Fernie grew by 17.1% between the 2016 and 2021 censuses, to 6,320 residents. That shapes what a good website for a business in Fernie should show first. Aria builds the whole site for CA$119 a month, with your domain, business email and hosting, and you only pay after approving it.
No setup fee: you only pay the CA$119 monthly fee after you approve your website.
The local picture in Fernie
With 12.4% of working-age adults holding a trades certificate, Fernie has a lot of skilled tradespeople, and a lot of competition among them. A website with photos of real jobs and the areas you cover helps you stand out.
Families with children plan around school, sports and appointments. A Fernie website that shows hours, location and what to expect on a first visit saves parents a call, which is often the difference between choosing you or the next business on the list.
Fernie in numbers
At $107,000, the median household income in Fernie sits above the provincial figure ($85,000). The median age is 38.0, compared with 42.8 for British Columbia. Of the 2,597 households in Fernie, 72.4% own and 27.6% rent.
Other numbers worth knowing
- Apprenticeship or trades certificate holders: 12.4%
- Mean commuting time: 19.3 minutes
- Commutes of an hour or more: 10.2%
- Mainly speak a non-official language at home: 1.7%
- Residents who immigrated to Canada: 13.8%
- Children under 5: 5.3%
- Private dwellings: 3,256
How Fernie compares with British Columbia
The share of residents aged 65 and over is 14.6% in Fernie and 20.3% in British Columbia. Households that own their home: 72.4% in Fernie, against 66.8% across British Columbia.
Fernie and the surrounding area
Within a short drive of Fernie: Sparwood (28 km northeast). Kelowna is 322 km to the west.
Next to Fernie, Sparwood counted 4,148 people in 2021, with a median household income of $112,000. In Sparwood, 71.6% of households own their home; in Fernie, 72.4%.
Industries that stand out in Fernie
In June 2026, Statistics Canada counted 401 businesses with employees in Fernie. Compared with British Columbia as a whole, these sectors have a larger presence:
- Gyms, golf courses and recreation businesses (11 locations): how to get in touch and the timetable.
- Real estate agents and property managers (23 locations): the areas they cover and their contact details.
- Home builders and renovators (27 locations): licences, insurance and warranty details and how a quote request works.
- Hotels, inns and other places to stay (13 locations): the rooms with real photos and rates by season.
47.9% had between one and four employees, so this is a market of small firms. Whatever the sector, customers check the same things first: what you do, where, and how to reach you.
Among residents who work, the largest sectors are mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction (18.4%), accommodation and food services (11.6%) and retail trade (11.3%).
The people a Fernie website talks to
Active commuting is common: 17.7% walk or bike to work. People pass by on foot, so make your street address and hours easy to find.
Single-detached houses hold 64.7% of households in Fernie. Before-and-after photos are what homeowners look for.
58.6% of commuters get to work in under 15 minutes. Mention the streets and areas you cover.
From sign-up to launch, for Fernie businesses
Since 2008, Aria has been setting up websites, domains and business email for small companies. The plan is the same in Fernie as in any other town in Canada: one monthly fee, everything arranged by email.
- Sign up online in roughly 5 minutes, then email us your logo and a few photos.
- Within 3 business days, your website is ready on a temporary link, built with your brand on a proven professional template.
- Approve the site and pay the first month: only then does it go live on your domain.
Later on, updates to text, photos and prices go by email and cost nothing extra.
- A business website or an online store, for the same monthly fee
- Your own domain: bring the one you have, or we help you pick one
- Email on your domain: unlimited accounts, 5 GB in total, webmail and spam filtering
- Hosting, an SSL certificate and a daily backup
- Text, photo and price updates whenever you email us
- Ready within 3 business days on a temporary link
Running a business website from Fernie: the rules
Before launch, it helps to have the basics in order. These apply to many small businesses in British Columbia:
- Consent is at the heart of Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL): express consent means someone has agreed, verbally or in writing, to receive a commercial electronic message from you, and senders should be ready to provide proof of that consent. Canada’s anti-spam legislation
- Under Canadian competition law, it is against the law to make materially false or misleading representations to promote a product, service or business interest, and the law also prohibits the unauthorized use or distortion of tests and testimonials. Competition Bureau
General information, not legal advice. Each link goes to the official page, where the details for your situation are.
Fernie website questions, answered
Most of my customers are seasonal. Is a website still worth it?
Yes. Send us the dates and hours for each season by email and we keep the site current; it is included in the plan.
Who keeps the website up to date?
Email us the change (a new price, a photo, a new service) and the team updates the site. Content changes are part of the monthly fee.
Does the site look right on a mobile?
Yes, it is built to work on phones first, with buttons that are easy to tap and pages that open fast.
Who writes the text and picks the photos?
Phone photos of your real work often work better than stock images. Email them with your logo and a list of services.
Can the website be an online store?
Yes, an online store costs the same CA$119 a month as a regular website: a catalogue of your products, cart and online payment.
Which platform do you use?
Your website runs on the Aria Platform, built on WordPress and maintained by us: hosting, SSL, daily backups and security updates included.
Do I pay anything to get started?
No. No setup fee: you only pay the CA$119 monthly fee after you approve your website. No long-term contract. You can stop the service whenever you need to.
British Columbia
Let's build your Fernie website
No setup fee, no lock-in: you see the website on a temporary link before paying anything.
- Population, dwellings, land area, age, households, income, housing, language, place of birth, commuting, work and education: Statistics Canada, 2021 Census of Population (tables 98-10-0002, 98-10-0022, 98-10-0057, 98-10-0193, 98-10-0240, 98-10-0307, 98-10-0400, 98-10-0456 and 98-10-0458). Reproduced and distributed on an 'as is' basis with the permission of Statistics Canada.
- Business counts for Fernie: Statistics Canada, Canadian Business Counts with employees, June 2026 (tables 33-10-1176 and 33-10-1174).
- Locations: Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Geographical Names Database (CGNDB), contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada; distances are straight-line.
- Numbers come from the official sources above and are updated when new releases come out; distances are measured in a straight line.