Fernie Pride Society, in partnership with the Columbia Basin 2SLGBTQ+ Network and Women and Gender Equality Canada, is excited to announce the launch of the Kootenay Pride Guide survey submission.

The Kootenay Pride Guide is a vibrant and inclusive resource celebrating 2SLGBTQ+ life throughout the Kootenays. Our mission is to connect Queer and Trans folks with businesses, services, events, and spaces in the region, making it easier to feel at home, wherever you are.

With a friendly, accessible approach, we aim to uplift our communities, highlight local Pride, and help build a more visible, joyful, and connected Kootenays for everyone.

Whether you’re a local looking to build community or a visitor exploring the region, the Kootenay Pride Guide is designed to help you navigate with confidence and find places where you truly belong.

The Kootenay Pride Guide will be available in print and online in late 2025 and it is free for a business, service, event, or organization to be part of. Once community surveys have been submitted online, the business in question will be contacted and vetted prior to Kootenay Pride Guide inclusion.

The Guide will comprehensively map the region and share the tools, services, businesses, and organizations that directly serve the 2SLGBTQ+ community and its allies. The relative isolation of Kootenay communities creates knowledge gaps in the services that exist for people, not only in their own towns, but in those of others.

The Guide will allow people to gain insight into what services and resources are offered, where they are, and how to access them – an invaluable tool for Queer people residing in or visiting rural British Columbia.

Fernie Pride and our project partners want 2SLGBTQ+ people to be confident in the choicesthey make and know that when they enter an establishment that is listed in the Kootenay Pride Guide that it is welcoming and inclusive.

If you would like to submit a location, please visit www.kootenayprideguide.ca .

To learn more about the Kootenay Pride Guide, please contact: Kelsey Rodier, Project Manager – Columbia Basin Pride Project at [email protected] or [email protected]

Or Courtney Baker, Executive Director – Fernie Pride Society at [email protected] / 250-423-8835.

The Kootenay Pride Guide is grateful for the funding support of Women and Gender Equality Canada and for their efforts for equity and inclusion for the 2SLGBTQ+ community.

Fernie Pride Society

Article Share