SHUSWAP NORTH OKANAGAN RAIL TRAIL CONSTRUCTION, ACCESS, and TRAIL ETIQUETTE UPDATE – SPRING 2026
April 14, 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Construction on the Splatsin te Secwépemc / Shuswap North Okanagan Rail Trail is still underway,...
The Shuswap Trail Alliance (STA), the Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society (LASS), and the Salmar Community Association are pleased to announce a new and innovative community non-profit partnership.
Sharing an office downtown, STA and LASS have joined together to rent the space from the Salmar Community Association, owners and operators of the Salmar Grand Cinemas and historic Salmar Classic Theatre in Salmon Arm who put 100 per cent of the funds they receive back into the community through upgrades, donations, and scholarships.
In British Columbia there are 29 thousand non-profit organizations employing 66 thousand full time and 48 thousand part time, as well as relying on about 1.5 million volunteers. The non-profit sector in BC is larger than the fisheries and mining sectors combined. And with funding not guaranteed, the non-profit sector as a whole has learned to be very creative with its resources to continue to run quality programs uninterrupted.
The Shuswap Trail Alliance was born out of communities working together. In 2005 regional leadership came together to address the growing call to improve how we design and move in our communities. By working together, communities realized they could share knowledge, resources, and time to create trail infrastructure that supports active healthy living. Since 2006, partners have worked through the Shuswap Trail Alliance on over 120 greenway trail projects throughout the region. There are over 820 km of trails in the 2014 Trail Guide.
“This is yet another example of the very best of what makes our communities and region resilient and vibrant—people working together,” says Phil McIntyre-Paul, Executive Director with the Shuswap Trail Alliance. The Salmar Classic space creates a satellite resource room to compliment the STA’s field project space. “We now have a place where community leadership and trail stewards can meet to organize and plan,” says Phil. “This is a significant step for our work together.”
The Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society, established in 2009, promotes literacy within the communities and schools of the North Okanagan-Shuswap region through awareness, collaboration, and education in order to enhance the health and well-being of individuals and the community. Previously the staff worked remotely and all the files and materials were stored in the Literacy Outreach Coordinator’s home and garage, as well as a storage container.
“LASS is very excited to be a part of this innovative shared office concept involving three local non-profit organizations,” says Jennifer Findlay, Literacy Outreach Coordinator for the Literacy Alliance of the Shuswap Society. “The office partnership between LASS, Shuswap Trail Alliance, and Salmar Community Association demonstrates an extremely creative initiative, which benefits all three organizations and our community as a whole.”
The open house on Wednesday, July 2, 2014 was well attended by many supporters of all three organizations, including Splatsin Band Councillor Jean Brown, Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo, City of Salmon Arm Councillor Ken Jamieson, and representatives from Downtown Salmon Arm, Okanagan Regional Library, Community Futures, Shuswap Children’s Association, School District No. 83, and the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, as well as staff, volunteers, and board members. We would like to thank everyone who stopped by and also Tim Horton’s for donating coffee and snacks to the open house. LASS and the Shuswap Trail Alliance are located at 358 Alexander St NE in Salmon Arm, BC.
