One byproduct of the Village of Pemberton’s recent community census is a strong reminder of the role Whistler plays for jobs for Village residents. And Pemberton’s mayor was reminded that he wants to work hard on developing ways to reduce that dependence on the resort.

Key findings from the community census carried out this summer by a consultant, which were presented in preliminary form at the July 20 Village of Pemberton council meeting, showed that nearly 41 per cent of the respondents with paying jobs work in Whistler.

With 537 households having completed the census surveys, that means 311 of the responding residents with paid employment work in Whistler, compared to 172 working primarily in the Village of Pemberton and 54 beyond in the Pemberton area outside the village.

Mayor Jordan Sturdy was struck by the number of people commuting to Whistler for work, and reiterated the importance of the goal of getting “less dependence on Whistler for employment.”

“I think it emphasizes that we need to look carefully and work hard at achieving quality employment in the Pemberton Valley,” he said on Tuesday (July 27).

He said ideas to increase Pemberton’s business base and economy include making progress on the plans for the Hillside area and supporting the proposed private school, as well as investigating incentives such as tax holidays for commercial development in certain parts of town. Sturdy said he’s looking forward to seeing a Village staff report, expected in early September, about the range of possibilities for incentives.

The census also showed that Pemberton residents are having a love affair with two-wheeled transportation: Nearly 93 per cent of the households that responded have bikes.

Pembertonians also seem to love their pets, with a nearly even split between dog and cat people. The census logged 340 cats and 337 dogs, working out to an average of 1.25 pets per household. “That is a lot of pets,” noted the key findings document presented to council.

Frequent comments fly about the big population of babies in Pemberton, but the census showed almost nine per cent of the population is between birth and four years old, with 130 children logged. Nearly 30 per cent of the respondents are in their 30s, and nearly nine per cent are 55 and over.

Census consultant Stephanie Coughlin also told council that she heard requests for improved transit between Pemberton and Whistler “over and over and over again.” Six-hundred seven people said they need a vehicle to get to or do work, compared to 312 who said the question wasn’t applicable or they didn’t know.

Sturdy said he’s looking forward to further analysis of the figures by the Village’s planning staff in its effort to ascertain how the findings can help guide policies. Before the launch of the census, he said the purpose of the survey was to gain a “more accurate” picture of the community composition and size.

He referred to a lingering suspicion that Pemberton’s population is “significantly larger” than has been counted by the federal census, and said the Village needs accurate numbers for good planning and understanding demand on services.

But with a response rate between 65 and 75 per cent, the question of complete population size remains something of a mystery. Sturdy expressed “some disappointment that we didn’t receive as full a response as I think we had hoped.”

“We need to better understand how many people we have living in town,” he said.

Coughlin told council that she encountered resistance from some residents, particularly in the Plateau area, who felt that giving the Village too much information would lead to further enforcement. She said it was also a challenge trying to catch people at home, having attempted to reach people at different times throughout the days, and furthermore many people did not want to share information about their rental suites.

Sturdy said he understands the inherent suspicion of governments collecting information, but reiterated that the census was about supporting better planning for the community.