Blog

After careful review of the evidence for Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Expansion Project, the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) reiterates that the potential economic and environmental risks outweigh the potential economic benefits. Furthermore, the VEC has reservations about recent claims that the business community is in consensus about the proposed economic benefits of expansion.

With a highly engaged series of companies from all over British Columbia making several newsworthy announcements, including the launch of a Vancouver-based $10 million fund, the Pocket Gamer Connects London 2018 (PG Connects) conference saw Vancouver and B.C. make its biggest splash yet!

Here are a few highlights we were particularly proud of from the Year of the Rooster – some of which we hope will bear fruit in the Year of the Dog.

On September 28, the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Netflix announced an agreement that will see the company create Netflix Canada – a first-of-its-kind production company for Netflix outside of the United States – and...

The Amazon HQ2 Project has concluded. Please refer here for an update. For information on the context of the Amazon HQ2 Project, please refer to Amazon's announcement and to the RFP document itself. VEC...

Vancouver International Film Festival hosts the annual Sustainable Production Forum celebrating successful case studies in sustainable filmmaking and explores ways to inspire change.

Countless investment deals, co-production agreements, new films and infrastructure projects are conceived, negotiated and announced at major festivals.   Behind the red-carpet glitz and designer-brand trappings at the exclusive Festival de Cannes is its...

At times the conversation around corporate responsibility seems stuck – not surprising in a field where companies are trying to use the power of their products and services to solve some of...

Since 2010, the City of Vancouver has been executing on its world-acclaimed Greenest City Action Plan (GCAP), which aims to have Vancouver measurably reduce its environmental impact, and become the “greenest city in...

Speaking to a crowd at the Finance and Sustainability Initiative in Montréal recently, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Canada, Timothy Lane, made a subtle yet powerful statement:...

In a recent interview with film industry ’zine Playback, David Shepheard opened up about what he wants to accomplish in his role in 2017, the biggest challenges facing Vancouver, the major growth opportunities in the city...

Vancouver being rated as Canada’s number one startup ecosystem by Startup Genome is cause for celebration indeed. To be ranked 15th in the world is an incredible achievement...

Clean tech is now Canada’s fastest-growing industry, outpacing all other sectors in job growth rate in 2015. Vancouver is Western Canada’s clean tech hub, accounting for approximately a quarter of all Canadian clean tech companies

Several times a year, the Vancouver Economic Commission organises delegations of Vancouver businesses to international conferences identified as having strategic value for local companies—particularly opportunities related to talent, capital and global networking. In addition to...

The team at the Asia-Pacific Centre (APC) is encouraged by last year’s successes and excited for the next twelve months. Here are a few highlights we were particularly proud of from the Year of the Monkey and a thing or two that we are looking forward to in the Year of the Rooster.

There are lots of different parameters producers must balance when deciding to locate productions around the world. Vancouver already has many elements in place: world-class creative and technical talent, equipment suppliers, contractors and specialist...

Canada’s brand is peaking in the context of Brexit and a nasty, divisive US election. But Britain is in Portugal with a 7,000-strong startup delegation in tow. With the world watching, we all should be asking ourselves: where is Canada?

“If we’re an island of green, we’re f***ed.” This has become the unofficial motto of the Vancouver Economic Commission’s (VEC) green team and an implicit guide to our work beyond Vancouver’s borders. The role of...

Last week hundreds of investors from across the country and the US descended on Vancouver for the National Angel Capital Organization’s (NACO) 2016 National Angel Summit, the largest and most prestigious conference of its kind in Canada.

Here at the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC), we know our work can sometimes seem a little obscure. “What exactly do you do?” is a question we get asked often asked by those new to...