The Vancouver Economy Report
examines the economic forces shaping our city today and in the future
In the Spring 2022 issue:
It is well established that gross domestic product (GDP) has serious limitations in gauging the health and wellbeing of a community. The Beyond GDP section debuted in this issue reflects a topic VEC’s research team has been investigating for years. Also in this report:
- What is happiness (in economic terms?)
- Vancouver’s apparel industry is on a trajectory to become the Silicon Valley of performance apparel. So why are local companies struggling to find workers?
- The city is making a name for itself in the artificial intelligence world. How could this help us solve its biggest challenges?
What you’ll find…
Economic Snapshot
What’s new with employment in Metro Vancouver? As always, our economic snapshot is a dashboard of insights into active business counts, benchmarks of economic recovery, venture capital deployment, and commercial and industrial real estate vacancy rates.
Beyond GDP Metrics
There’s more to the economy than jobs and GDP. This new section serves up alternate metrics of regional economic prosperity hand-picked by our research team, where they’ve provided insights into Vancouver’s performance in air quality, social inclusion, and median income.
Performance Apparel & Fashion
Why is an industry with household names in premium design struggling to find workers? What is the business opportunity in circular fashion? What are five ways you can make an impact in reducing textile waste? Read our latest industry profile to find out.
Artificial Intelligence
Today, made-in-BC AI is powering games, helping disaster relief efforts, delivering cost savings to building operators, and helping diagnose cancer in its earliest, most treatable stages. Learn about Vancouver’s origins and strengths as an AI hub.
Minimum (and Living) Wage
Our latest in our Traditional Economics Explained series is a crash course on minimum wage, including a little about its history, drawbacks, limitations, and current status in BC. We also introduce the living wage and further reading on becoming a living wage employer.
Measuring Happiness
They say money won’t buy happiness, so why do we think GDP is a good indicator of healthy economies? Our latest in our 21st Century Economics series looks at the economists measuring happiness and what they say about its role in thriving economies.