While Salt Spring’s tourist season centres on fair weather, another type of visitor is gradually becoming a year-round phenomenon — coming to the island to learn, from professionals eager to teach here.
In the last few years, Salt Spring has quietly become B.C.’s main centre for professional development of senior managers employed by local governments across the province — think municipalities and regional districts. Islander Linda Adams said the training is offered through the Municipal Administration Training Institute (MATI), a joint initiative of Capilano University and B.C.’s Local Government Management Association — and that the program’s popularity since moving to Salt Spring has only grown.
“When we first decided to try holding one of these courses here, we weren’t sure if it would be too difficult for people to access,” said Adams. “But they really like the location; it’s a great venue.”
A faculty member of Capilano’s School of Public Administration, Adams coordinates, co-teaches and contributes to the Salt Spring courses after a decades-long career in local government herself — including 12 years as the chief administrative officer (CAO) of the Islands Trust. The MATI program actually started in 1982, she said, with classes mostly on Bowen Island. After a Covid-prompted hiatus, the facility on that island was no longer available and organizers had to look elsewhere. Many professional organizations do training in Vancouver and Richmond because of its proximity to the airport, Adams said, and fortunately it turned out the extra travel time to Salt Spring wasn’t a deterrent.
“A lot of them take the float plane over to Ganges — and they think that’s just great,” said Adams. “With these courses we’re always looking for a venue that’s a bit removed, you know, so people can come and not feel drawn back to the office.”
The courses are all intensive five-day programs, Adams said, offered in a residential format — stay and learn — that often fill quickly. Since 2022, the move to Salt Spring and the Harbour House Hotel has brought still more accolades, as participants have the opportunity to spread out and visit restaurants, pubs and shops in Ganges. Adams said the most recent class in February — focused specifically on new and aspiring CAOs and city managers — was a “bit of a revelation” for people who attended from communities with less mild winter climates.
“We had some good weather, and of course the ones from the north were, ‘oh, I want to move here!’” laughed Adams. “People come away with a really good impression of Salt Spring.”
Adams said four of MATI’s six courses are offered on Salt Spring now, with titles like “Community Planning for Local Government Professionals” and “Managing People in Local Government Organizations.” Next week, Harbour House plays host to MATI’s Advanced Communications Skills for Local Government Professionals course, being taught for the third time on the island. Somewhere between 100 and 150 students now train here annually, Adams said, taught in groups of 35 by what is usually about a dozen guest lecturers — either current CAOs working around the province, or retired from public service.
“I won’t ‘out’ too many of them,” laughed Adams, “but we’ve got retired CAOs from around B.C. living here now, and they’ve helped us out as guest faculty. They all really like doing it and find it rewarding — it’s their opportunity to give back a little bit.”
From a community perspective, Adams said, it’s become a meaningful and growing counter-season boost to businesses — think around 40 hotel rooms and meals for the week — and a bit of a showcase for Salt Spring and its capacity to host province-wide events. Participants regularly return with their families as tourists, she said — and she agreed there’s nothing wrong with sending local government professionals back out into the province with good feelings about our island.
“There have been hundreds of people already that have gone through and hundreds more to come,” said Adams. “Most of them have never been here before, and they’re all leaving with a good impression. It’s good for Salt Spring to have all these people visiting and having a positive experience here.”