Economy of Ashcroft

Mining, agriculture, ranching and tourism form a strong, diversified economic base for the area. Cattle ranching, hay farming and market gardening are the leading agricultural enterprises. Desert Hills Ranch in Ashcroft produces vegetables and melons for wholesale distribution throughout the province and retail sale at their roadside stand.

Copper concentrates from the Highland Valley Copper Mine and lime from Graymont Western Canada Inc. in Pavilion are loaded on rail cars in Ashcroft.  IG Machine and Fibres quarry and colourization plant recently opened and the final product is used in the manufacture of IKO shingles for houses.

Tolko Industries Ltd. operates Ashcroft Treating, a custom wood treating operation, adjacent to the Village's boundary.  This plant produces creosote treated products that range from railway ties to bridge timbers to pilings and poles up to 60 feet in length.    The flexible operation allows for fast service and as they maintain a large inventory of key products are able to ship almost immediately.  Shipping from this plant is available via truck or rail.

Ashcroft sits on the northern perimeter of the copper rich Highland Valley area. Highland Valley Copper is the area's major producing mine and the world's second largest open-pit mining operation. The mine is located on Highway 97C, approximately 38 kilometers east of Ashcroft. The company operates two open-pit mine sites, extracting 90 million tonnes of ore per year and shopping out 400,000 tonnes of clean, high-grade ore to smelters around the world. The tailing pond measures 13 kilometers in length and acts as a controlled catchbasin for recycled, surface drainage and free well and river water. The largest sand dam in the world encloses the pond.

Ashcroft's newest industrial project is Ashcroft Terminal.  This large (600+ acres) industrial-zoned parcel of land is situated along the banks of the Thompson River on the eastern edge of the Village.  As part of the Southern Corridor on Canada's Pacific Gateway, AT is uniquely positioned as a significant and sustainable logistics terminal that provides both handling/storage for bulk materials and transloading services for multi-modal transportation.  On June 14th, the Government of Canada announced a $5-million federal funding commitment to Ashcroft Terminal for the expansion of this project.   The project will provide more train capacity and will lead to greater trade to the Asia-Pacific. 

Tourism is the leading potential revenue generator for Ashcroft and the surrounding region. Ashcroft is a destination and starting point for heritage and history buffs following the Gold Rush Trail north to Barkerville. Heritage buildings from the Gold Rush days of the 1860's invite you to browse the community's streets.

The lakes and rivers of the area are teaming with fish and are considered to have some of the best fly fishing in the province.

The Nl'Akapxm Eagle Motorplex is found 6 kilometers west of Ashcroft on Highway 1 (Trans Canada). The Motorplex is a NHRA (drag racing) sanctioned track with races held from spring until fall.

The Semlin Valley Golf Course, situated just north of Ashcroft, is a challenging, 2,950 yard nine hole public golf course.

The TNRD Film Commission actively markets this area as ideal for production and the movie industry has filmed portions of feature films, movies of the week, television episodes and commercials here in recent years.

Projects shot in this area include:

• X-Files
• Christmas in Calico
• America's Most Wanted
• The Pledge
• Cadence
• Eyes of a Cowboy
• Bird on a Wire
• Flower and Garnet
• An Unfinished Life
• 2012

Numerous commercials have also been shot in the area for clients such as Toyota, Ford, Kodak, Miller Beer, Nescafe, Yamaha, Canadian Tire and Chivas Regal to name a few. These projects provide an extra boost to Ashcroft's economy with large production crews taking advantage of the services offered in the community and local residents obtaining parts as extras during filming.