B.C. big on Seattle

The B.C. government says it has opened a Trade and Investment office in Seattle geared at expanding the province’s trade network in the U.S. and attracting investment into British Columbia. B.C.’s Deputy Jobs Minister Fazil Mihlar announced the opening at the Cascadia Innovation Corridor Conference in Seattle Tuesday evening, saying Troy DeFrank, former trade commissioner […]

NDP budget highlights

British Columbia’s minority NDP government has released an update of its budget before a full budget is tabled in February. Here are some highlights: — Carbon tax rate increased by $5 a tonne on April 1, 2018, as climate action tax credit increased for low- and middle-class families but the carbon tax will no longer be revenue […]

NDP tables budget

British Columbia’s minority New Democrat government is embarking on a social spending program in a budget update that includes hiring 3,500 teachers, and building 1,700 affordable rental units and 2,000 homes for the homeless. Finance Minister Carole James says her government’s budget aims to make life more affordable for residents while setting the course for […]

Delaying Site C is costly

A new report concludes that it would be cheaper to cancel the Site C dam than to delay the $8.8-billion megaproject in northeast British Columbia. The report by auditing firm Deloitte LLP says that pausing the project until 2025 would cost approximately $1.4 billion, while cancelling it outright would cost $1.2 billion. Deloitte was tasked […]

NDP to give budget update

British Columbia’s finance minister has hinted that anyone looking for surprises in today’s budget update will likely be disappointed. Carole James says the first financial blueprint put forward by the New Democrat government will outline commitments that were made on the election campaign last spring and reiterated in Friday’s throne speech, which kicked off the […]

Jobless numbers improve again

Canada’s labour market posted its ninth-straight month of job gains in August to give the economy its longest monthly growth streak since before the financial crisis nine years ago. Statistics Canada says last month’s increase of 22,200 jobs also helped nudge the unemployment rate down from 6.3 per cent in July to a nine-year low […]

Rosy forecast for B.C.

The Central 1 Credit Union is forecasting economic growth will remain healthy in British Columbia through 2020. The financial institution says the B.C. economy has “fired on nearly all cylinders” this year, with growth for 2017 forecast at 3.5 per cent. Deputy chief economist Bryan Yu says robust consumer demand is fuelling the growth thanks […]

Docs grill Trudeau on taxes

Justin Trudeau got a small taste of the kind of grief his backbenchers have been getting over the government’s plan to end what it calls unfair tax advantages for wealthy small business owners. During a townhall meeting Wednesday night, the prime minister was lectured by two female doctors about the negative impact they contended the […]

BoC hikes prime interest rate

The Bank of Canada is once again raising its benchmark interest rate as it sees the economy’s powerful performance pointing to broader, more self-sustaining growth. The central bank hiked its rate Wednesday by one-quarter point to 1.0 per cent, its second 25-basis-point increase since July. The move, which will likely be a surprise for some, […]

Cenovus in selling mood

Cenovus Energy Inc. is selling its Pelican Lake heavy oil operations in northern Alberta for $975 million cash to Canadian Natural Resources. The two Calgary-based companies announced the transaction separately early Tuesday. They expect the deal to close by the end of September. Cenovus says it will apply proceeds from the sale towards money borrowed […]