March 2012 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Vancouver mayor's task force on housing affordability







Co-chaired by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson, and former provincial cabinet minister and property developer, Olga Ilich, the Task Force membership is drawn from a number of organizations relevant to the housing sector including: architects, designers, builders, private, non-profit and public sector property developers, non-profit associations, apartment owners, and academics.







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[Ally]

Vancouver employers in hiring mood





More Metro Vancouver employers plan to hire new employees than cut existing staff in the coming quarter, although most firms plan no workforce changes leaving a relatively stable job-creation climate over the coming months, according to the latest survey from the recruiting firm Manpower released Tuesday.




Among Metro Vancouver firms included in Manpower's quarterly Employment Outlook Survey, 23 per cent of respondents said they planned to hire people in the next three months compared with four per cent that said they need to cut staff. Then 73 per cent plan no changes in staff, and no firms reported being unsure about hiring intentions to the end of June.




Jeff Polkinghorne from Man-power's Vancouver office said the results "[indicate] a steady hiring pace for the coming months."






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[Ally]

Premier lauds program, addition of 40,000 jobs





The addition of nearly 40,000 jobs across the province in the last year shows the government's Jobs Plan is improving the economy, Premier Christy Clark said Tuesday.




Using workers at North Vancouver's Seaspan Marine Corp. as a backdrop for her six-month update, Clark said she's "proud of the progress made, our continued economic growth and the number of new jobs added to our economy."




B.C.'s unemployment rate has fallen to 6.9 per cent from 8.7 per cent a year ago, but has levelled in recent months.






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[Ally]

Hydro board okays $1.35 billion facility





BC Hydro's board of directors has approved a $1.35-billion replacement of the 65-year-old John Hart generating station on the Campbell River.




Hydro has substantial hurdles to clear, including compensation agreements with first nations, a federal environmental review and approval from the B.C. Utilities Commission.




But the Crown corporation is confident it can proceed; on Tuesday it announced it is posting a request for proposals for the upgrade, and estimates awarding a construction con-tract by mid-2013.






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[Ally]

Surrey's mayor renews call for light transit for booming population





Surrey continues to boom, but Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts admitted her city`s growth was a double-edged sword that was straining infrastructure, challenging limited transit and affecting housing affordability.




`When we are faced with the growth that we have had, exponentially, we`ve seen the challenges in that,` Watts told business leaders gathered to hear her 2012 state of the city address at the Sheraton Guildford Hotel Tuesday.




Surrey`s population has increased 18 per cent in five years, three times faster than the national average. Pockets of Surrey have boomed: Clayton Heights has grown 239 per cent.






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[Ally]

BC to enjoy strong economic growth in 2012-2013





VANCOUVER, 14 March 2012`Since the 2008 recession the Lower Mainland has accounted for most of the economic growth in B.C., but that is about to change, says a new forecast by Central 1 Credit Union.






Growth in northern B.C. driven by sales of coal, natural gas and copper will spur development in those areas and spread to the Lower Mainland as well, says the report that looks at regional economic prospects in 2012 and 2013.






Province-wide employment growth at 1.6% this year and 1.8% in 2013 is expected to become more robust thereafter.





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[Ally]

BC looks to fly welfare recipients north to find jobs





The B.C. government is considering a plan to help people get off welfare by flying them north to cash in on high-paying jobs in areas such as the oil and gas industry.




`There`s a boom happening in the northeast and the northwest of the province,` Finance Minister Kevin Falcon said Wednesday.




`We`ve got several ministries working together to see if we can put together something that would offer free airfare, accommodation ` training if necessary ` to get [welfare recipients] connected with work,` he said, noting he first announced the plan in last month`s budget.






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[Ally]

Northern BC to lead the province in economic growth





Looking for a future? Or at least a decent job? Buy a parka and a thick pair of mittens and head north.




That`s the word from Central 1 Credit Union, which said Wednesday that northern B.C. will enjoy the province`s strongest economic growth both this year and next.




`We`re in the beginning of a transition phase in northern B.C. and central B.C.,` Central 1 chief economist Helmut Pastrick said of the company`s report, entitled Economic Analysis of B.C.






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[Ally]

$10k homebuyer bonus to spur first-timers: Mortgage expert





The new $10,000 bonus for first-time buyers of new homes will likely help a lot of potential buyers make the leap into the real estate market, a mortgage expert says.




Ryan McKinley, mortgage development manager at Vancity, said he`s had a lot of calls from buyers seeking to understand the bonus, but no one who has yet bought a home because of it.




`Mortgages have been top of mind for many people lately, and the calls that I`ve been getting have been in regard to clarity ` what this is, and can they take advantage of it,` McKinley said. `Spring tends to be a popular buying season.`






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[Ally]

Labour crunch could slow planned Kitimate projects: Shell






Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDS.A-N71.690.230.32%) is optimistic about plans to build a liquefied natural gas export terminal in Kitimat, B.C., but its executives are worried that there aren`t enough skilled workers to support the simultaneous construction of several such plants.




The Kitimat project `is very much on the front burner,` Shell`s chief financial officer, Simon Henry, said in a telephone interview from company`s headquarters in The Hague on Thursday.





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[Ally]

Jobs, lower cost of housing lure workers to Prince George





Born and raised in Surrey, 40-year-old Coralie Nebone thought she would always live in the Lower Mainland.




But after friends invited her to visit `B.C.`s northern capital,` the single mom saw first-hand the benefits of moving herself and her now-14-year-old daughter Kaitlyn to Prince George nearly two years ago.




It`s a move Nebone has never regretted. She found it easy to get work and the housing costs were far cheaper.






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[Ally]

Agri-business growth spurred by local demand and overseas need





Strong demand for B.C.`s premium food products at home and abroad is expected to propel the annual value of the province`s agricultural output from $10.5 billion to $14 billion over the next five years.




The Liberal government`s newly released agrifood strategy, released today in Abbotsford, projects increasing demand from India, China and the Pacific Rim, and substantial increases in agricultural productivity.






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[Ally]

New energy future lies ahead - let's not blow it





Our province, indeed our whole continent, is on the verge of a new, cleaner energy future. The technical revolution that has led to the production of vast new supplies of unconventional gas is a truly remark-able achievement, one that will see natural gas finally come to play its long-hoped-for role in our country's energy mix.




These new quantities, at the lower prices they deliver to the market, will once and for all make natural gas a reliable alternative to coal, will pro-vide a source of clean electricity to our neighbours to the east and to many American states, and will propel Western Canada into becoming a globally significant energy superpower.






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[Ally]

BC approves $900M jumbo glacier ski resort





VICTORIA ` After more than 20 years of review, the B.C. government cleared the way Tuesday for development of a controversial ski resort on Jumbo Mountain in the province`s southeast.




`This morning, I signed the master development agreement for the Jumbo Glacier Resort,` Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson said Tuesday.




`Approval of the master development agreement allows the project to proceed.`






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[Ally]

Notorious Surrey landlord hit with $115,000 penalty for building neglect





METRO VANCOUVER -- The provincial government has slapped notorious landlord Gurdyal Singh Sahota with a $115,000 penalty for failing to maintain a water-damaged Surrey apartment building despite several orders from the Residential Tenancy Branch.




The penalty against Sahota, a wealthy landlord who has long been criticized for allowing his buildings to fall into disrepair, is the first administrative penalty under the Residential Tenancy Act.




The mostly low-income tenants at Sahota`s 31-unit Kwantlen Park Manor have long complained about structural damage and mould in their building at 12975 106 Ave. in Surrey.






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[Ally]

BC apartment building sales soar



B.C. rental apartment building sales are soaring as private investors take advantage of low-cost financing, according to commercial real estate broker Avison Young`s latest B.C. multi-family investment report.





Multi-family investment volume reached $377 million in 2011, a 43-per-cent increase over 2010, and the number of transactions increased to 35 from 20, Avison Young said.



Rental apartment buildings are popular because they are regarded as the safest of all commercial real estate asset classes, Avison Young principal Rob Greer said.





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[Ally]

KPMG praises Kamloops for overall competitiveness



People in Kamloops are going to be getting swollen heads, with two studies in one week pointing to the city as a great place to be.





First, MoneySense Magazine rated Kamloops 44[sup]th[/sup] out of 190 Canadian cities for livability.





Then on Thursday, KPMG ranked Kamloops as top B.C. community for overall competitiveness to do business.





Venture Kamloops executive director Dan Sulz said the accounting firm`s ratings looked at 26 factors ` things like land prices, taxes, labour costs, real estate and utilities ` in making the choice.







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[Ally]

Homebuying down in Vancouver, up nationwide: Re/Max





Despite a strong showing in most of Canada`s major real-estate markets in the first two months of 2012, Vancouver experienced a softening in housing activity.







Re/Max's Market Trends Report, which highlights sales, prices, trends and development in 15 markets across the country, found that 12 markets (80%) were reporting year-to-date sales activity ahead of last year`s levels, with more than half reporting double-digit increases.







One of the exceptions was Greater Vancouver, where sales were down 16%.







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