One of the slides from the recently-unveiled report highlighting the economic and social impacts TRU has in the region and the province.
A recent comprehensive report assesses Thompson Rivers University’s economic impact to be more that $650 million on the provincial economy, with just over $355 million directly benefiting Kamloops and region.
The report, Economic Impact Analysis: Thompson Rivers University, is based on a study conducted by Dr. Laura Lamb examining the expenditures of TRU, its students and visitors to campus and the value of higher education for the period of 2012-13. Its highlights were presented to the community and campus today.
“TRU is an outstanding investment in BC and throughout our region,” TRU President Alan Shaver told Kamloops’ business and political leaders gathered for the announcement. “With a provincial grant of approximately $65 million, TRU generates nearly 10 times that much provincially and more than 5 times locally.”
Read the full report
View the slides from the PowerPoint presentation here.
The report estimates that TRU’s 1,400 full-time equivalent staff positions spin-off into 2,110 jobs locally, and nearly 3,202 jobs province-wide.
It is increasingly common for universities to estimate the impact using the analytical methods of regional economics. The study estimates the additional economic activity generated TRU on both the local Thompson-Nicola region as well as on the province. The local and provincial impacts were estimated using BC Statistics with use of the British Columbia input-Output Model (BCOIM).
“While TRU’s mandate is to provide research informed post-secondary education to the region, these knowledge creating activities have far-reaching impacts on the local economy,” said Dr. Lamb, an economist in TRU’s School of Business and Economics in her report.
Lamb’s report also highlights the social and cultural impacts of the TRU. Foremost among these are TRU’s students, faculty and staff and more than 50,000 alumni, 60 percent of whom continue to live in the Interior of BC.
“We host many social, cultural and academic events on campus with an open invitation for the public to attend,” said Shaver. “We are a social and cultural hub for the community, not only by bringing the world to Kamloops but by bringing Kamloops to the world.
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