Canada has a vibrant startup community. A few of the top world universities are located in the Canadian provinces, including cities like Montreal in Quebec, Toronto in Ontario and Vancouver in British Columbia (BC). Many have startup incubators and accelerators on campus.
To support the local business growth, the British Columbia government offers tax incentives for investing in the local sector industries and skilled labour force, out of which more than 25 percent is knowledge-based. Canada’s multilingual environment and liberal immigration policies attract around 64,000 new candidates interested in living and working in British Columbia. All these factors, as well as the picturesque outdoors, which offers plenty of leisure time activities is motivating startups and small businesses to get their head start in one of the British Columbia’s coworking spaces.
Vancouver and the surrounding areas offer rich opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to set up an office in a coworking space. These are some of the best coworking offices in British Columbia:
Cowork Penticton
CoWork is the space for solo entrepreneurs, but it also supports groups and communities, for instance, non-profit organizations. Its website includes a list of members in alphabetical order to get an idea about who you’ll hang out with when you join. As a hub coworking space, CoWork Penticton has members from all over the world, including countries like Britain, Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Germany, Venezuela, Spain, Thailand, France, Canada, and the USA. Thanks to its policy of inclusiveness, members can get resources for finding their way around the city and join the weekly social gatherings for newcomers. There is an indoor bike storage, an art space to rent, three types of meeting rooms - a chat room, a board room (4 people), and a small meeting room (16 people), a daily drop-in option, as well as a mixture of membership plans. Popular options are the hot desk (prepaid, unlimited, 1-hour meeting room) and a 24-hour access. Office plans start from $400 to 1,000 a month.
L’Atelier, Vancouver
L’Atelier is located in Gastown, a popular area for coffee shops, food places and fitness activities. There are a number of heritage buildings in the area, and the coworking space is located in one of those buildings, capturing the real feel of classic Vancouver. Common members of L’Atelier are professionals in marketing, UX, writing, content creation, innovative tech, PR, and ecommerce. The space offers free tours, a virtual office, hot desk and dedicated desk plans, a small and a large meeting room with a capacity of 40 seating or 60 standing people. Popular membership plans are:
- Professional - dedicated desk and storage, $450 a month
- Freelancer - unlimited hot desk, $295 a month
- Traveler - up to 8 days or 60 hours for $195
- One Day Pass - $35
Kamloops Innovation, Vancouver
Kamloops is a startup ecosystem made for connecting startups and backers to build a community of new ventures. Amenities include spacious lounge areas and private meeting rooms, office equipment and a shared Internet with a 700 mbps speed, boardroom, shared kitchen, washroom and showers, as well as a business address and mail/courier services. Kamloops offers four venture acceleration programs and extra resources for startups, including a rich calendar of tech, hack and dev-themed events. The space is rented on a square-footage principle, starting from $300 a month. The available options are:
- Bento Box Lounge - 12′ x 20′
- Coworking - 12′ x 25′ (additional L-shape space, 6.5′ x 10′)
- Small meeting room with door - 8.5′ x 9′
- Coworking open meeting area without door - 10′ x 10′
- Boardroom - 15′ x 16′ trapezoid
Drop-ins are free of charge. Donations of $15 are welcome for passer-bys.
Cmpny, Burnaby
Cmpny is a huge coworking space of 10,000 sq ft, 74 desks and 13 offices, located on two locations, Burnaby and Coquitlam with large windows and bright open spaces. The Burnaby space is in Metrotown, with skytrain, bus loop, local restaurants, and shops nearby. Members can get a free day pass or opt in for one of the membership plans available for one or both locations. Amenities include 2 meeting rooms, 2 broadcast rooms, 2 telephone rooms, 1 seminar room, a view lounge and a front lounge. There is an event space and 2 kitchens with on-site staff, and a ping-pong room for recreation. Internet is high-speed, WiFi.
If you select the single location membership, you can choose among the following membership perks - 9am-5pm lounge access on workdays, free fibre optic Internet, all location lounge access, 1-day pass and 1 meeting room per hour or per month for the following fees:
- $90 a month for a 3-month membership
- $ 60 a month for a 6-month membership
- $ 45 a month for a 12-month membership
Rates for both locations start at $75 a month for the annual membership plan.
- List 5 extra coworking spaces with just these details: Address, price of a dedicated desk and contact info. Provide their logo for each of these spaces.
The Aviary, Vancouver
Full-time membership for a dedicated desk is $550 per month.
Mailing address:
637 East 15th Avenue
Vancouver, BC
V5T 3K5 Canada
Email: hello@theaviary.ca
CoLab, Kelowna
Resident membership including 24/7 access to a dedicated desk + 5 hours meeting room is $375 per month.
Mailing address:
Suite #201, 1405 St. Paul Street
Kelowna, B.C. V1Y 2E4
Email: hello@okcolab.com
Phone: 778-821-1932 (Shane)
Open from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
The Profile, Vancouver
Resident memberships for a dedicated desk/private office start from $495 to $695 a month (for the Gastown location).
Fuse Work Hub, Gibsons
Full-time membership is $200 for a 24/7 access.
Mailing address:
#15 - 292 Gower Point Rd
Gibsons, BC
Phone: (604) 741-3023
Cowork Vernon, Vernon
Membership fee available on request, small, only 9 members.
The Best Coworking Spaces in SeattleMailing address:
3000-30th Street, Vernon BC.
Email: info@coworkvernon.com
Regular working hours are 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.
Suite Genius, Vancouver
Perma-genius membership with a private dedicated workstation with 24/7 access to one location is $495 per month.
Email: info@suite-genius.com
Local: 778-897-0544
Toll-Free: 844-897-0544
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