The Vancouver Business Thread

[craneSpotter]

Energy offices flock to Vancouver as natural gas projects gather steam

National Post - Jan 9, 2013

British Columbia’s deep-rooted environmentalism is about to get a much stronger counterpoint as a growing number of energy giants establish a corporate presence on the West Coast.

Chevron Corp., Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Petronas, BG Group, Enbridge Inc., TransCanada Corp., Kinder Morgan have opened offices, are expanding or are planning to set up offices in Vancouver or nearby to oversee the planning of liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants on the northern coast, build pipelines, talk up the benefits of energy development to policy makers, communities and First Nations.

They are joining Houston-based Spectra Energy Corp., until recently the lone energy company with a large presence in Vancouver, a legacy of its takeover of B.C.-grown Westcoast Energy Inc. about a decade ago...

...BG Canada opened an office in Vancouver last summer because its LNG plans are B.C.-focused, its environmental consultants and its pipeline partner — Spectra — are based in the city, and it wanted to be seen as a part of the community, said acting president Steve Swaffield.

If the British natural gas giant moves forward with a 3.5-billion-cubic-feet-a day terminal in Prince Rupert, the project team will likely be based in Vancouver.

Hmmm, CNOOC?? I would also say Chevron already had a fairly large presence in Vancouver, considering Chevron Canada Limited (downstream stuff - marketing/retail/BC chain of stations and fuel depots) has its headquarters downtown as well as operating a small refinery in Burnaby

[craneSpotter]

Canada playing a growing role in global mining industry

Country now attracting 18 per cent of world’s mineral exploration

Gordon Hamilton, Vancouver Sun January 21, 2013 (link)

Canada’s mining industry broke records in 2011 for exploration spending, production and exports, according to a report released Monday by the Mining Association of Canada.

The report states Canada has emerged as the world’s top destination for mineral exploration, attracting 18 per cent of global investment, well ahead of second-place Australia, which attracted 13 per cent.

Further, Canada has developed world-leading hubs at Vancouver and Toronto for exploration and investment, respectively, said Pierre Gratton, president of the Mining Association of Canada.

Vancouver is the top destination for mining exploration, with the world’s leading cluster of exploration companies, while Toronto is the global hub for mining financing, with the TSX and TSX Venture exchanges accounting for $12.5 billion, or 40 per cent of global mining equity capital, according to the report.

The report states there are 1,200 exploration companies in the Greater Vancouver area , while the Toronto Stock Exchange lists 58 per cent of the world’s public mining companies.

London is still the global finance centre for mining in terms of large transactions, but Toronto leads in terms of total value, Gratton said.

[hollywoodnorth]

Port okays controversial coal expansion

Port Metro Vancouver (PMV) has approved coal-handling upgrades at Neptune Terminals – one of two controversial local proposals to up coal-handling capacity in the Metro Vancouver area.

full story .. http://www.biv.com/article/20130125/BIV0110/130129954/port-okays-controversial-coal-expansion

[Millennium2002]

From today on CBC BC:

Delta port expansion plans opposed

A new community group, with members from three South Delta churches are organizing to oppose Port Metro Vancouver expansion plans for the Roberts Bank terminal.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-co...5/bc-port-metro-vancouver-expansion.html

Firstly, it seems that they may have seemingly misidentified the area that Deltaport is in as farmland when it's really a man-made jetty sticking out into the Georgia Strait... That or perhaps the new warehouse is going to sit on the north end of the Tsawwassen FN reserve? In the former case there's technically no farmland impacted... and in the latter case there will be some impacts but I'm not going to stop the FN from developing such to broaden and sustain their economic base.

Secondly, I understand there's some immorality about shipping dirty coal overseas for it to be used as a fuel when we ourselves are committed to the fight and cleanup against airborne pollution; having said that, shutting down or constraining this port's capacity may not sound very smart if the jobs, revenue and/or ships can and will simply move elsewhere to a different port that's willing to take up the offer.

[whatnext]

Festival Cinemas has been sold to Cineplex! That's a shock,but I suspected somethign when I recived that survey from festival offering Scene points when I completed it.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainmen...ys+more+indie+cinemas/7975811/story.html

[Klazu]

I think hasn't been discussed here before, but Vancouver was recently ranked number 15 on the list of World's Leading Finance Centers.

According to the study we are ahead of cities like Sydney, Shanghai, Paris and Moscow, which was surprising to find out. Index is based on comments by 2000+ 'finance professionals' and puts emphasis on level of corruption, ease of doing business, infrastructure etc.

[whatnext]

Not sure where this fits, but there was an article in the Sun about how Celebrity Cruises is having to retrofit their Solstice with a telescoping mast to fit under the Lions Gate Bridge. (Time for a tunnel!)

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/...?id=a489354c-5485-4038-8b72-2bfd64ce1d6f

Coinicidentally today (April 28)is the 122nd anniversary of the arrival of Canadian Pacific's first purpose built passenger liner for the Vancouver-Orient TransPacific trade. A shot of her going through the narrows from West Van Archives. A far cry from behemoths like the Solstice!

[spm2013]

....

[SpongeG]

Vancouver a hot spot for digital media industry

More than 800 companies generate $3 billion annually in revenue

By Jenny Lee, Vancouver Sun July 26, 2013

Matt Boismier, 28, is one of many young professionals enticed to Vancouver by a boom in the digital media industry.

His employer, Vancouver-based Nerd Corps Entertainment, hired 135 people this year and expects to hire another 80 or 90 to reach a complement of 400 before year’s end.

“Vancouver is definitely the hot spot for the digital media industry right now,” said Boismier who came to Nerd Corps from Ontario. “In the year-and-a-half I’ve been here, it’s been growing exponentially. We are kicking people out of their offices to make room for more artists.”

Boismier was drawn to Vancouver by the lure of working on “intellectual property,” or self-initiated projects. “Intellectual property keeps the passion alive,” he said.

...

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Vancouv...ndustry/8714696/story.html#ixzz2aRyAz52f

[GeeCee]

Another one bites the dust - Big Fish's Vancouver studio is closing http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/21/4646052...ouver-studio-laying-off-49-seattle-staff

[spm2013]

....

[Prometheus]

This has been posted elsewhere already, but warrants being posted here as well:

Pixar Closes Vancouver Branch

The Globe and Mail
Tuesday, Oct. 08 2013

After three years producing animation for the studio behind such hits as Toy Story and Finding Nemo, Pixar Canada has closed its Vancouver operation and eliminated about 100 jobs, according to media reports.

Read the rest here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/pixar-closes-vancouver-branch/article14762346/

[theKB]

and the mass exodus in the tech sector continues.

[osirisboy]

Yet the article above talks of a boom in the digital media sector. Calling it a Mass exodus might be a bit dramatic

[Klazu]

Such a shame about Pixar. That is exactly the kind of "sexy" companies we should have more in here.

[spm2013]

....

[LeftCoaster]

It probably seems like a mass exodus because closures are what makes the press.

A company hiring 4-5 people every few months isn't going to make the papers but will replace the jobs lost here in a couple of years.

Vancouver has a huge amount of highly educated talented people in the various tech sectors that thrive in the city. For every big shutdown you see in these sectors there are 4 or 5 startups im sure.

It's probably best to look at total industry employment, I would be shocked if it has been trending anywhere but up over the last 5 years.

[SFUVancouver]

^ I have heard anecdotal evidence that it is quite common for people in the city's programming/computer science/web development sectors to leave established firms to work from home/cafe/shared workspace as either a freelance sub-contractor or as an employee of a company with no physical presence in the city. I know someone who left a large software firm in Vancouver to start up his own side business of making back-end software for municipalities while also working for a firm that is deliberately spread around the world so that work can be performed 24/7. A person like that would appear to drop off the face of the earth when they leave the established business with a physical address, but in reality he's probably making the same or better money, started up one company that's doing well while simultaneously working for another, all out of his home office and the local coffee shop. It's easy to overstate the prevalence of this type of person in our local economy based on anecdotal evidence, but it's also easy to ignore them because they aren't leasing office space for their new companies or working for an established company with a local address.

[SpongeG]

Amazon commits to office space for approximately 1,000 workers in new Telus building downtown, report says

Amazon will open an office in Vancouver with capacity for up to 1,000 workers, a local tech news site is reporting.

The report from TechVibes says the online retailing giant has committed to 91,000 square feet of space in the new Telus Garden, a $750-million complex under construction at Georgia and Richards in downtown Vancouver.

TechVibes notes that this is nearly three times the space of Hootsuite's new Mount Pleasant office.

...

http://www.theprovince.com/business/Amaz...approximately+workers/9068115/story.html

[craneSpotter]

Three Vancouver companies win HSBC International Business Awards

BIV Nov 12, 2013

Three Vancouver-headquartered companies have won HSBC International Business Awards for their achievements in international trade. Canfor, BioteQ Environmental Technologies and Energold Drilling Corp. have been recognized as being the best Canadian companies doing business internationally.

Canfor Corporation took home the award for the Large Enterprise category for being a leader in opening up markets for B.C. wood in China.

BioteQ’s award was in the Asia-Pacific category. BioteQ’s joint venture with Jiangxi Copper Company in China has brought its technology that allows the recovery of dissolved metals and removing sulphates from contaminated waste to the Asian market.

Energold Drilling Corp. won in the Latin America category, recognizing its specialty drilling work in over 24 countries.

Toronto’s Basset & Walker International and Montreal’s Opal-RT Technologies also took home International Business Awards, in the Leadership and the Small to Medium Enterprise categories, respectively.