Thompson-Nicola, Electoral Area N (Beautiful Nicola Valley - South)

Area N is outside the Province's speculation and vacancy tax area, so the tax doesn't apply to a home here. Our summary of the Province's pages, read 2026-10-04. Where the tax applies, and who pays.

The typical home here is the median value owners gave the 2021 census, and the typical household's income is the median for 2020: a home that costs 6.8 years of income took that many years of a typical household's whole income. "Typical" for places its size is the middle of BC's rural electoral areas.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Mapped aquifers

10 mapped aquifers lie in Area N, most wells first.

1. 1Aquifer 75: Joeyaska Deepconfined sand and gravel (glacial)34 wells · moderate productivity
2. 2Aquifer 1169: Joeyaska Shallowunconfined sand and gravel (late glacial outwash)26 wells · moderate productivity
3. 3Aquifer 726: Canfordconfined sand and gravel (glacial)23 wells · moderate productivity
4. 4Aquifer 1165: Kingsvalefractured crystalline bedrock17 wells · low productivity
5. 5Aquifer 724: West of Merrittunconfined sand and gravel (small stream system)16 wells · moderate productivity
6. 6Aquifer 725: Spius Creek West of Canfordfractured crystalline bedrock15 wells · low productivity
7. 7Aquifer 1166: Paul's Basinfractured crystalline bedrock13 wells · moderate productivity
8. 8Aquifer 79: Unicolaunconfined sand and gravel (alluvial or colluvial fan)11 wells · moderate productivity
9. 9Aquifer 80: Conicolaconfined sand and gravel (glacial)8 wells · moderate productivity
10. 10Aquifer 1164: Coldwater Valleyconfined sand and gravel (glacial)5 wells · moderate productivity

An aquifer is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it, so a sliver of one at the edge can be left out. Wells and productivity are for the whole aquifer, which can reach well beyond Area N. The province maps aquifers mostly in settled valleys, so a lot outside every outline can still have groundwater. Every mapped aquifer in BC · sampled lakes.

Sampled lakes

3 sampled lakes lie in Area N, largest first.

1. 1Marquart Lake21.7 hatoo few readings to judge
2. 2Menzies Lake3.8 hatoo few readings to judge
3. 3Unnamed lake in the Similkameen River watershed1.9 hatoo few readings to judge

A lake is listed for each place that holds at least a twentieth of it or 100 ha of it. Clarity is the median summer Secchi depth; the nutrient class is our reading of Carlson's index from phosphorus or chlorophyll, not a provincial rating. Either is given only for a lake with at least 10 summer readings from open water, spread over at least 3 different years, since 2012. Most lakes have never been sampled, so a lake missing here may simply have no record. Every sampled lake in BC.

Source: Groundwater wells (GWELLS), Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Ground Water Aquifers, Water Protection and Sustainability Branch, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); BC Environmental Monitoring Data System (EnMoDS) results, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Normals for 1981-2010 at the Merritt treatment plant station, about 4 km from the middle of the area's addresses at Coldwater (of the communities here with a station within 30 km, the one with the most addresses); ECCC has no fuller 1991-2020 set for it. Its normals don't include days with snow on the ground, so that is left out. * Based on at least 20 of the 30 years, short of the World Meteorological Organization's standard: treat as a rougher guide. The records are single days measured at the station: the most rain, snow and wind it saw in its record up to 2010 (ECCC's 1981-2010 sets give records over the station's whole history, so some dates are older than 1981). Each is one event, not what to expect in a year, and the lot can get more or less than the station. Elevation matters a lot in BC: a hillside lot can be much colder and snowier than the station.

Plant hardiness zone: most homes here are in zone 4b (44%); 26% are in 5a, 17% are in 5b, 12% are in 6a, on Natural Resources Canada's 2025 map. Higher numbers are milder winters. What the zones mean.

Solar panels: a south-facing panel tilted at the latitude would make about 1,060 kWh a year for each kW of panels at the middle of the area's addresses at Coldwater, about 41 of it in December (estimated from Natural Resources Canada's 1998-2022 sunshine map). An open sky is assumed: the hills, trees and buildings around a lot cut it, and a report sets the lot's own skyline beside it. What solar panels would make in BC.

By the 2050s (2041-2070) at Coldwater, climate models project about 9 more days over 30 °C a year, a longest frost-free run about 35 days longer and about 10 percentage points less of winter's precipitation falling as snow, each against the same models' 1971-2000 (model projections under SSP2-4.5, a middle path for emissions). The models work on a grid of about 9 by 6 km, which averages valley floors with the slopes around them, so their own figures can sit well off a station's normals and aren't comparable with them. Their own figures there: about 10 days over 30 °C a year in 2041-2070 (range 5 to 22 across the models), against about 1 day in 1971-2000; a longest frost-free run of about 140 days (range 130 to 165), against about 105; and about 76% of winter's precipitation falling as snow (range 66% to 78%), against about 86%. The ranges run from the 10th to the 90th percentile of the models' 2041-2070 figures. The 2050s across BC.

Light at night within 1 km of the middle of the area's addresses at Coldwater: none recorded from space, and darker than about 94% of BC's homes (2024 satellite record). A lot away from the centre can be much darker. How dark are BC's nights?

Lightning: around the middle of the area's addresses at Coldwater, a cloud-to-ground flash within 10 km on about 6 days a year and 0.14 flashes per km² a year, more than at 3 in 4 BC homes (the Canadian Lightning Detection Network, 1998-2025 average, on a grid of about 11 by 7 km).

Source: Canadian Climate Normals 1991-2020 and 1981-2010, Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Plant hardiness zones of Canada (2025 map), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Medium Resolution Digital Elevation Model (MRDEM-30), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Solar position: General Solar Position Calculations (NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory; Spencer, 1971) (Public domain); Daily average solar irradiance on tilted surfaces for all of Canada (1998-2022), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Photovoltaic Potential and Solar Resource Maps of Canada (performance ratio), Natural Resources Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada); Statistically downscaled climate indices from CMIP6 global climate models (CanDCS-M6), Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Pacific Climate Impacts Consortium, via the Canadian Centre for Climate Services (Open Government Licence – Canada); VIIRS Nighttime Lights, 2024 annual composite, Earth Observation Group, Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines (Elvidge et al. 2021, Remote Sensing 13(5):922), via Hengl, OpenGeoHub, Zenodo doi 10.5281/zenodo.7750174 (CC BY 4.0); Canadian Lightning Detection Network cloud-to-ground flashes (CanCPLDv1), Environment and Climate Change Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).

The BC Energy Regulator maps about 127 km of active oil and gas pipeline in Area N, permitted to 2 companies: Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC and FortisBC Energy Inc. About 129 km more is on recent permits it lists as new; under a kilometre is abandoned or deactivated, often still in the ground. A report lists any pipeline within 200 m of a lot, and flags one within 30 m, where digging needs the permit holder's agreement. Pipelines in BC, by place.

The Province lists 5 active waste discharge authorizations in Area N; the commonest kinds: soil amendment (biosolids or other wastes spread on land) (2), land-based fish farm (1) and pipeline facility (1). Of these, 1 may discharge to air and 2 effluent to water or land. A report lists any within 2 km of a lot, and flags one whose point is on it. Permitted discharges in BC, by place.

The Province maps 2 open gravel pits and quarries in Area N: Chutter Pit and Murray Lake Quarry; and 3 other open mine permits: 1 mineral exploration permit area and 2 mineral exploration or mine permit areas. A report lists the permits within 2 km of a lot, names an open pit or quarry within 500 m and flags one whose permit area takes in the lot. Gravel pits and mine permits in BC, by place.

On ParcelMap BC, the land in Area N is 12% private, 19% Crown land with a parcel drawn (12% with no title), 1% federal; no parcel is mapped over 68%, likely most of it untitled Crown land, with lakes and road allowances. A report says who owns the land along a lot's line. Crown land next to a property, and every place's land by owner.

The Ministry of Forests maps 24 active Crown range tenures (24 grazing) reaching into Area N, over 71% of its area, licensed for about 74,879 animal unit months of grazing a year in all. Outside a pound district, keeping livestock off a lot is the owner's fence to build. A report lists any tenure within 1 km of a lot. Open range and grazing in BC, by place.

The Province maps 16 registered traplines over 93% of the area and 2 guide outfitter territories over 14% in Area N. The maps are drawn over titled land too, but traplines are registered on Crown land: on titled land, anyone but the owner or occupier needs their written permission to trap. A report says whether either takes in a lot. Traplines and guiding territories in BC, by place.

Area N lies in wildlife management units 3-13 (76%), 8-5 (12%), 3-12 (5%): the Hunting and Trapping Regulations Synopsis sets seasons and closed areas by unit. Hunting and shooting on your own property.

BC Parks maps 3 parks and protected areas (Coldwater River Park, a provincial park; Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area; and Kentucky-Alleyne Park, a provincial park) reaching into Area N, over less than 1% of its land. Recreation Sites and Trails BC lists 36 sites there. A report names the nearest park and recreation site within 25 km of a lot. Parks and recreation sites in BC, by place.

Check one lot: is there a mineral claim? · power lines nearby? · pipelines nearby? · a gravel pit nearby? · a landfill or plant nearby? · logging planned nearby? · cattle on open range? · is there a trapline? · can I hunt on it? · a park nearby? · Crown land next door?

Source: Mineral, placer and coal tenures, Mineral Titles Branch (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); 2021 census subdivision boundaries, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence).

Fewer than 1,000 people live here, so Statistics Canada rounds these counts and leaves out some figures (shown as –).

Census figures are from 2021; the next census results start in 2027. Area boundaries are Statistics Canada's census subdivisions, which follow municipal and electoral area lines. The places named at the top are the official place names in the area (BC Geographical Names) with the most 2021 homes nearer them than any other name, on ISED's home points: our reading.

Source: Census of Population 2021, Statistics Canada (Statistics Canada Open Licence); BC Geographical Names, Province of BC (Open Government Licence – British Columbia); Pseudo-Household Demographic Distribution (2021), Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (Open Government Licence – Canada).