (RDCO) is higher than in B.C. and Canada overall. The proportion of the labour force that is self employed (both incorporated and unincorporated) was 16.8% in 1996 compared to 14.9% and 12.6% for the B.C. and Canadian labour force, respectively.
One of the factors contributing to the high degree of self-employment is that when people move to the region and cannot find a job, they create their own. According to the Human Resources Development Canada Community Profile, almost 11% of workers in the Central Okanagan (RDCO) work out of their homes as compared to about 8% in B.C. and Canada.
Two home occupation studies, both completed by the Central Okanagan (RDCO) Economic Development Commission, have yielded interesting results about the extent and economic impact of home business in the region.
In August 1996, the most recent project, entitled Lake Country Home Based Business Study, reported that 25% of all households in the district operate an entrepreneurial home-based business. In an area of 2,763 homes and a population of 8,550, the minimum economic impact generated by this sector is almost $21.5 million per year. Almost forty-one percent of home-based businesses in Lake Country earn less than $15,000 per year however, nearly fourteen and a half percent gross over $85,000 annually.
Two years earlier the Peachland Home Based Business Report also showed that Peachland has a substantial home based business community with 17% of all households operating a home-based business. Results showed that earnings of home business in Peachland are lower than the average household income in the Central Okanagan (RDCO). Over sixty-eight and a half percent of the home-based business community surveyed had incomes of less than $15,000 per year.
Through extrapolation and using 1999 values, there are estimated to be 9,450 home based businesses in the Central Okanagan (RDCO) contributing between $152.5 million to $229.3 million in direct earnings to the Central Okanagan (RDCO).
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