By the Editors

It didn’t take long for Vitacore to make an impact on the world. The startup, founded early this year by some of the brains at Burnaby-based Strata Engineering, has already become the first Canadian company authorized by Health Canada to...

The 2020 BC Food & Beverage Awards gave us plenty to chew on as they celebrated a dozen winners on September 24. But the top prize at the annual shindig, hosted by industry group BC Food & Beverage (BCFB), went to a local dram. Sheringham Distillery’s Seaside Gin won the Gold Award for Product of the Year. Founded in 2015 by chef-turned-distiller Jason MacIsaac and his wife, Alayne MacIsaac, Sooke-based Sheringham also makes akvavit, vodka and coffee liqueur. Last year...

The organizers of the seventh annual Vancouver Startup Week weren’t going to let a pandemic spoil their plans. The 2020 instalment, which kicks off this Friday (September 25), has gone virtual as it continues its mission to build connections among entrepreneurs, investors, leaders and friends in the Metro Vancouver startup community. VSW’s long-term vision: to make Vancouver the most attractive city anywhere for leaders of emerging businesses...

COVID-19 hit the province’s commercial real estate market where it hurts, but the deals have kept flowing this year. As the pandemic took hold, investment in B.C. commercial property suffered its worst first half since 2015, according to a new midyear report by Avison Young. Tracking industrial, office and retail deals valued at more than $5 million, the real estate services firm found that 84 transactions worth a total of $1.5 billion wrapped in the first six months of 2020.

While COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on this province’s restaurant industry, it hasn’t necessarily affected alcohol sales on the same level. And though things definitely aren’t “back to normal” for those in B.C.’s brewery business, many in that sector got some good...

Think B.C. residential real estate had a strong July? Last month turned the heat up another notch as the market kept defying the COVID-19 downturn. Residential unit sales totalled 10,172 in August, the British Columbia Real Estate Association (BCREA) reports, a 42.8-percent increase over the same month in 2019. The average MLS price gained 12.7 percent, reaching $771,309. Total sales dollar volume hit $7.8 billion, a 61.1-percent jump over August 2019...

The British Columbia Real Estate Association’s latest report, The Unusual World of Pandemic Economics, seems to contradict its title. Or maybe that’s the point. In any case, the hammering that many parts of the economy have seen thanks to the COVID-19...

No one can accuse the BC Chamber of Commerce of thinking small. The BC Chamber recently went public with its Economic Recovery Submission, a three-part plan it shared with the provincial government in July. Covering everything from taxes and renewable energy to affordable housing and Indigenous economic reconciliation, this detailed proposal aims to help small and medium-sized businesses survive and thrive in the wake of COVID-19.

The third Fintech 250 list is out, and two local companies have reason to celebrate. Global identification service Trulioo and payment platform Instant Financial, both based in Vancouver, are the only B.C. names to make the grade. The annual list, put together by...

Crown agency Innovate BC has announced the 10 finalists for its 20th annual New Ventures BC Competition, which will award $250,000 to some of the most innovative startups in the province. Let’s meet the candidates. The Vancouver outfit’s technology makes all blood universal (Type...

Some of the bigger names in B.C. biotechnology are working to support a new 15-month, $1.2-million study on how to get British Columbians back to work in the safest way possible. The SARS‐CoV‐2 Study for Eased Restrictions in British Columbia (SAfER)...

Three B.C.-based innovators were recognized yesterday as the Canada Green Building Council (CaGBC) announced the 14 winners of its 2020 Leadership and Green Building Excellence Awards. The honours cover achievements in leadership and eco-conscious building design. B.C. saw two winners in the former...