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Innovative New Website Showcases Local Businesses and Economic Opportunities in Beautiful Esquimalt, BC

CanadianSMEPublished September 3, 2025 · 2 min read

The Township of Esquimalt, in partnership with Upanup, has launched WhyEsquimalt.ca, a new economic development website that spotlights the Township as “The Place to Be” for living, working, and investing.

Upanup, specializing in digital website solutions that prioritize user experience, is pleased to announce the launch of WhyEsquimalt.ca, an economic development site for the Township of Esquimalt in British Columbia.

Esquimalt engaged Upanup to create the new site with a focus on supporting local businesses and attracting new opportunities while showcasing Esquimalt’s natural beauty and idyllic location.

WhyEsquimalt.ca offers a fresh, engaging look and feel featuring a comprehensive business directory with over 400 listings, an interactive map view, and a dynamic news and story section.

“We wanted to showcase Esquimalt as a community and particularly the business community in a fun and engaging way beyond a traditional corporate look and feel,” said Terése Finegan, Esquimalt’s Manager of Economic Development. “Upanup was a pleasure to collaborate with. Their portfolio really stood out to us. They were open to listening and experimenting and they executed exactly what we were envisioning.”

The project reflects Esquimalt’s commitment to supporting local business, attracting new opportunities, and sharing the community’s welcoming spirit with residents, visitors, and investors alike.

Key features include:

Comprehensive Business Directory with more than 400 listings, giving small and micro businesses, many without websites of their own, a digital presence complete with photos, descriptions, and contact details.

Interactive Map View, allowing users to explore businesses by location to see what’s nearby.

News & Stories Section designed to share updates and highlight the people, projects, and opportunities shaping Esquimalt’s economy.

WhyEsquimalt is built on the Drupal content management system, the same platform as Esquimalt’s municipal site, giving Finegan and her team familiarity and ease of use for fast updates to ensure information is always current for visitors and businesses

“We’re thrilled that the Esquimalt business community is already sharing positive feedback on the new site,” said Peter Knapp, CEO of Upanup. “It was great to see Esquimalt thinking outside of the box and offering a dedicated site designed to serve the local business community by connecting them with residents and tourists alike.”

A brief interview with Terése Finegan discussing the project and working with Upanup can be found here.

For more information, please visit upanup.com.

About Upanup

Founded in 2012 by Peter Knapp and Richard Hammond, Upanup employs 30 dedicated designers, developers, marketing professionals and strategists in offices across Waterloo, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta; and Victoria, British Columbia. With over 100 municipal clients in Canada and the United States, Upanup offers expertise in digital website solutions that prioritize user experience, accessibility and community engagement.

Source: Upanup

CanadianSME

With an aim to contribute to the development of Canada’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s), Cmarketing Inc is a potential marketing agency and a boutique business management company progressing rapidly in its scope. By acknowledging a firm reliance of the Canadian economy over its SMEs, the agency has resolved to launch a magazine, the pure focus of which will be the furtherance of Canadian SMEs, and to assist their progress with the scheduled token of enlightenment via the magazine’s pertinent content.

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