Victoria February 2021 Movers and Shakers

Episode 7 of the Business Examiner podcast — From the trenches — is now live! It features Derrold Norgaard of Norgaard Kratofil Professional Group, Green Sky Labs, and the Ironwood Clay Company.

Transport Canada has extended the suspension of cruise ships in Canadian waters across the country until February 2022 to manage the COVID-19 pandemic.

Film production industry website MovieMaker Magazine has placed Greater Victoria fifth on its top ten list of best small cities to live and work as a filmmaker, behind only New Orleans, Santa Fe, Pittsburgh, and Savannah, all in the United States. https://www.moviemaker.com/best-places-to-live-and-work-as-a-moviemaker-2021/6/

Victoria-based EPIC Project Management is restoring ‘Muirhead House,’ the nearly 120-year-old home at 223 Robert Street, with plans to complete the project by the end of 2022. The house was  severely damaged by fire in April of 2020.

Unitech Construction Management out of Delta, BC will manage demolition of the Oak Bay Lodge building. Unitech will oversee a budget expected to be between $1.5 and $2 million to remove the 50-year-old building.

Saanich council voted unanimously in favour of a rezoning application for a four-storey complex planned for 3200 Linwood Avenue owned by the Baptist Housing Society. The development was first proposed in 2016, with a revised proposal submitted in 2018. The complex will replace Linwood Court, an existing 29-suite walk-up near Mayfair Mall.

A multi-unit Fairfield residential development proposal was recently approved by Victoria council after a public hearing. A rectangular property at 1224 Richardson Street, roughly triple the size of a regular city lot, will become the site of twenty-four homes in three three-level structures. Four designated units will be sold at ten percent below market value.

The University of Victoria has moved $80 million to the RBC Vision Fossil Fuel Free Short Term Bond Fund, focused on reducing carbon intensity of investments in the pool. The university also says it will invest $10 million in a renewable power impact fund that will measure carbon emissions negated by fund investments. Divest UVic is still pushing for the UVic Foundation to divest $40 million from its Long Term Endowment Fund, invested in the fossil fuel industry since March 2020.

Sidney Council unanimously approved up to $100,000 for additional work on the Beacon Wharf project for consulting, engagement and technical investigation as the municipality ponders the future of the aging infrastructure. Four options are being considered for its future: replacement with a rock base; replacement with a piled structure; replacement with a floating structure; and no replacement at all, all with a wide variety of final costs for each.

The City of Victoria is working with BC Hydro to install the city’s first electric vehicle (EV) Direct Current Fast Charger (DCFC) station with two chargers at the south end of Store Street, between Johnson and Pandora, near the Johnson Street Bridge. The stations are expected to be ready for public use by April 2021.

Denny Warner is the new Community Relations and Marketing Manager with Sidney All Care. She had previously been the Executive Director of the Saanich Peninsula Chamber of Commerce since 2014.

The province is offering businesses a $7,500 grant to improve their online presence. The grants come from $12 million Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon says will go out to small and medium-sized businesses across the province on a first-come-first-served basis. To learn more or sign up, visit https://launchonline.ca.

Vancouver’s VSBLTY Groupe Technologies Corp, a leading provider of security and retail marketing technology, is partnering with Victoria innovative retail security and customer experiential technology company, SYNQ, to co-develop a public safety, security solution for Canadian Tire’s third-largest location in Victoria’s Hillside Mall. SYNQ will deploy VSBLTY’s Vector™ software in the Canadian Tire store. The proprietary technology uses AI and machine learning to provide real-time occupancy data, enabling stores to automate functions normally performed manually. The software is already used by over 2,000 retail locations in Canada and the US and has over 1 million users per day.

Author Sylvia Olsen of North Saanich recently received the Delta Kappa Gamma International Woman of Wisdom and Passion Award for British Columbia. The award is in recognition of her long history working in and writing about First Nations housing. Sylvia is a married-in member of the Tsartlip First Nation, and has worked for the National Assembly of First Nations’ Chiefs Committee on Housing and Infrastructure.

The BC government is funding dozens of training opportunities for those interested in the forestry industry on Vancouver Island this year, spending nearly $775,000 to provide two rounds of certification courses and forestry training through Stillwater Consulting. During the roughly five-month program, participants will take part in sixteen weeks of occupational skills training and three weeks of on-the-job work experience with local employers, plus two weeks of job search support. Those interested can sign up at https://www.workbc.ca/Employment-Services/WorkBC-Centres/WorkBC-Centres-Listing.aspx

Victoria-based Aurinia Pharmaceuticals Inc. stock jumped 26.7 percent on the first day of trading since the US Food and Drug Administration approved the company’s drug treatment for lupus nephritis. Aurinia’s stock price (TSX:AUP) closed at $23.91 on February 1st, giving the company a market capitalization of more than $3 billion. The approval of their drug, Lupkynis, means patients in the US were able to begin the new treatment Monday.

The Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has appointed Florence Dick as the representative from the Songhees Nation on its Board of Directors until December 2022, as well as Geoff Dickson as the representative from Destination Greater Victoria until December 2024.

Oak Bay is looking to add a development tracker showing current development applications online, in line with most municipalities in the region. The cost will be around $16,500 in the 2021 budget. The tracker wouldn’t show up until after the spring approval of the financial plan.

The city of Langford announced an application for rezoning of the Western Speedway and its 81 acres has been submitted for 2207 Millstream Road property. Neither city councillors or staff members could confirm the identity of the applicant. According to the application, the goal of the rezoning is to create the development of a business park for a variety of business park, commercial and residential uses.

The new Tandoori Flavour restaurant at the corner of Oak Bay Avenue and Amphion Street is now open for business.

The Very Good Butchers vegan butcher shop is opening a new flagship location in downtown Victoria, featuring a quick service restaurant and retail outlet to accommodate more customers. The new shop is scheduled to open in the 500-block of Chatham Street in May.

More than $345,000 in provincial grant money was awarded to Vancouver Island mental health and addictions service providers to help offset the pressures of COVID-19. In Greater Victoria, Saanich House and Recovery Works each received $25,000. Eleven treatment service providers on Vancouver Island received support ranging from $25,000 to $45,000. The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions’ grant program, designed to support existing bed-based treatment across the province, received fifty-three eligible applications from around BC, and awarded more than $2 million to providers financially challenged by the pandemic.

Sidewalks along O in Sooke could see improvements if a grant application by the municipality is successful.

Sooke council has agreed to apply for a $1.8-million Canada Infrastructure Program’s COVID-19 Resilience Infrastructure grant for sidewalk improvements along Otter Point Road. The proposed project involves constructing sidewalks on the northbound side of Otter Point Road linking Highway 14 to the transportation corridor of Wadams Way and include a separated boulevard for the first 130 metres north from the highway.

David Langlois is new president of the Victoria Real Estate Board, succeeding Sandi-Jo Ayers in the role. David is from Macdonald Realty Victoria and served several years on the business standards committee of the real estate board. The VREB represents 1,400 real estate agents.

A Victoria pilot project run by AVI Health and Community Services providing pharmaceutical drugs to people at risk of dying from a toxic drug supply has received $4 million in federal funding to expand. The funding will allow them to support more people at risk and continue the project for three more years. Funding for the project was set to expire in March.

Phillips Brewing & Malting Beer Shop at 2010 Government in Victoria is open once again, and ready to serve customers. https://phillipsbeer.com

Fifty-one community projects will be funded in Victoria thanks to more than $180,000 in matching funding from the 2020 intake of the City of Victoria’s My Great Neighbourhood Grants. All ideas have been designed to allow neighbours to support each other during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to create inviting, vibrant places for people to get outside. To find out more, visit www.victoria.ca/neighbourhoodgrants.

Victoria’s Maritime Museum of British Columbia is inviting nominations for the 2021 SS Beaver Medals, an award recognizing outstanding achievements in and contributions to BC’s marine sector. The nominations’ deadline is June 4, 2021. Nomination information, forms and due dates are located at mmbc.bc.ca/about-2/s-s-beaver-medal/.

Saanich council has greenlit a five-storey, mixed-use development, voting unanimously in favour of the 53-unit multi-family building with commercial spaces at the ground level for 300 Gorge Road West and 2900 Tillicum Road.

Seagate Pontoons is interested in a public-private partnership with Sidney regarding Beacon Wharf. The committee overseeing the future of the wharf has recommended the municipality invite Seagate Pontoons to submit a formal proposal for a potential partnership to replace the aging wharf. A report noted potential max cost for a floating pontoon structure at $6.5 million, compared to a possible cost of $10 million for a piled structure. It would cost about $2 million to remove the wharf at the end of its useful life, followed by enhancements to the waterfront.

Victoria’s Aral Construction has been awarded Oak Bay’s municipal hall renovation, beating out bids from three competing companies. Its work will be part of a renovation and redesign push for municipal hall’s open office area, stairs, and the offices that Oak Bay Volunteer Services currently occupy.

The City of Victoria is exploring ways to partner with the Downtown Victoria Business Association to maintain the downtown area during the ongoing pandemic.

Victoria Design District mainstay, Sager’s Home Living at 1802 Government Street, is closing for good after fifty years.

The Oak Bay Beach Hotel at 1175 Beach Drive in Victoria is presenting intimate brunches, romantic dinners, at-home offerings and more to Victoria locals this Valentine’s and Family Day long weekend, from February 12th to 15th. For details, call 250-940-0314 or visit http://www.oakbaybeachhotel.com/.

Victoria’s Merchant House Capital Inc., a real estate investment and development company, has announced acquisition of Kinnaird Place, a 61-unit strata-owned residential building located at 65 First Street, in New Westminster’s Downtown community. They intend to operate the building as rental and have entered into a housing agreement with the City of New Westminster to preserve rental agreements for those currently renting in Kinnaird Place. Merchant House proposes to develop a plan with area stakeholders and the City to build a high-rise residential tower on the site at a future date.

Up to thirty eligible British Columbians will get skills and training for jobs as healthcare assistants, recreational co-ordinators and community and personal-support workers via a new Community and Employer Partnership (CEP) project from the BC Government, intended for immigrants. The project will give participants skills and experience necessary to apply for and get good-paying jobs in these fields. The program provides nearly $365,000 to Cambria College Victoria to deliver skills and certification courses in two intakes of its Health Care Assistant Plus diploma program. Those interested can contact their local WorkBC centre.

The City of Colwood is working toward its Waterfront Public Realm Improvement Plan to protect and enhance the city’s shoreline areas. The plan will outline how a multi-use pathway could connect the Lagoon Beach from the Lagoon Bridge to Royal Beach and consider other enhancements and park amenities such as seating, signage, lighting and washrooms. The initiative will also work in collaboration with local First Nations. Murdoch de Greeff Landscape Architects will participate in the project. The plan is expected to be complete within 2021, with improvements to be considered for implementation in the 2022 budget.

Safety upgrades to the dam at Colwood’s Lookout Lake are now complete. The project was completed with funding from the UBCM Community Emergency Preparedness Fund to ensure the dam meets safety standards for a major earthquake.

A collaboration between Island Health, University of Victoria, and University of British Columbia has resulted in Island Health offering lab space at Vancouver General Hospital for groundbreaking research. UBC and UVic provided $1.5 million in equipment grants. The COVID-19 biobank, Island Health’s collaboration with the BC Cancer Agency and other health authorities, received funding from the Victoria Hospitals Foundation and the UBC Faculty of Medicine, with support and expertise from Island Health’s Research Department.

Production of Netflix limited series, Maid, recently filmed in Saanich’s Cadboro-Gyro Park. The series is expected to finish filming in late March. New television show, Scaredy Cats, finished filming in the Victoria area earlier this month.

 Carl Neilson is the new fire chief of East Sooke Fire and Rescue. Rick Moffat, a former chief of the department, will take over as deputy chief, replacing Falk Wagenbach.