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Retail sales growth in B.C.

Retail sales growth in B.C. was the second highest in Canada in 2006, but still way behind Alberta's oil-fuelled growth, according to Statistics Canada. Source.

Business startups soaring, study shows

Business startups have soared by 67 per cent in British Columbia's mainland southwest since 2001, according to an economic study released Thursday. Source.

Worker shortage pushes tourism industry wages higher in B.C.

B.C. tourism industry wages rose by an average of 10 per cent in the past two years -- with outdoor adventure guides topping the list with a 28-per-cent wage hike, according to the industry's human resources association. Source.

$18 million to help disabled

A total of $18 million in contracts has been awarded to three organizations to help disabled workers find jobs through the new Employment Program for Persons with Disabilities, provincial Employment Minister Claude Richmond announced Monday. Source.

Jobless rate will fall to record low next year, OECD says

Canada's jobless rate will fall to a record low next year of six per cent, an international economic think-tank said Tuesday. Source.

School's community-linked trades training gives youth a leg up to better-paying jobs.

Fort St. John, a city in an area with a huge need for qualified tradespeople, is dead serious about solving the problem. And the solution starts right at its local high school. Source.

Canadians find meaning in non-profit

Tired of spinning their wheels in rat-race jobs that lack meaning, more Canadians are shedding the shackles of corporate life to find work in the non-profit sector and the news couldn't come soon enough for thousands of organizations that rely on highly skilled professionals to keep the sector afloat.  More.

Five careers later, he's top of his SFU business class

Bernie Maroney, who notched up a near-perfect grade-point average at Simon Fraser University's Segal School of Business, had this to say about his stellar achievement: "I should have done better."  Source.

Lighten up at work, expert says

Michael Kerr gets paid by big-name companies to give one message to their employees -- don't take work too seriously. Source.

Public service faces job-filling challenge

CALGARY -- Public sector advocacy groups say more needs to be done to attract people and keep them in the public service, especially since the sector's employees are generally older than the Canadian average. Source.