0908BCBC Building permits fall slightly during July
Greater Victoria`s building permits slid slightly from June -- the top month of this year -- but remain healthy at more than $83 million.
July`s value of building permits edged down to $83.3 million from $85 million the previous month, Statistics Canada said yesterday.
For B.C. as a whole, building permits slumped 19 per cent to $860.7 million in July, from more than $1 billion in June. The province saw a drop of 7.1 per cent in residential permits, and a decrease by 37.6 per cent in non-residential permits.
Job-hunters in the Vancouver area can look forward to strong hiring demand from employers in the fourth quarter, according to a survey being released today.
Thirty per cent of employers plan to add staff in the last quarter of the year and six per cent intend to cut -- yielding a net hiring outlook of 24 per cent, according to the latest Manpower employment outlook survey.
Much praise has been lavished on the potential of northeastern B.C.`s tight natural gas plays, but the area`s remoteness, coupled with a shortage of labour, continues to pose challenges for the energy industry.
"We`re not drilling in the outskirts of suburban Dallas," Chris Seasons, head of U.S.-based Devon Energy Corp.`s Canadian division, told an investors` conference in Toronto yesterday. "We`re drilling up in the bush."
Vancouver Island housing starts dropped in August from July but year-to-date numbers are running close to the first eight months of last year.
Nationally, new home construction moved up last month, to 211,000 starts from 186,500 in July, on a seasonally adjusted basis, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday.
However, uncertainty is hovering around the capital region`s once-hot local housing market now that sales are slowing and the number of homes for sale is at its highest level in a dozen years.
0908BCBC Bear Mountain project hit with several fines
Fines have been imposed on the developers of the Highlander condominium project for marketing past an allowed date and for not updating a required disclosure statement.
The development is on the 18th hole of the Bear Mountain Resort in Langford.
Penalties were levied after an agreement, called a consent order, was reached between developers of the Highlander and B.C.`s Financial Institutions Commission. The order was posted on the commission`s website recently. Under the order, the development company 18 on 18 Developments Ltd. was ordered to pay $30,000.
Victoria`s hiring climate will continue to be steady but start to slow in the fourth quarter according to the latest Manpower employment outlook survey.
Hard on the heels of labour force data showing Victoria has the strongest labour market in the country, Manpower`s survey of employers showed 26 per cent planned to hire in the fourth quarter while 10 per cent said they would cut back their workforces.
The study also showed 61 per cent of employers expect to maintain current staffing levels while three per cent are unsure of staffing plans for the upcoming quarter.
0908BCBC Can strata council change parking space ownership?
Dear Condo Smarts: I recently bought a condo from a man who was the first purchaser from the developer in 2004. With the unit, I bought two parking spaces -- one for handicapped use and one next to it. They were both within five metres of the elevator, and this was attractive for me for personal security.
I received a letter from the strata council last week advising me that I would be losing my handicapped parking space because an owner recently who became wheelchair-bound requires it for access to the building.
I understand the person needs the access, and there is no other specific space allocated for such use, but how can the strata corporation change the ownership of my parking spaces?
The documents clearly show that the two parking spaces were included with my purchase.
British Columbia newspapering legend Ma Murray was never at a loss for opinions, but it`s a safe bet she never imagined anything like this.
Her grandson, Dan Murray, is standing on a new blacktop parking lot just a stone`s throw from the salty-tongued Murray`s former pioneer residence in Anmore.
The refurbished heritage home now serves as the village`s civic office, and the company for which Dan Murray is sales manager has just completed an installation of solar electricity panels, which are generating enough electricity -- even on an overcast day -- to cover the village`s bill to keep the lights burning in his late grandmother`s home.
Food and housing are among mankind`s most basic needs, and there are important links between the two, attendees at a Victoria panel discussion heard yesterday.
Issues ranging from food security to finding ways to feed and house the homeless were on the agenda at "Food and Housing in B.C.`s Capital Region -- Challenges or Opportunities?" put on by the Community Council of Greater Victoria.
VANCOUVER -- British Columbia newspapering legend Ma Murray was never at a loss for opinions, but it`s a safe bet she never imagined anything like this.
Her grandson, Dan Murray, is standing on a new blacktop parking lot just a stone`s throw from the salty-tongued Murray`s former pioneer residence in Anmore, just north of Port Moody.
Vancouver parks board is optimistic -- and residents near Trout Lake are ecstatic -- that the city seems poised to restore $20 million in funding to renew the neighbourhood`s community centre.
The well-used but run-down building was at the top of the board`s list of centres in need of work, and was included in its capital plans for 2009-11. But when the plan went to city council for consideration early this year, staff -- grappling with a very tight budget -- took the project off the list.
0908BCBC Economy, talent key to Microsoft expansion
Microsoft Canada completed stage one of its move into British Columbia Wednesday with the official opening of the Microsoft Canada Development Centre (MCDC) in Richmond, where 300 employees develop and test software for the company.
What stages two, three or four will bring relies on two key factors: the economy and the talent pool.
0908BCBC Getting the most out of tax deductions wisely
Judge Denning of the British House of Lords said it, our own Judge Bora Laskin said it and US Judge Learned Hand said it a very long time ago:
"Anyone may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible. He is not bound to choose the pattern which best pays the Treasury. Everyone does it, rich and poor alike, and all do right; for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands."
CALGARY - Led by big, unconventional natural gas discoveries, British Columbia continued to build on its big and growing land sale tally Thursday, tacking another $220 million on to what is already a record year.
The province said it sold 80,000 hectares at its September sale at an average price of $2,745, bringing its year-to-date total to $2.2 billion -- more than double the previous record of $1 billion all last year.
0908VICT Capital region house prices likely to keep falling, credit union economist says
Capital region housing prices are expected to keep falling as slower economic growth extends into next year, predicts the chief economist for Central 1 Credit Union.
Greater Victoria`s median housing price is expected to slide by 10 to 15 per cent from its highest point this year, Helmut Pastrick said yesterday from Central 1, the umbrella organization for B.C.`s credit union system. The median price represents the point at which half of all sales were above that price, and the other half below.
0908VANC Renovated Coliseum to host figure and speed-skating competitions
Officials and athletes gathered at the Pacific Coliseum yesterday to showcase the first 2010 Olympic venue to host a live event.
The Coliseum will stage the Samsung ISU World Cup Short Track speed-skating event Oct. 24 to 26 and the ISU Four Continents figure-skating championships Feb. 2 to 8, 2009. Both sports will be held at the Coliseum at the 2010 Games.
Nothing will be built in B.C. unless it has some green to it, says a provincial government edict.
As of the beginning of September, all residential and non-residential buildings in B.C. have to meet certain standards for energy and water efficiency, says provincial Housing and Development Minister Rich Coleman.
"The greening of the B.C. building code will provide homebuyers with an environmentally sound choice -- a home that will have a lower impact on the environment and that will have the added benefit of saving them money on utility fees," he says in a news release.
0908BCBC Dion links his proposals to B.C.`s carbon tax
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion told a packed hall at the University of Victoria yesterday that he will be a good partner for B.C. and that the federal Liberals` proposed carbon tax will complement, rather than duplicate, the province`s similar tax.
"[B.C.] will be for climate change in Canada what Saskatchewan was for medicare -- the first mover," said Dion, before almost 200 people who lined the walls and steps of a UVic lecture hall while others listened outside. B.C. is the first province in Canada to impose a carbon tax.
