Canada’s energy wealth risks being stranded while the U.S. boosts its position as a global oil supplier
By Jock Finlayson and Denise Mullen Business Council of B.C. Canada has long depended on a single market for its exports of energy. This over-reliance on one customer, the United States, carries significant risks. That became evident in recent years as the U.S. ramped up its production of oil, natural gas and other energy products…
Headquarters are powerful economic drivers and key factors in creating and sustaining high-wage employment
Statistics Canada’s latest survey of corporate headquarters provides updated counts of direct head office jobs for each province and the biggest metropolitan areas across the country. The data shows B.C., and Vancouver in particular, are falling behind. The survey covers publicly-traded and privately-owned companies as of 2017. A head office is defined as an “establishment…
Many employers are struggling to find workers for jobs that may soon be eliminated because of technology
Will robots soon be replacing humans across broad swaths of the labour market? Judging by headlines touting driverless cars, machine learning and the rapidly-growing digital economy, one is tempted to answer “Yes.” No one can doubt the sweeping effects of new technologies. Historically, tens of millions of jobs have been eliminated by successive waves of…
In B.C., it's a matter of industrial change, technological innovation, and the increased role of self-employment and small businesses
The arrival of another Labour Day provided an opportunity to reflect on the place of trade unions in our economy. The unionization rate – sometimes called union density – measures the share of employees in the workforce who belong to a union. In B.C., the rate has dropped significantly in recent decades. The trend has…
Industrial transitions don’t happen overnight. Nor do politicians generally have a decisive role in that evolution
Canada is a relatively small economy that depends heavily on international trade to underpin its prosperity. An examination of what Canada sells to other countries sheds light on the industry sectors in which we possess competitive strengths. It stands to reason that the industries that supply the bulk of our exports are also the ones…The fourth industrial revolution will have the greatest impact on routine tasks. A flexible, well-educated and suitably trained workforce will be critical
By Jock Finlayson and Kristine St.-Laurent Business Council of B.C. The work world is being transformed by rapidly evolving digital technologies as we march into what many are calling the “fourth industrial revolution.” With disruptive technologies pushing the frontiers of automation, some of the comparative advantages humans traditionally have enjoyed relative to technology are eroding. Computers…
The labour market is changing. creating opportunity and putting pressure on business and government to adapt
The rise of the gig or sharing economy is one of the most visible trends shaping the contemporary labour market. Most gig jobs fall into the category of contingent work. Such work can be contrasted with a traditional job, in which a person has a durable and structured employment relationship with a specific employer. Today,…
Cruising along: Airport volumes are up, cruise ship traffic strong, hotel revenues on the rise, and food and drink sales growing
By Jock Finlayson and Kristine St.-Laurent Business Council of B.C. It turns out that 2017 marked a 14-year high for annual international tourism to B.C. Some 7.9 million international travellers entered the province last year, an increase of 3.5 per cent over 2016. And the data for the first quarter of 2018 look even better, setting the…
The U.S. is eager to grab new business, which underscores the urgent need for Canada to secure access to offshore markets for our oil and gas
By Jock Finlayson and Denise Mullen Business Council of British Columbia The International Energy Agency (IEA) World Energy Outlook 2017, released in early November, provides a useful update on the shift to a lower carbon global energy system. The stepped-up deployment of clean energy technologies and moves toward electrification continue in many nations. At the same…
The extraordinary run-up in real estate prices like the one experienced in the Lower Mainland raises the odds of a painful market correction
How can people afford to live in Vancouver? That question came to mind as I struggled to catch up with the latest torrent of media stories on the Lower Mainland’s seemingly inexhaustible housing boom. Metro Vancouver has long been the most expensive place in the country to purchase (or rent) a home. Indeed, relative to…