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March 2014 B.C. Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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News articles for March 2014.
 

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Vancouverites not so opposed to coal exports, industry poll shows





Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson is adamantly opposed to expanding coal exports from Port Metro Vancouver, but many Vancouverites disagree with him, according to one market-research poll.





In a Mustel Group survey of Vancouver residents, 92 per cent of respondents agreed the port is important to British Columbia`s economy and showed a high level of support for expanding exports from it, including of coal ` although to varying degrees.







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Greater Victoria's economy to grow, but jobs lag





The Capital Region needs more high-paying jobs to sustain its economy, the economic officer for the Greater Victoria Development Agency told a business forum this week.





The number of public sector jobs is declining faster than growth in the private sector, which resulted in Greater Victoria producing negative growth of 0.2 per cent in 2013. The local economy is expected to increase by 1.8 per cent this year.





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Okanagan housing market dampens in February





The Okanagan Mainline Real Estate Board says February sales activity of all MLSÂ property types were up 8% compared the same month in 2013.





`For the most part, the housing market in the Okanagan-Shuswap continues to strengthen and maintain a `steady as she goes` trend although February dampened somewhat compared to January`s significant year-over-year gains,` says Karen Singbeil, OMREB President and active REALTORÂ in the Shuswap.





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BC loses more jobs





B.C. lost more jobs last month but the unemployment rate hasn`t budged.





Andrew Fields with Statistics Canada says BC lost 10,400 jobs last month.








`The unemployment rate remained unchanged due to fewer people participating in the labour market. The ten thousand decline was evenly split between full time and part time workers. The biggest declines were in health care and social assistance, professional scientific and technical services, as well as wholesale trade.`





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February 2014 housing starts in BC





VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA`(Marketwired ` March 10, 2014) -
Housing starts in British Columbia`s urban areas[sup](1) were trending at 26,703 units in February compared to 27,132 in January, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC). The trend is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR)(2)[/sup] of housing starts.





`The trend level of housing starts edged lower in February compared to January,` said Robyn Adamache, CMHC`s Senior Vancouver Market Analyst. `Trend levels of single-detached and semi-detached housing starts continued to rise, while apartment housing starts trended lower.`





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Vancouver housing starts in February rose slightly





VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) ` Vancouver-area housing starts were slightly higher in February, as work began on more condos.








A federal agency says there were 1,175 starts last month, up 65 from a year earlier. Multi-unit construction increased by 80 to 911, although work on single-detached homes decreased slightly (by 15 to 279).





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BC scrambling to say ahead of Alberta





As of July 1, 2013, the population of British Columbia was 4.6 million, according to Statistics Canada. The number of residents in next-door Alberta was 4.0 million.





The year-over-year population change for B.C. was +0.9% while for Alberta, it was +3.5%. (For Canada as a whole, the increase was +1.2%).





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Ferry that will house 600 workers in Kitimat arrives in BC





A ship that should help Kitimat`s housing crunch has arrived in Vancouver for a refit.





The Silja Festival, a cruise ferry from the Baltic Sea, will house 600 workers in Kitimat, where long-term residents are being squeezed out by newly arrived workers in the northern B.C. boom town.





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Okanagan valley ranked low for livability





It would seem the Okanagan is not too desirable a place to live. It would seem the Okanagan is not too desirable a place to live.




At least, that was the conclusion of MoneySense magazine.


In its annual ratings of the best cities in Canada to live, Kelowna did not make the top 10, or even the top 50.

In fact, the largest city in the Valley barely made the top 100, placing 92nd out of 201 cities surveyed from coast to coast.





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LNG firm seeks to use small BC port










The latest entrant in the race to export B.C. liquefied natural gas is focusing on remote Stewart in northwestern British Columbia, with the project backed by the pairing of a Canadian construction industry veteran and an entrepreneur from China.





Canada Stewart Energy Group Ltd., which is applying to export LNG from Stewart, plans to use new port facilities to be developed by B.C. construction executive Ted Pickell. A group led by Gong Jialong, an entrepreneur from China, contacted Mr. Pickell to propose the Stewart Energy LNG project.





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BC to see biggest jump in housing resales in 2014





British Columbia is forecast to have the biggest jump in housing resale activity in 2014 in Canada, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA).











The CREA expects B.C. to see an increase in resale activity of 8.3% year-over-year ` well above the anticipated national growth of 1.3%. While this means the province will be the biggest contributor to the expected growth across the country, the association said this is due to having had particularly slow sales in 2013, mostly in the early part of the year.





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Sotheby's predicts healthy spring for Vancouver real estate





Sotheby`s International Realty Canada (SIRC) expects both sales and prices to rise in the Vancouver real estate market this spring, according to a report that the real estate firm released March 18.











Metro Vancouver home sales have been consistently below the 10-year average for each month in the past year, according to Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) statistics. SIRC expects that trend to end and for sales to be in line with 10-year averages starting this spring.





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Central 1 predicts strong BC economy by 2016, if LNG projects proceed





VANCOUVER - British Columbia's economy will see healthy growth from 2016 to 2018, but Central 1 Credit Union says liquefied natural gas is the key to prosperity.





Central 1 has issued its latest economic outlook, predicting the B.C. economy will gain strength in 2015 and then take off, if LNG projects come online as planned.





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High demand for Prince George rental properties





As soon as a rental home hits the market, it`s snapped up. That`s the experience of Pace Realty property manager Shannon Craig. She says in the Prince George market, demand is up.





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BC proposes big changes to land reserve





VANCOUVER ` The British Columbia government has proposed changes to the province`s Agricultural Land Commission that opens the door to value-added processing and potential oil and gas development.





The changes ` the first since land protection laws were put in place more than four decades ago ` were welcomed with a wary eye by ranchers, who say an update is long overdue.





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Dawson Creek holds off on suite bylaw





Dawson Creek City Council has decided to pull back on a bylaw that would outlaw secondary suites in duplexes.





Instead, councillors agreed to form a committee made up of realtors, residents, developers and others to discuss what kinds of regulations could and should be enacted to deal with growth in the community.





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WestJet adds second Fort St. John flight per day in Vancouver





WestJet will be lifting off with twice-daily flights to Vancouver from the North Peace Regional Airport starting Aug. 1.





However, these flights are not guaranteed to be there permanently, as the extra daily flights are set to end on Oct. 25. Robert Palmer, a spokesman for WestJet, said it "remains to be seen" whether or not the flights will continue past that date.





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