Bowen Island

Lending on Bowen Island

On paper, Bowen Island looks like a prime lending market. A short ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, it functions as an affluent, semi-rural bedroom community for Vancouver. The demographics tell a clear story: a median household income of $111,000, a high employment rate, and a population that grew nearly 16% in five years. The population is also mature, with a median age of 50, and over a quarter of residents are seniors, suggesting a stable, established community. Paired with high levels of post-secondary education, the housing stock is exactly what you’d want to see as collateral—almost 90% single-detached homes, occupied by a professional class that either commutes or works remotely.

Demand is consistently strong. The island’s lifestyle appeal is a major driver, with its natural beauty, hiking, and kayaking attracting city dwellers seeking an escape without giving up urban proximity. This has created a resilient, high-value real estate market with a history as a resort destination. The appeal to retirees and second-home buyers further ensures strong resale demand. The local economy isn’t just a satellite of Vancouver’s; it’s diversified, with professional services, education, and healthcare as the top industries, reducing reliance on any single volatile sector. Tourism adds another layer of stability, with summer visitors supporting local businesses and property values. A fierce community focus on preserving the island’s character also translates to limited development and a tight grip on supply. From a market standpoint, it’s a desirable, stable location.

However, our lending model is built around worst-case recovery scenarios. For Tekamar, the defining feature of Bowen Island isn’t its charm or its property values; it’s the reliance on BC Ferries. Every step in a potential foreclosure process—from serving notices and arranging inspections to property management and facilitating a court-ordered sale—is complicated by ferry schedules and transport costs. Timelines get stretched, and expenses accumulate in ways they simply don’t on the mainland. A straightforward process in Vernon or Kamloops becomes a logistical exercise on Bowen.

While the community is economically sound and the real estate is high-quality, the operational friction of an island location introduces a level of complexity and potential delay that falls outside our risk tolerance. Our entire model is based on protecting investor capital through predictable, efficient recovery if things go sideways. The ferry dependency fundamentally alters that equation.

It’s a disciplined decision, not a reflection on the quality of the assets or borrowers here. For a chartered bank or a lender with a different operational structure, the risk may be perfectly acceptable. For us, it’s a clear line. We stick to what we know, and that’s mainland BC outside the Lower Mainland. For that reason, our maximum LTV on Bowen Island is 0.0%. We don’t lend here.