BC Business
CP Rail | BCBusinessCP Rail can once again use its Arbutus corridor tracks
Arbutus corridor back on track The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that not only can CP reactivate the train tracks along the Arbutus corridor, but that the City of Vancouver and the public have no claim on it for other purposes. Saying that CP “will suffer irreparable harm if it is unable to even begin preparations for the resumption of rail use,” Chief Justice Hinkson dismissed the City of Vancouver’s application to prevent CP from clearing garden plots and structures along the line. The corridor was last used to transport freight in 2001 but is zoned for transportation. CP is considering using the line to store railcars, estimating it could be reactivated in three weeks at a cost of $320,000 after testing, repair and maintenance.
Keeping up with the real estate market According to two recent housing reports, Vancouver is still highly unaffordable (surprise!) and expected to become more so. The 2015 Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, which covers 378 metropolitan markets in nine countries, ranks Vancouver the second least affordable major metropolitan market after Hong Kong. Four of the five least affordable markets in Canada are in B.C.: Vancouver is followed by Victoria, Kelowna and the Fraser Valley. Central 1 Credit Union’s BC Housing Outlook 2015-2018 expects home sales and prices to rise modestly this year in larger urban areas and northern B.C., while mortgage rates remain at near record lows—prescient, given the drop in the Bank of Canada’s overnight lending rate to 0.75 per cent from 1 per cent, where it had been since September 2010.
Late bloomers With “seniorpreneurs” starting more businesses in Canada than any other age group, BlueShore Financial has surveyed 353 of its members aged 50 or over to find out more about them. The online poll conducted by Ipsos in December 2014 revealed the following: • 44% either currently own a business or have owned one in the past • 38% of those who currently own a business launched it when they were over 50 • 55% formed their business as an extension of their previous career and 38% began it as a new career • 73% are the sole proprietor and 25% have two to five employees • 39% expect to operate their businesses for another 1-5 years, 21% for 6-10 years, 15% for 11-15 years, and 10% don’t know • 65% of the businesses are home-based, 15% are outside the home and 20% are a combination