By the Editors

Think COVID-19 has given the environment a breather? Not so much. Although the pandemic prompted the biggest-ever annual decline in carbon emissions last year, it’s also generated a mountain of garbage, from takeout containers to disposable masks. From a somewhat unlikely location in B.C., a local economic development effort aims to help change our wasteful ways. In Trail, the Lower Columbia Initiatives Corp. (LCIC) drew national attention for its efforts to tackle the climate crisis by shifting to a circular...

Whether they need a truck, a bus or a bike, organizations thinking about buying electric vehicles (EVs) just got a financial jolt from the provincial government. Through CleanBC’s revamped Speciality-Use Vehicle Incentive (SUVI) and its Commercial Vehicle Pilot (CVP) program, Victoria...

As if the B.C. residential property market needed any more momentum, it closed out an unexpectedly strong 2020 by setting a new sales record in December. And by the look of things, prospective buyers can expect home prices to keep rising in 2021. Residential unit sales totalled 93,953 last year, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports. That’s a surge of 21.5 percent compared to 2019. The average MLS price for 2020 was $782,027, an 11-percent increase over the...

Four B.C.-based companies made Glassdoor’s latest annual ranking of the best places to work in Canada, a step up from last year, when three B.C. businesses put in a showing. The Employees’ Choice Awards uses Glassdoor’s review system to accumulate results, and the...

Stretchiest Valuation Helped by the COVID-19-induced shift toward leisurewear, Lululemon Athletica blew past the benchmark for the highest market capitalization of any B.C.-based company this year. At US$45 billion ($59 billion) or so last time we checked, the purveyor of high-priced...

It won’t happen overnight—not by a long shot—but Canada’s biggest community credit union is getting out of financing fossil fuels. Vancouver City Savings Credit Union just became the first bank or credit union in the country to commit to net-zero carbon emissions across its entire lending portfolio. Vancity plans to reach that goal by 2040, a decade ahead of the global target encouraged by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change...

To honour the contenders in our inaugural Women of the Year competition, we’ve created video interviews with the winners in all six categories. Today we chat with Laura Patrick, founder and CEO of Kids Physio Group, a pediatric therapy practice that specializes in treating children from birth to age 18. Patrick’s Vancouver-based business has grown to seven locations across the country since she launched it in 2006...

To honour the contenders in our inaugural Women of the Year competition, we’ve created video interviews with the winners in all six categories. Joining us for the latest Q&A is Livleen Veslemes, former CEO of Richmond-headquartered BioLytical Laboratories, whose rapid self-test for HIV helps empower those unsure if they have the virus that causes AIDS. During her five years there, BioLytical grew dramatically, reaching the milestone of 17 million tests sold in about 60 countries...

To honour the contenders in our inaugural Women of the Year competition, we’ve created video interviews with the winners in all six categories. The latest Q&A is with Pauline Stevenson, founder and president of Excel Career College, which offers diploma programs for careers ranging from health-care assistant to aquaculture technician, as well as customized training...

Entry deadline: February 1, 2021 The BCBusiness 30 Under 30 competition celebrates the province’s next generation of leaders: young entrepreneurs and innovators who are accomplished beyond their years. With your help, the eighth annual 30 Under 30 promises to continue a tradition of recognizing exceptional new business talents.

To honour the contenders in our inaugural Women of the Year competition, we’ve created video interviews with the winners in all six categories. The third instalment features Pilar Portela, president and CEO of Astra Smart Systems, a provider of hardware and software technologies for large data integrations; and AP Tech Solutions, which builds consortia to address major global issues by using technology. To her, being an entrepreneurial leader means showing what she’s capable of and sharing her failures and successes along...

To honour the contenders in our inaugural Women of the Year competition, we’ve created video interviews with the winners in all six categories. Today’s subject: Community Builder winner Kelly Ann Woods, founder and CEO of Brujera Elixirs. Through her Squamish-based business...