British Columbia: the leader in economic growth among Canadian provinces in 2010

Published on 02-22-2010 Comments(0) Full article

Olympic spinoffs and an improved outlook for forestry and manufacturing will make British Columbia the leader in economic growth among Canadian provinces in 2010, says the Conference Board of Canada.

B.C. will post growth of 3.7 per cent over the year, while renewed American auto demand will help Ontario surpass the national average for the first time in nearly a decade with growth of 3.5 per cent, the board said in its Provincial Outlook — Winter 2010, released Monday.

B.C. will also benefit from an estimated $770-million boost to the economy from the Winter Olympic Games.

"The recovery in Central and Western Canada began to take shape in the last few months and will continue to do so through 2010. In fact, all provinces are expected to post positive economic growth this year," said Marie-Christine Bernard, associate director, provincial forecasting.

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Predictions for 2010

Published on 12-22-2009 Comments(4) Full article

Flickr photo by Tim in Sydney.This morning in my inbox I found this opinion piece from Inman News: Real estate wish list, predictions for 2010Reading through the predictions, I was struck by how many real estate professionals avoid commenting on social media and marketing changes in the...

Vancouver International Airport is ready for Olympic exodus

Published on 11-18-2009 Comments(0) Full article

There are a lot of chances that Vancouver International Airport will have the busiest day on Marcs 1st, 2010. According to some estimations, 39,000 passengers and 77,000 pieces of luggage depart after the Olympic closing ceremonies.

But the airport authority is ready to roll, after years of planning and at least $30 million in new snow removal and de-icing equipment.

"We have our work cut out for us," YVR head of 2010 planning Paul Levy said yesterday.

To deal with the record volume, the plan is to set up a remote terminal at Sea Island to process athletes and games officials.Most of them will have checked in for their flights already at the athlete villages in Vancouver and Whistler.

Hotels will stagger their check-out times to avoid clogging departures that morning. And at the airport, customized luggage carts can carry thousands of oversized athletes' bags.

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Introducing BC's top 100 companies

Published on 11-10-2009 Comments(0) Full article

For the past year, British Columbia's top companies have been making a lot of money.

BC’s strongest company is Eldorado Gold, which moved up from 18th last year. The gold miner - with two operating mines and five exploration projects around the world - also ranked third on Business BC’s list of fastest-growing companies.

Rounding out the five strongest were two more gold producers - Goldcorp Inc. at number two and Red Back Mining, taking fourth spot - and two copper companies, Corriente Resources in third, and Quadra Mining in fifth.

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Zipcar App Finally Available on iPhone

Published on 10-13-2009 Comments(0) Full article

It was one of the apps shown off at Apple’s WWDC Keynote speech talking about iPhone OS 3.0 back in June of this year, but Zipcar has taken its sweet time making an official appearance in the App Store. The application is finally here (iTunes link), so urbanites who’ve been waiting to make a trip to Costco to load up for the winter, you’re in luck.

For those who aren’t familiar with Zipcar, it’s a car-sharing service that allows members to rent a car during the day for running errands, etc. Cars can be picked up from convenient parking lots located throughout the urban areas served by Zipcar and dropped off again in another designated area. Zipcar members pay a monthly subscription fee and hourly and daily rates for use of the car.

The Zipcar app was one of those touted as taking advantage of new iPhone OS 3.0 features to deliver innovative functionality for users of Apple’s wonder device. And it seems to work just as advertised. The app uses your location as a starting point to find nearby cars available for booking. You can filter your results by time, type and model, which will highlight pins on the map in green that fit your criteria.

All of Zipcar’s automobiles are named, and once you find one that fits your needs and schedule, you can book it directly from the app, so long as you are a Zipcar subscriber. If you’re not, you can still try out the free app, you just won’t be able to book any cars. Clicking on a car at any location provides you with further information, including the hourly and daily rate for the vehicle in question, and supplementary information, including things like cargo capacity and any special features.

The iPhone app also includes a virtual wireless entry key fob that connects with a car once you’ve booked it. If you’re not a member and you’re just playing around with the app like I was, you also won’t be able to use the remote car unlocker/horn honker, although you can use it to make noise on your device itself. If you are a member, the inclusion of this feature means you won’t need anything besides your iPhone to get on the road.

From TheAppleBlog.com by Darrell Etherington