About

The Full Story

Sunshine Coast Parks is run by Swens Contracting Ltd., a park facility operator for BC Parks within the South Sunshine Coast region. This company began as a small business and was founded in 1986, by Johan Swens, an entrepreneur with a passion for the great outdoors.

Johan and Felipa were a husband and wife team, with a young family, who started out servicing remote BC Forestry sites in the Sea to Sky corridor. After discovering Pemberton they moved into servicing BC Parks during the summer months at Narin Falls Park and Birkenhead Lake Park. Their work grew to include Porpoise Bay Park on the Sunshine Coast and Cat Lake in Squamish. While taking on different parks along the Sea to Sky corridor and Sunshine Coast the couple chose Squamish, or "squish" as their home base.

When BC Parks changed to offer regional contracts instead of single park contracts Swens Contracting Ltd. moved into servicing the Sunshine Coast bundle of BC Parks. This included BC Parks within the North and South Sunshine Coast regions, including Saltery Bay Park and Inland Lake Park in Powell River. The couple then settled in Sechelt where they already spent a lot of time working at Porpoise Bay Park.

Unfortunately, in 2009 Johan suddenly passed away. It was a difficult decision, but Felipa wanted to continue running the business and did so with the help of her family. In 2015 Swens Contracting suggested to BC Parks that the Sunshine Coast bundle be divided into the two regions. This is how Swens Contracting now services the South Sunshine Coast region of BC Parks, which includes Halkett Bay Marine Park and Plumper Cove Marine Park.

In 2020, Swens Contracting became incorporated and managed to ride out the unprecedented wave of Covid-19. Then in 2022, the company discovered an opportunity with the Sunshine Coast Regional District to offer their expertise and begin services for Katherine Lake Park under a subsidiary, Pristine Parks Ltd. 
 

Today, Felipa and her family are grateful to continue offering their services on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and shíshálh Nations.