BC Business
View from the flourishing Wya Point Resort on Vancouver Island
Supercharged spending Vancouver is top economic performer among Canada’s cities according to the conference Board of Canada “whose strength in manufacturing, construction, and the services sector will support GDP growth of 3.4 per cent in 2015.” The city’s manufacturing is expected to grow by 8.6 per cent in 2015, bouyed by a multi-billion dollar contract to build non-combat ships for the federal government at Seaspan’s North Vancouver site. B.C. also rules, according to the latest provincial sales forecast from Royal Bank of Canada, due to rising house prices and low gasoline prices and interest rates. “Households catch spending fever,” according to the report, with spending at restaurants and bars up 7 per cent in the first half of 2015, following a record breaking 2014. Tourism kicked in, the report continues, with the weaker dollar and the FIFA Women’s World Cup event in July, even Statistics Canada report, retail sales for B.C. down in July 2015 from June by 0.4 per cent…
Grape Expectations This year’s wine grape harvest began on August 12, a record early date for picking wine grapes in the province, according to an industry press release. The early spring and long, dry summer got the B.C. wineries that produce sparkling wines to pick three weeks ahead of schedule. Some local winemakers predict that due to the high number of sunny, optimal growing days, 2015 will be the vintage of the century. This despite fears that B.C. wildfires which also had a banner year, might infuse the grapes with a smoky aroma but experts say none has been found to date. High Hopes Over 175 applied for licenses to dispense medical marijuana in Vancouver, but many won’t make the cut as the city of Vancouver moves toward regulation of the industry. Though over 100 dispensaries are doing business in Vancouver, the city only needs 15 to 20 dispensaries to meet the need, says Councillor Kerry Jang. The rest can expect to be weeded out, based on bylaws that require clean criminal records, and ban operating 300 metres from schools, community centres and other dispensaries. Local dispensaries say they won’t go down without a fight, which means we can expect months and months of red tape for the green stuff.