A huge film studio is being proposed for the Malahat, near Mill Bay.

The Malahat Nation is partnering with Victoria-based Alpha Select Production Services Inc. in the proposal to build an ambitious 80-acre studio project, which would be called Malahat Film Studios, on its land.

The project would include six world-class sound stages as well as related offices and workshops, a technical academy for apprenticeships and skills-transfer training, a business park, office park, and an industrial zone, as well as a shopping village and hotel.

At full scale, the project is forecast to provide 1,500 direct jobs for the region, which would make it among the top employers in the area.

Beverley Dondale, CEO of Alpha Select Production Services, and Josh Handysides, CAO of the Malahat Nation, recently appeared as a delegation to a meeting of the board at the Cowichan Valley Regional District and said the proposed project has completed the pre-feasibility stage and is now moving into the feasibility study stage with the potential of being completed in the next few years.

Dondale requested that the CVRD provide a letter of support regarding the project, stating that it is one of the last pieces of the puzzle her company’s investors require to provide funding.

A staff report from the district’s Economic Development Division indicated that the motion picture industry contributed $3.2 billion to the B.C. economy in 2018 to 2019.

The report said the direct economic impact of location-based film activity in the region in recent years is estimated to be several million dollars per year.

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