Mackenzie

Mackenzie isn’t a town that grew organically. It’s a planned community, an “instant town” dropped into north-central BC in 1966 to service the forestry sector and the W.A.C. Bennett dam. That purpose-built origin is still visible. The townsite is well-designed, with a compact layout that deliberately separates residential areas from industry. For residents, this means clean air and the conveniences of a small town without the usual industrial spillover. It has the core amenities: a rec centre, schools, and basic shopping.

The lifestyle draw is the outdoors. The town sits near Williston Lake and has a strong recreational appeal for a certain type of buyer—someone looking for mountain trails and proximity to Powder King ski resort. This is a true northern lifestyle, with a climate to match. Its 4a hardiness zone means harsh winters, great for some, but a tough sell for retirees looking for milder weather. The housing is affordable, no question. But we need to be clear about the economic reality that underpins that affordability.

Mackenzie’s economy has always been overwhelmingly dependent on forestry and manufacturing. Over a third of the workforce is in those two sectors. From a lender’s perspective, that kind of concentration is a major red flag. The town learned this the hard way in the late 2000s, when mill closures wiped out over a thousand jobs—a massive blow for a community this size. While there’s talk of diversification, the fundamentals haven’t really changed. That history directly informs our underwriting and our exit strategy. The economic fragility is plain to see in the numbers: a 12.3% unemployment rate and a population that has shrunk by nearly 12% since 2016.

Geographic isolation also plays a huge role. Mackenzie is 40 kilometres off the main highway, a two-hour drive north of Prince George. This isn’t a place with passing traffic or a deep pool of potential property buyers. In a foreclosure situation, that means a longer marketing period and higher holding costs for us.

When we look at a file from Mackenzie, we see the affordable home prices and the equity a borrower might have. But we also see the concentrated economic risk and the geographic realities of a remote resource town. Our approach has to be conservative. This isn’t a market for speculative financing; it’s for providing solutions to local homeowners with solid equity who need a bridge or can’t qualify with an A-lender.

All these factors—the single-industry risk, the isolation, the shrinking population—inform our underwriting. For Mackenzie, our maximum loan-to-value is 50.0%. It’s a number that reflects the unique strengths and inherent risks of this classic BC mill town.