Opportunities in North Canterbury are as vast and boundless as our expansive coastline. With plenty of interesting investment opportunities and growth in our two districts, Waimakariri and Hurunui, it’s worth touching base with us for a chat if you’re thinking about setting up a business here. We will help you gather the information you need in order to make the best decisions and ensure your investment is well placed and well spent.

There were 7,212 businesses in the Waimakariri District in 2023, and increase of 1.8% on the previous year. These businesses employed 17,900 people. Approximately 71% of those businesses have no employees and 6% of businesses have 10 or more staff. 66.5% of the working population choose to work within the district.

Data Sources: NZStat, Waimakariri Business Development Report

The following chart shows the consumer market for the following industries in Waimakariri. The grey bars show where Waimakariri residents spend their money out of the district (usually Christchurch). The blue bars show where residents spend their money locally and the green bars show where non-locals spend their money.

Rangiora Business Hub is an exciting and necessary development covering 13.8 hectares on Todds Rd, near Flaxton Road, where Mitre10 Mega, Pak ‘n Save, Daniel Smith Industries, Hallmark Group, Farmlands and PGG Irrigation are located. Sites range in size from 1249 square metres to 1.35ha.

We know there is a scarcity of quality industrial land in Canterbury. The Rangiora Business Hub provides large. free-hold sites and is well-serviced by surrounding amenities as well as great arterial transport links and a growing population base 0f skilled workers.

Waimakariri is a fast growing area, with a population estimated to be 69,000 in 2023, just north of the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand. Waimakariri has seen a 13% increase in population since the last census in 2018 and 21% GDP growth over the same period. Mid level projections estimate that Waimakariri will have a population of 74,400 by 2033.

Within Waimakariri, the most rapid growth area has been in the Woodend/Pegasus area with a large number of new sections and commerical areas available. This is about to be overtaken by Rangiora with new subdivisions and commercial areas becoming available. 65% of the Waimakariri population is within the urban areas.

In 2022 the median age in Waimakariri District was 44.1 years. The District’s population is ageing at a steady rate.

Data Source: NZ Stat

While the unemployment rate in the Waimakariri District is traditionally at low levels (2.3% in June 2023 compared to 3.4% for New Zealand) it is usually relatively easy to find low and mid skilled workers. That is because 32% of Waimakariri workers commute to Christchurch for work. In the most recent Waimakariri Community Survey, 72% stated in that they would prefer to work in the Waimakariri if suitable work were available.

Word of mouth and social media tend to be the most common ways to promote jobs in this district. Traditional job sites can be less successful since many local workers are not actively seeking a new job (being already employed), even though they would prefer to work locally.

Finding highly skilled workers is traditionally more difficult in Waimakariri due to a smaller pool of talent (due to population numbers) than in cities, and due to the fact that local workers are generally not actively looking for local positions. Highly skilled Christchurch residents are generally happy to take the short commute to a good job in Waimakariri.

The Jobs in North Canterbury website run by ENC is a popular resource for employers looking for local workers listing the local agencies and assistance that can help you source workers

Our Toolkit provides a wealth of resource to help attract workers by demonstrating the attractive lifestyle in North Canterbury

Data Sources: Infometrics, Waimakariri Community Survey, North Canterbury Business Opinion Survey

Dive deeper into the details by checking out Enterprise North Canterbury’s section on data and reports.