More ferries set to return

VICTORIA — Services are resuming on some B.C. ferry routes with more people travelling in the province as COVID-19 restrictions are lifted. BC Ferries announced that service to the southern Gulf Islands will increase starting June 9, to match capacity with demand. The Tsawwassen to Long Harbour route on Salt Spring Island will resume and […]

Vancouver home prices climb

VANCOUVER — Home sales in the Greater Vancouver area continued their steep year-over-year drop last month amid confinement measures and physical distancing requirements. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver says residential sales totalled 1,485 in May, a nearly 44% decrease from May 2019 and 54% below the 10-year average for the month. However, the […]

Small businesses get protection

VICTORIA — Small businesses in B.C. will be protected from eviction for at least the next month by an emergency government order that aims to encourage landlords to apply for a federal rent relief program. Finance Minister Carole James says a new order under the province’s Emergency Program Act protects small businesses from eviction who […]

Loggers encroach on caribou

The B.C. government has permitted logging on more than 900 square kilometres of land despite its being listed as critical caribou habitat, says newly released research. The authors of the study, published in Conservation Science and Practice, say it’s an example of poor co-ordination between governments that has led to Canada’s ongoing failure to protect […]

Ag jobs all in one place

VICTORIA — The B.C. government has created a new online resource to help the province’s agricultural sector find workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. A statement from the Ministry of Agriculture says the B.C. Farm, Fish and Food Job Connector will highlight agriculture-related job vacancies while helping the industry adapt to recruitment in response to the […]

Tilray closing Ontario location

NANAIMO — Tilray Inc. says it will close a licensed cannabis greenhouse in Ontario, which will save the company millions of dollars a year. The Nanaimo-based company says it will close its wholly owned subsidiary, High Park Gardens in Leamington, Ont., over the next six weeks. Tilray says it anticipates about $7.5 million in net […]

Oil cleanup program popular

VICTORIA — More than 1,100 applications deluged a B.C. program creating a funding plan to restore dormant and inactive oil and gas wells, within hours of the program’s launch. Energy Minister Bruce Ralston says Monday’s requests equal up to $152 million in reclamation work and if completed would potentially support up to 1,200 jobs and […]

BC wants national sick leave

The provincial government says it is aggressively lobbying Ottawa to create some sort of universal sick leave program to ensure workers do not feel pressure to go to work while ill. Labour Minister Harry Bains said Thursday there have been numerous occasions across the country where employees ended up going to work during the pandemic […]

Minimum wage hike happening

VICTORIA — B.C. businesses devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic will still have to pay a scheduled increase in the minimum wage next month just as many are struggling to get back in operation. Labour Minister Harry Bains says the province will push ahead with the planned minimum wage increase on June 1 to $14.60 per […]

BC house prices rise

A total of 3,284 homes were sold in April, according to new data from the British Columbia Real Estate Association, and the average price was up nearly 8% from a year earlier. Sales plunged 50.8% compared with April 2019. BCREA chief economist Brendon Ogmundson said the decline in sales was no surprise. “We expected to […]