Smart choices for a changing town: how Gold River is right-sizing with confidence.
At the 2026 Asset Management BC Conference, our Founder & CEO Darren Wiebe sat down with Joe Doxey of the Village of Gold River for a conversation about right-sizing asset management for a shrinking community. Here’s what we took away.
1965
Year the industry town was built
~7,000
Residents it was designed for
~1,300
Residents today
$3M+
Structural work flagged for one aging building
The setting
A town built for 7,000
Gold River, BC was built in 1965 for about 7,000 people. After its paper operations and pulp mill closed, the population settled at roughly 1,300. The infrastructure and the tax base didn’t follow, leaving a footprint sized for a much larger community and paid for by a much smaller one.
The village is putting a risk-based approach to work on real decisions, from an aging dormitory building to a community park and a small wharf. Condition data is the starting point. Risk, criticality, and service levels drive the choices.
The playbook
How Gold River is right-sizing
Protect critical services such as drinking water and sanitary.
Reduce the highest risks first.
Hold services where they are needed.
Defer costs and services that are “softer.”
Consolidate by using one asset for several services, and count the real cost of retiring one. In a remote community, trucking and disposal add up quickly.
The opportunity
Bringing everyone along
Caring for everything is a natural instinct, and right-sizing is a chance to put limited dollars where they matter most. Open, caring conversations help the community see the path forward together, and good asset data gives council and staff the confidence to explain each decision.
Wondering what’s next for your community?
If you’re an asset owner facing hard service-level decisions, we’d love to help.
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