News Influencing Decision Makers in BC
Monica McAlduff
Monica McAlduff has been named by the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) Board of Directors as the organization’s next CEO, with effect from March 1, 2025.
Overseas Express Consolidators (Canada) Inc. has completed the acquisition of assets from Flying Fresh Air Freight in British Columbia and Nova Scotia. The newly formed perishable division will operate under the brand name OEP.
Cancon Construction Ltd. has joined the BC Road Builders and Heavy Construction Association.
Costco’s January sales rose 9.9 per cent from a year ago to $27.52 billion ($25.03 billion last year), continuing an upward trend from previous months. In December, sales gained 9.9 per cent. Comparable sales for Canada in January were 4.3 per cent in the five week period ending January 5, 2025 and were up 10.3 per cent excluding the impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange. U.S. comparable sales were up 9.3 per cent and 9.8 per cent when excluding impacts from changes in gasoline prices and foreign exchange. Ecommerce sales were 35.7% and were positively impacted by an estimated 15 percentage points due to US Thanksgiving/Black Friday/Cyber Monday occurring a week later versus the previous year.
Sophie Heywood
Sophie Heywood is stepping into a new role as Operations Manager for CBRE British Columbia effective April 1, 2025.
Pattison Food Group and RBC have launched two new credit cards for customers across all of the company’s retail banners in Western Canada. More Rewards RBC Visa and More Rewards RBC Visa Infinite no annual fee cards can now earn points shopping at Pattison Food Group banners, which include Save-On-Foods, Quality Foods, Buy-Low Foods and others, approximately more than 700 participating locations.
Eric Harvey has been appointed President and CEO of the Railway Association of Canada (RAC) with effect from February 3.
George Reznik has been appointed Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary at Light AI.
Bridgitte Anderson, ICD.D, President and CEO of Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, has been recognized again in Vancouver Magazine’s 2025 Power 50 list.
Peter Chapman, a retail marketing expert and founder of SKUFood, along with Coby Palidwar, National Sales Manager of Left Coast Naturals, will share insights on collaborating with distributors at the complimentary FCC / FAC and BC Food & Beverage Partner Event on February 25th.
Luke Slan
Clio, a legaltech company based in Burnaby, BC, has appointed Luke Slan as the new general manager to lead its Canadian operations amid plans for expansion in its home market.
Gareth Allen-Symmons, Communications Manager, celebrates one year with the BC Hotel Association.
Schill Insurance Brokers Ltd. has been acquired by BrokerLink, one of Canada’s largest insurance brokerages.
Canada has introduced two new immigration pilots aimed at boosting economic growth and sustainability in rural and Francophone minority communities: the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot.
BCI has expanded its Private Equity group into London.
First Nations Health Authority has been named one of BC’s Top Employers for 2025.
BC Golf, second largest market for golf in Canada and frequent host of many amateur and professional events, is seeking its next CEO.
A webinar on Local Workforce Data will be hosted by the British Columbia Economic Development Association (BCEDA) in collaboration with CityViz on February 19th.
BC Food & Beverage welcomes its newest members, Garibaldi Mexican Salsas and ALLFAT.
Part of the B.C. government’s $19-billion investment in affordable housing and actions to build more affordable homes, the Province and BC Housing are working with Indigenous non-profit housing providers, First Nations, and other Indigenous organizations to build new affordable and culturally appropriate homes.
The BC First Nations Justice Council and Attorney General Niki Sharma celebrated the launch of the six new centres in Kamloops, Williams Lake, Cranbrook, Port Hardy, Fort St. John, and a combined facility servicing Burns Lake and Hazelton.
TD Innovation Partners (TDIP), TD Bank‘s full-service banking platform for technology companies, has provided $4.5 million CAD in venture debt to Toronto-based legaltech startup Alexi. The company plans to use the funds to increase its offerings, create more dependable, scalable, and efficient AI tools, enhance customer satisfaction, and increase its footprint among North American law firms.
The Government of Canada has officially launched the Canadian Genomics Strategy, supported by $175.1 million CAD in federal funding. This investment will be allocated over the next seven years to enhance Canada’s capacity to apply genomics research in practical ways.
Mangrove Lithium, a Vancouver-based company, has secured major finance totalling $35 million USD to begin building its new lithium refining facility.
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research has awarded the First Nations Health Authority a $1.28 million research grant.
A historic $3 million commitment from Clio—Cloud-Based Legal Technology—to the UBC Sauder’s Powerhouse Project has been announced, strengthening the foundation for innovation and entrepreneurship in British Columbia.
Canadian pharmaceutical company Apotex has acquired CanPrev Natural Health Products for an undisclosed amount.
The VIEW (Vernon Innovation & Entrepreneur Workspace) is moving to a nearby location with even better amenities, and it will now be managed by Community Futures North Okanagan. CF North Okanagan opened The VIEW in 2020 to unite a growing community of innovators, creators and entrepreneurs—offering space to cowork and collaborate from a street-level location on 30th Avenue. Accelerate Okanagan, which runs a thriving innovation centre in Kelowna, was brought on board to manage and bring The VIEW to life.
Tl’etinqox Chief Joe Alphonse announces his resignation after 16 years in office.
Taseko Mines Ltd. celebrates 20 years of Gibraltar Mine located north of Williams Lake.
Katherine Carlson has stepped into the role of executive officer for the Canadian Home Builders’ Association of Northern BC, succeeding Terri McConnachie. Previously, she served as the executive director of the Central BC Railway & Forestry Museum.
Artemis Gold celebrated its first gold and silver pour at its Blackwater Mine, 110 kilometres southwest of Vanderhoof.
Centex Petroleum officially opens at 2109 Forest Ave., Kitimat.
A new program called the Northeast BC Rural Community Immigration Pilot is aiming to make it easier for businesses to sponsor foreign nationals applying for permanent residency in Canada. Residents of the Northern Rockies Regional Municipality (NRRM) will soon have a chance to voice their thoughts on this matter.
Simon Fraser University has teamed up with Mitacs, 13 universities, and health research institutes nationwide, along with 57 collaborating organizations, to enhance Canada’s research to innovation continuum. This initiative is backed by 5 years of funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). The Invention to Innovation (i2I) network in BC is set to grow, welcoming new delivery partners and co-applicants from the University of Victoria, University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), University of the Fraser Valley, Providence Healthcare, and Fraser Healthcare.
The British Columbia Economic Development Association (BCEDA) has announced a new partnership with Northern Development Initiative Trust (NDIT) to create a Regional Economic Development Network (EDN-NDT). This partnership seeks to boost teamwork, skill growth, and economic strength throughout Northern B.C.
Camosun Engineering Transfer students can now transfer to Simon Fraser University, Thompson River University, University of British Columbia (Vancouver and Okanagan locations), and the University of Northern British Columbia following the signing of the BC Common First Year Engineering Curriculum (BC CFYEC).
Sarah Powell has joined the BC Indigenous Housing Society Board of Directors.
Novem Pharmaceuticals has finalized a purchase agreement for the former BC Tree Fruit cold storage facility located on Sexsmith Road.
Kelso Technologies Inc. is pleased to announce the appointment of Frank Busch as the company’s permanent Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Busch has been serving as interim CEO since July 2024. Kelso is a diverse transportation equipment company that specializes in the creation, production, sales and distribution of proprietary products used in rail and automotive transportation.
Okanagan College has officially begun construction on a new 101-bed student housing facility, marking the first on-campus housing in Penticton.
A new tourism marketing organization will be launched by the City of Salmon arm in collaboration with the Salmon Arm Economic Development Society.
Vernon City Council has supported, in principle, the proposed mixed-use, multi-phased, neighbourhood development at 580 Commonage Road. The proposed development would include 3,960 residential units in a variety of housing forms to establish a new hillside neighbourhood in Vernon. The proposal seeks to re-designate 421 hectares (1,040 acres) of land for mixed-use residential, parks, and a commercial hub. Currently, the proposed development is subject to conditions such as guaranteed attainable and affordable housing, a minimum dedication of 120 hectares (296 acres) of public parkland, a comprehensive public trail network through the new neighbourhood, and the development of a comprehensive infrastructure and servicing plan.
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