Friday Funny: Surf By Day, Work At Night

As teleworking and coworking grows in popularity, the village of Tofino, British Columbia, is exploring the feasibility of creating a new community for global nomads.

Around the world, the trend for global nomads and teleworkers to cowork is growing in popularity. Imagine being able to work from anywhere, especially a destination where you can surf by day and work at night. With the beach, surf, and great outdoors as its backdrop, the village of Tofino, British Columbia is looking to become a workplace location of choice by attracting a steady stream of global nomads through a new coworking community.

Tofino British Columbia Canada
Tofino, British Columbia, Canada (CNW Group/The Network Hub)

The Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce is collaborating with The Network Hub and Thrive Junction to further develop the concept with a crowd-sourcing survey.

“Tofino is truly unique in its location and lifestyle,” says Jen Dart, executive director of Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. “We are thrilled to take the lead on conducting a feasibility study for coworking, a growing movement now commonplace not just in North America but around the world. We believe it is a concept that can be sustained in Tofino, especially with young entrepreneurs and visitors who can work from anywhere.”

“Our town is thriving and looking for ways to diversify while supporting the businesses, residents and visitors already here,” adds Josie Osborne, the district’s mayor. “Opening an innovation hub and coworking space would help bring in a different business and creative population to complement Tofino’s already popular reputation. We want to be known as a place to not only explore nature, but also work within nature. With the increasing numbers of ‘working travelers’ who want to experience this region while working at the same time, we think coworking is a concept that can be sustained here.”

Tofino is currently asking those interested to fill out the survey by June 15 in order to gauge interest and demand. The results will be included in a report and shared with the public.

For visitors and global nomads, a dedicated coworking space allows them to stay longer and experience more, further investing back into the local economy. In addition, members of The Network Hub-curated Coworking Visa Map will be able to take advantage of coworking spaces in Tofino. Currently, there are 1,243 Coworking Visa Map locations worldwide, 52 in Canada, and 16 in British Columbia alone.