Image: Highstreet Village in West Abbotsford / Highstreet Village / Provided

By Alyssa Conti

GROWING COMMUNITY

Abbotsford community thrives despite initial fears from tariff uncertainty

Apr 26, 2025 | 10:18 AM

ABBOTSFORD — A section of Abbotsford is touting continued growth despite initial concerns about tariff threats and economic uncertainty.

Earlier in April, Statistics Canada released monthly figures stating that the Abbotsford-Mission area lost 700 jobs, with the majority of the losses occurring in the wholesale, retail, and natural resources sectors across the province.

AB Wall Property Director Angus Wall says West Abbotsford seemed virtually unaffected by those changes.

“There’s lots of employment up here in West Abbotsford,” said Wall. “Industrial lands to the north of the freeway. There’s a big agricultural processing plant […] and certainly, lots of retail. Our site is between the Highstreet mall, which is probably the biggest mall in Abbotsford.”

Highstreet Shopping Centre welcomed over 3.5 million visitors in 2024, a five per cent increase from 2023.

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“I can see some of our sales possibly slowing if tariffs are implemented, and it’s severe. There could be some job shortages, losses, which would affect anybody’s ability to purchase a house,” he said. “But that’s probably a fear thing rather than [what is] actually current.”

Made local, supporting local

Constructing the adjacent homes at Highstreet Village didn’t cost the developers too much, either, as they sourced most of their resources locally before the tariffs took effect.

“All of our labour, of course, is local. Most of our products are local.”

Source: Highstreet Village / Provided

Wall added that 80 to 85 per cent of products installed at Highstreet are Canadian-made, while anything else would be imported from offshore.

“I thought the air conditioners were us, but they’re actually from Italy,” he mused. “Who knew?”

As retail giants like Rona+ and Hudson’s Bay close down both locally and nationally, Highstreet tries to support small and local businesses through its Remarkable Partners leasing programme, with seven active specialty tenants currently on site.

Developers say the area is likely to continue growing after the recently approved Highstreet Transit Exchange and the expansion of Highway 1.

Census data from 2022/23 show that more than 6,600 people migrated to Abbotsford from areas west of the city, including the Vancouver census metropolitan area, which encompasses Surrey, Langley, and Metro Vancouver.