Business in Vancouver - Issue 1459

top 100

Business in Vancouver’s annual inventory of the biggest Canadian and international companies in British Columbia | 27–34

national and global companies In B.C.

145 years of

passion, purpose and progress | rbs.ca

Daily business news K biv.com

October 17–23, 2017 | Issue 1459 | $4.00

Jewellers push Alberni bling fling Chinese luxury brand aiming to gain foothold in North American market via Vancouver’s Alberni Street high-end retail strip | Page 6

LFX Canada’s Alberni Street flagship store plans to mix local art exhibits with its jewelry in an attempt to establish the China-based jeweller’s brand in North America |

enterprise | pages 4–5

innovation | page 10

If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere: British Columbian entrepreneurs thriving in New York City

rob kruyt

small business | pages 19–25 The new free trade deal between Canada and the European Union could pay huge dividends for small businesses in B.C.

Salim Ismail, Yahoo’s ex-chief innovator, rings warning bells in Vancouver over the rising tide of disruptive change ahead

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BIV | Beyond the print

inside energy 8

Top stories at BIV.com

Pipeline precedents

Business in Vancouver’s most-seen online stories for the week ended October 12:

Northern Gateway could have implications for Trans Mountain, Appeal Court hears

retail 9 Stores in store

Global fashion brand Uniqlo set to expand its presence in Vancouver

finance 14

•B.C. home resales to drop 8% next year: RBC forecast www.biv.com/article/2017/10/bchome-resales-drop-8-next-year-rbcforecast/

Business in Vancouver on Global: Tyler Orton on Trudeau’s visit to Mexico amid NAFTA tensions. Plus: Icelandair plans new YVR flights

•Icelandair launches year-round non-stop flights out of Vancouver www.biv.com/article/2017/10/ icelandair-launches-year-round-nonstop-flights-ou/

Data Points Bryan Yu on a contraction in the B.C. labour market in September

List

•Greater Vancouver home sales down 17% year-to-date in September: BCREA www.biv.com/article/2017/10/

28, 30, 32-34 National and global firms in B.C. BIV’s exclusive list, ranked by number of employees in B.C. in 2017

insights 35 Giving shelter

Stream, download or subscribe to the BIV Podcast at biv.com for in-depth analysis of this week’s biggest business stories

greater-vancouver-home-salesdown-17-year-date-sep/ •Investors speculate with new Vancouver office tower www.biv.com/article/2017/10/ investors-speculate-new-vancouveroffice-tower/ •Sears Canada plans to cease operations www.biv.com/article/2017/10/searscanada-plans-cease-operations/ •Is increasing supply worsening Metro Vancouver housing affordability? www.biv.com/article/2017/10/ increasing-supply-has-worsenedhousing-affordabili/

Correction Enrolment at Kwantlen Polytechnic University increased 3.5% between 2013 and 2016. Incorrect information appeared in a bar chart accompanying “Enrolment down at B.C.’s post-secondary schools” (issue 1457; October 3–9).

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FortisBC plans new community solar power project ENERGY | Pilot

initiative in Kelowna would be British Columbia’s third such installation

By Nelson Bennett

People are interested in solar. They might not be able to put a [solar] rooftop up themselves, they may not want to front the cost, or they’re living in an area where it’s not really a good option

nbennett@biv.com

S

olar power may be more expensive, less reliable and less suited to B.C.’s climate than large-scale hydroelectric energy or even wind power, but that hasn’t curbed British Columbians’ appetite for it.

In response to consumer demand, FortisBC is planning to spend $1 million on a community solar pilot power project in Kelowna. If built, it will be the third such solar power installation in B.C. Earlier this year, the energy company applied to the BC Utilities Commission (BCUC) for permission to spend $1 million on a 240-kilowatt solar installation.

While FortisBC will provide the upfront cost of building the Ellison Community Solar Pilot Project, customers will pay for it through a voluntary subscription program.

Fo r t i s BC p r o v i d e s a b o u t 170,000 customers with power in the Okanagan and West Kootenays. Most of the power comes from four hydroelectric dams owned by the company.

W h i le hyd ro faci l it ies a re cheaper to build in B.C. – not to mention more reliable – than solar installations, thanks to an abundance of rivers and lakes, there is a strong consumer demand from customers for solar p ower, sa id For t i sBC commu n icat ion s adv i ser Nicole Bogdanovic.

“We saw some interest from our customers,” Bogdanovic said.

“Even though the majority of power we provide, we feel it’s from a renewable source, they feel that growing this market is important to them.

“People are interested in solar.

They might not be able to put a [solar] rooftop up themselves, they may not want to front the cost, or they’re l iv i ng i n a n area where it’s not really a good option.”

According to the U.S. Energy

[] Nicole Bogdanovic communications adviser, FortisBC

Consumer interest has prompted energy company FortisBC to apply for permission to build a 240-kilowatt solar power installation in Kelowna | Love Silhouette/Shutterstock

Information Administration, hydro power is still cheaper to build than solar power.

Solar has one advantage over hydro and wind, however: it is highly scalable and versatile.

Most homeowners or small communities can’t build hydroelectric dams, but they can install rooftop solar panels or set up small solar farms. The Kanaka Bar Indian Band, for example, recently partnered with Bullfrog Power to build a small, 10-kilowatt solar installation.

The cost of photovoltaic panels has gone down significantly in recent years, and once installed, a private rooftop solar array can save homeowners money on their power bills.

But the upfront costs can be proh ibitive for ma ny homeowners, so FortisBC is offering a co-operative approach, with

customers opting in to help to pay for it through a subscription service.

Customers who sign up for the program will pay $90 a year to “rent” a single solar panel, and will get back a credit for the energy it produces. The credit is estimated to be around $62, so the annual premium for subscribers will be only about $30 per year per panel.

If it gets the green light, it will be the third community solar power project in B.C. The first and largest was the SunMine in Kimberley. The onemegawatt solar installation was built at a cost of $5.3 million and has been producing power for two years, supplying enough electricity to meet the needs of more than 200 homes.

More recent ly, t he City of Nelson also powered up a new

60-kilowatt community “solar garden” that local consumers are subsidizing through a voluntary buy-in program. Under that program, subscribers pay $954 up front for a single panel. They then get credited for the power it produces.

The SunMine was subsidized by the provincial government and Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B), which donated a decommissioned mine site and $2 million.

The province kicked in $1 million through the Innovative Clean Energy fund. The City of Kimberley borrowed $2 million for its share in the project. The SunMine has the potential to expand 200-fold.

“There’s enough space on that brownfield for 200 megawatts,” said Scott Sommerville, Kimberley’s chief administrative officer.

“So we can make it 200 times

bigger than it is now, which is enough power to power the East Kootenays basically, if we had storage.”

Such an expansion would require power purchase agreements from BC Hydro, however, and so far, Kimberley has commitments from BC Hydro for only two megawatts, which would allow for the current SunMine to double in size, from 4,032 panels to 8,000.

The Ellison Community Solar Pilot Project in Kelowna also has the potential to expand, depending on the demand from customers. Bogdanovic said FortisBC plans to start small and test the market before deciding whether to scale up.

“It will allow us to better understand this market and then we can make decisions about the potential to expand this program,” she said.

Should FortisBC get the green light from the BCUC, Bogdanovic said the company would aim to complete the project by the summer or fall of 2018. •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

news

Making it there: Vancouver enterprise | B.C.

in New York Glen Korstrom

Part 2 of 2

M

el issa Kwa n s t a r te d making trips to New York City in 2013 because she was frustrated at how cautious and frugal Vancouver real estate marketing firms were when it came to spending money on new technology.

“The attitude among real estate marketers in Vancouver is protecting what you have,” Kwan told Business in Vancouver between sips of a caffè latte at one of her favourite Manhattan cafés, City Bakery on 18th Street.

The coffee house’s high ceiling allows for an upstairs loft, where patrons sit at counters and peer down to the bustle below.

Kwan knows the Vancouver real estate world well. In the mid2000s, she worked for Aspac Developments and helped market Two Harbour Green.

Her company in 2013, Flat World Apps, had created software that brokers could use as a sales tool because it enabled potential buyers to see virtual floor plans of suites and buildings. Consumers could tap smartphones for closeup views of suites they might buy and to get a better sense of the completed project’s appearance compared with the way it might look in a paper brochure.

Executives at Vancouver’s real estate marketing companies told her that they did not want to take a risk by adding an expense for their clients, she said.

They feared losing that client to crosstown competition.

Ma rketers i n New York, i n contrast, are keen to be noticed, Kwan said. They go big. They spend money to be seen as innovative and cutting-edge.

Kwan found a buyer for her product in the Indian real estate conglomerate DLF. That contract helped finance month-long trips to New York – were it not for cheap accommodation she found on Airbnb, she doubts that her bank account could have sustained all the travel – that were interspersed with stays in Vancouver.

Hard work cold-calling companies in New York landed work for the Trump Organization’s residential marketing division and Citi Habitats.

Kwa n took t he plu nge a nd moved to New York in 2015 with

business people on why a New York presence is

a new company, Spacio, and found clients such as Halstead, Brown Harris Stevens and Corcoran Group. Her software enables realtors to track visitors to open houses and understand how to better allocate marketing budgets.

Kwan’s business partner, Ting Sun, and four employees remain based in Vancouver.

“The only reason we’re even close to being profitable is because our team is based in Vancouver,” the 34-year-old told BIV. “It would not be a sustainable venture if we had to hire in New York City. We would probably have to pay 100% to 150% more in salary for each person,” she said.

Unsettling realities of getting settled in the Big Apple Even those who have achieved tremendous success sometimes can’t help talking about how they used to, say, make long treks on foot because they couldn’t afford the subway.

MuseFind CEO Jennifer Yemu Li Chiang told Business in Vancouver that she never knew what hotel she would be staying in from day to day.

Each day, she would check out of her hotel and go to work. Then she would try to snag a discounted deal later in the evening. Other times, Chiang, who is now 29, said she would shower in a gym that was in her office building.

She would stay late enough to be the last to leave but instead of heading out, she would sleep on a futon in the office’s games room.

Chiang then had to get up early to erase any trace that she had slept at the office.

Another former Vancouverite, Nicole Williams, recalls a similar existence.

“I was living on someone’s couch – a friend’s trundle bed,” said Williams, who graduated from the University of British Columbia and lived in Vancouver for many years before she left the West Coast at age 34 in 2004.

Wi l l ia ms’ Nicole Williams Works is a media company that started with her writing what she describes as “edgy” books for Penguin Group about how to act as a woman in the business world.

Through the years, she created TV shows for Oxygen Media, was a spokeswoman for LinkedIn and has been a regular guest who discusses career issues on the Today show.

“The first two years after coming to New York, basically, I was so poor it wasn’t even funny,” Williams told BIV during a lunch at the Mexican restaurant Dos Caminos, at the corner of Broadway and 47th Street at Times Square.

Williams got her first break in

Melissa Kwan sits upstairs at one of her favourite meeting places: City Bakery in New York’s Flatiron District | Glen Korstrom

Vancouver when local production house Force Four Entertainment produced her first TV show, Making It Big. When that show was sold to a U.S. network there was a glitzy gala that Williams remembers well.

Guests all got into cars to go home after the event. Williams remembers not even hav i ng enough money for a bus, so she had to walk home across a darkened Central Park.

“I thank God for that experience of no money in New York because it helped me learn how to be industrious,” she said.

“When I ended up getting funding, I understood what money was, what I could use it for and how to leverage it. It informed how I ran my business, which was really lean.”

The good news for impoverished newcomers is that New Yorkers are very helpful by nature, according to both Williams and Kwan.

“It is a relationship-driven community, and city, that is extremely hard to break into, but what I’ve discovered is that once you’re in, this is the most helpful and generous city for business that you can be in,” Kwan said.

“People have been in your shoes and they want to help.”

Being in the city is vital, Williams stressed.

After many months of pitching investors for cash, Williams was at Saks Fifth Avenue when she received a phone call from Michael Loeb’s executive assistant.

Loeb had co-founded Synapse Group, which developed and patented a system of negative-option billing for magazine subscriptions, and he sold the venture to Time Inc. for hundreds of millions of dollars in the early 2000s.

Nicole Williams Works principal Nicole Williams walks in Times Square after travelling into the city from her home in the Hamptons | Glen Korstrom

“Can you be here in 10 minutes?” the assistant asked, Williams recalled.

She dropped everything, got in a cab and beelined it to Loeb’s office, knowing that if she did not show up, the opportunity could be gone.

“If I had to get on a flight and fly from Vancouver to New York City, I would have lost that opportunity,” she said.

Loeb initially invested US$1 million to buy 40% of Williams’ company and later purchased a further 15%. He also provided Williams with a fraction of 1% of his own company, Loeb Enterprises – a stake that she says has been more lucrative than her own venture.

Navigating the complexities of U.S. immigration channels Matt Friesen had an easy time getting his first U.S. visa.

The company that he founded with three others, Wantering, acquired Los A ngeles-based

StyledOn in June 2014. The undisclosed investment was significant enough that the U.S. government deemed Friesen eligible for an investor-class E-2 visa, which is normally granted to executives at firms that invest at least US$100,000 in a U.S. company.

Little did Friesen know that the visa would soon go “up in smoke.”

Friesen’s first extended visits to New York City from Vancouver were about a year before the StyledOn acquisition.

He saw Manhattan as the centre for media and fashion and knew it was necessa ry to be there. Wantering was an e-commerce site that enabled visitors to browse and shop at more than 125 fashion retailers from across the web, and Friesen decided that he had to meet fashion industry insiders.

He was helped out financially by being part of the Canadian government’s Canadian Technology Accelerators program.

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

5

entrepreneurs in New York City vital – and how to establish one Before you go Gaining traction in New York can be vital for a company to reach a global audience, but many pillars of support in Canada make Vancouver the ideal place to launch and incubate an enterprise.

E-commerce entrepreneur Matt Friesen told BIV that in addition to using the federal government’s Canadian Technology Accelerators (CTA) program, he also used the Canada Revenue Agency’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) program and the National Research Council’s Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP).

The SR&ED program provides tax credits that can drastically reduce a company’s tax bill whereas IRAP provides advice, grants and access to a network of industry experts.

“If you’re a Canadian-controlled company, you’re eligible for SR&ED, IRAP and the CTA,” he said. “That was key to our structure. Our Canadian corporation owned our U.S. subsidiary. Had I done it the other way around, with the U.S. company owning a Canadian subsidiary, I would not have been eligible for

those programs.”

American investors often feel more comfortable investing in U.S.-based companies, Friesen said, but he was able to make the case that Canadian companies are worth investing in.

“I told them that if they give me US$1 million, it turns into US$2 million when I walk out the door because of the programs.”

Friesen kept an office in Vancouver after he expanded to the U.S. mainly for the tax credits but also because the city has lower labour costs than New York and he finds that workers can be more loyal to their employers, he said.

Software entrepreneur Melissa Kwan, formerly of Vancouver, agreed.

“There’s no better place to start a company than in Canada,” she said.

“There’s SR&ED, IRAP, salaries are reasonable and there’s one thing that you can’t buy: loyalty.”

Manhattan’s non-stop and unrelenting work culture fosters a climate where employees are constantly looking for the next best thing, she said.

“In Vancouver, employees think, ‘Hey, I really love this. This is my life.

How can I contribute?’” she said.

“The flip side, though, is that you have people who don’t want to work overtime or don’t want to work weekends, but salaries reflect that.”

Entrepreneurs might also want to check out the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade’s new Trade Accelerator Program, which is an intensive set of workshops where experts in the export sector mentor participants during a four-to-five-week period and help the entrepreneurs draft an export plan.

Consulates are another place entrepreneurs can turn to when expanding from Vancouver into the U.S. The Canadian consulate in New York provides advice and connections while also holding some events that entrepreneurs might find valuable for networking.

The U.S. consulate in Vancouver is also keen to help.

“Whether a Canadian company seeks to build a new plant or open a new sales office, we have the resources to connect them to key partners in every city, state and region of the United States,” said Katherine Dhanani, who last month became the U.S. consul general for B.C. and Yukon.

– Glen Korstrom

That initiative provided subsidized office space and helped entrepreneurs find investors and other business opportunities.

Wantering had been expanding rapidly in B.C. since its 2011 launch, thanks to help from the GrowLab Ventures Inc. accelerator program, angel investors

such as Mike Edwards and financing from venture capitalists at firms such as Yaletown Venture Partners.

Finally, in late 2015, Who What Wear parent Clique Media Group made Friesen and his partners a n of fer to b uy Wa nter i n g.

They deemed the deal too good

to refuse, though terms remain confidential.

Friesen’s visa was tied to Wantering, so it was revoked when his involvement with the company ended.

“There is a window after that happens a nd you’re a l lowed to stay in the country,” said

Technology Advisory

Data Dynamics

Friesen, who is now 38. “I took advantage of that for, let’s say, half a year. There’s some grey area around how long that is but what’s important is that you’re on a track to try to get a new visa.”

Friesen worked with lawyers and was able to stay in the U.S. by creating Into the Awesome, a U.S.-based shell company, and injecting a “significant” enough amount of money into it to qualify for a new E-2 visa.

Williams, in contrast, went through a different process to get her O-1 visa, which goes to people who have an extraordinary ability in science, art, education, business or athletics.

“You’re literally proving that you’re bringing talent to the U.S. that would not otherwise be here,” she said. “You have to have letters of recommendation. I had to prove my book contract and TV contract. I’m a permanent resident now, but it was very hard.”

Vancouver-based immigration lawyer and Dorsey & Whitney LLP partner Jeffrey Peterson told BIV that the immigration system is challenging for solo entrepreneurs and those who have small home-based businesses.

Peterson said that a commonly used visa class is L-1, which requires, among other things, maintaining an established Canadian workforce and establishing a U.S. workforce.

“The larger and more established the business is in Canada, generally the easier it is to transfer employees to the U.S.,” he

Matt Friesen, who sold his first venture, Wantering, for a significant sum, secured an investor-class visa to enter the U.S. | submitted

said. “Startups and sole proprietorships often can’t qualify or struggle to prove they qualify.”

When Kwan decided in 2015 to stop her frequent visits to Manhattan and to make the city a home, she was able to make the immigration leap because she was born in Houston and was a U.S. citizen, albeit one that had not lived in that country for very long.

Entrepreneurs who make repeated trips to New York and are not up front about why they are frequenting the city may run into trouble, Peterson said.

“The last thing one wants to do is commit criminal immigration fraud by lying about the reason one’s going to the U.S.,” he said.

“If it is a business trip and one says otherwise, they might not be going to the U.S. for many years.” •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

LFX’s arranged marriage: western art and Asian jewelry retail | Top Chinese jewelry brand sees local art as key to broaden North American consumer appeal

By Chuck Chiang cchiang@biv.com

I

n the past decade, luxury retailers in Metro Vancouver and other western urban centres have increasingly introduced Chinese themes, culture and events into stores to lure the rapidly growing upscale consumers from China.

But now the reverse – a traditional Chinese luxury brand looking to establish itself as a global brand through engaging western haute couture – looms on the horizon, as Vancouver’s Lao Feng Xiang Jewelry (LFX) Canada launches a western art exhibit this month to draw more mainstream attention.

The exhibition is made up of 16 paintings by 10 local artists at Vancouver’s ROAM Gallery, whose work will be shown in jewelry display cases at LFX Canada’s flagship store on Alberni Street through October. The artwork, officials say, could help to broaden the appeal of the LFX brand beyond its heavily Chinese-focused clientele. Established in Shanghai in 1848, LFX is one of China’s oldest jewelry makers.

“We have a very Chinese name, and we have very traditional Chinese jewelry,” said Katherine Xu, vice-president of LFX Jewelry Canada. “But a lot of people don’t see that we also have a lot of diamond, pearl and coloured-stone collections that are designed for the international market. So I hope this opportunity will bring people to see how these items – displayed in front of western paintings – interplay with global styles and elements.”

LFX, ranked by market research group Deloitte as the world’s 13th-largest luxury-goods company in 2017, is usually strongest in traditional Chinese jewelry items made with gold or jade.

Retail analyst Craig Patterson said that LFX’s strategy of using western art to broaden its branding hasn’t been seen previously

An exhibition of 16 paintings by 10 local artists at Vancouver’s ROAM Gallery will be shown in jewelry display cases at LFX Canada’s flagship store on Alberni Street through October | Rob Kruyt

Expanding into art could be a brilliant move on the part of LFX

[] Craig Patterson Ppresident and CEO, Retail Insider Media

in Canada’s luxury retail sector, although variety retailer Miniso – which opened its first Canadian store in Vancouver in April – markets itself as a “Japanese lifestyle brand” despite being headquartered in Guangzhou, China.

Patterson, president and CEO of Retail Insider Media Ltd. and editor-in-chief of the company’s industry publication, added that LFX’s choice of artwork fits the market the company is trying to

attract, because the demographic for art and jewelry buyers often crosses cultural lines and overlaps in income, spending power and consumption habits.

“Expanding into art could be a brilliant move on the part of LFX – they’re a trusted jeweller, and jewelry can translate into art,” Patterson said. “And the retailer’s clients may be high-income and art collectors as well, so it’s winwin.… Expanding into actual art certainly isn’t a stretch and might be very strategic if LFX already has an affluent client base.”

Xu said that similarity in customer profile between art and jewelry was why her company decided to pursue an exhibit.

“We’ve found that a lot of our clients, when looking at our jewelry, really appreciate the designs and the craftsmanship behind the work. And because we have a long history – five generations of artisans involved in jewelry craftsmanship – there are always stories coming behind

each piece of jewelry. That’s very similar to art appreciation.”

Luxury brands have been experimenting with moving beyond their core product in several cases. Ca r m a ker MercedesBenz, for example, sells branded clothing in some automobile showrooms.

But LFX representatives noted that the choice of featuring new, local artists comes from the Little Black Dress Gala, a charity fashion-art event scheduled for October 20 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver that focuses on supporting local youth and women.

Jessica Lamirande, marketing supervisor for LFX Canada, said her involvement in the event introduced her to ROAM Gallery owner Jennifer Angers Daerendinger, who agreed that a co-operation with LFX would benefit both parties.

“We wanted to do something unique for the community in October, and we believe this is a chance for local artists to

showcase their art to a more diverse group of people,” Lamirande said. “We are on Alberni Street, and it’s a fantastic location for that.”

Xu added that Alberni Street, being close to some of the city’s most prestigious hotels, makes it even more crucial for LFX to step beyond its traditional client demographic.

“Absolutely,” Xu said when asked about the company’s desire to reach the neighbourhood’s high concentration of non-Chinese tourists. “Vancouver is a major tourism hub, and people like to see many unique, different things in the city. Some may be hesitant to come to our store because they think the price points are too high. We hope that this makes for a more accessible, easily appreciable experience for those customers.”

She added that, depending on the current event’s success, additional art exhibits might be planned. •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

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Did the NEB miss the boat on Trans Mountain? energy | Northern Gateway could have implications for Kinder Morgan pipeline project: Appeal Court

By Nelson Bennett nbennett@biv.com

W

hen Enbridge ( T S X : ENB) v o l u nteered to improve oil tanker safety measures for its doomed Northern Gateway pipeline project, it might have set a precedent of expectations – and obligations – for the Kinder Morgan Canada (TSX:KML) Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

The spectre of one pipeline project setting a precedent, and adding regulatory scope, for another was raised by a Federal Court of Appeal judge last week.

Five First Nations, two environmental organizations and the cities of Burnaby and Vancouver are part of a consolidated appeal of the federal government’s approval of the $7.4 billion pipeline expansion project.

In an eight-day hearing that bega n October 2, t hey have argued that the National Energy Board (NEB) failed to properly consider the environmental impacts of increased oil tanker traffic, contrary to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA).

The expanded pipeline would increase monthly oil tanker traffic through Burrard Inlet to 34 from five. Environmental groups have raised concerns that noise from that increase could have a deleterious impact on resident southern killer whales.

But K inder Morgan Canada neither owns nor controls oil tankers. Nor is the NEB responsible for marine shipping, which is regulated by Transport Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Canada Shipping Act. In both the Northern Gateway and Trans Mountain environmental reviews, the NEB restricted its scope to the pipeline and terminal operations.

But in Northern Gateway’s case, a voluntary commitment became obligatory when Enbridge agreed to go above and beyond what was

required. It also agreed to additional marine shipping safety measures.

A joi nt NEB a nd Env ironment Canada review panel took those voluntary commitments and made them part of the 209 conditions when the project was approved.

The question now is whether the NEB should have taken that as a template for the Trans Mountain expansion project and included marine shipping as part of its environmental review of the expansion project.

During Trans Mountain’s October 10 submissions, Justice Eleanor Dawson said the NEB had been “far more proactive” on the tanker traffic issue in the Northern Gateway pipeline project than it had been on the Trans Mountain expansion.

“We have the board declining jurisdiction and relying, at least in part, on its inability to impose conditions and on the fact Trans Mountain didn’t own the tankers,” Dawson said of the NEB’s assessment of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

And yet, as she pointed out, in the Northern Gateway case, the NEB, as part of the joint review panel, agreed to conditions that were supposedly outside its scope when the joint review panel decided to make Enbridge’s voluntary commitments actual conditions.

“The point is: to what extent is the position of the NEB in that project relevant to the marine shipping issues that are raised in this case?” Dawson asked.

Trans Mountain’s lawyer, Maureen Killoran, answered that the scoping of the two reviews were different.

Whereas the joint review panel was just that – a joint process involving the NEB and Environment Canada – the NEB alone was responsible for the Trans Mountain expansion environmental assessment, thanks to a streamlining of the CEAA in 2012

that allowed a single regulatory body to conduct environmental reviews.

“The scoping at that point, when [the] joint review panel was populated by other government [responsible authorities], that scoping may have made more sense in that setting,” Killoran said.

But Dawson concluded by suggesting the NEB did have the discretion to consider marine shipping as “incidental” to the pipeline project.

The Appeal Court also took up a point raised by the City of Burnaby, which questioned why, as part of its assessment, the NEB never considered alternative routes and terminus locations to the one chosen by K inder Morgan.

It has been suggested, for example, that, as part of the review, alternative sites for a terminus – including Kitimat and Roberts Bank – should have at least been considered as part of the environmental assessment.

It has been argued that, because it is less densely populated than Burnaby, Delta’s Roberts Bank might be a better location for a marine terminal.

Although alternatives were not considered as part of the NEB review, Killoran said the company did explore Roberts Bank as an alternative, although the study it did was not part of the application or NEB review.

Killoran said a study of the Roberts Bank option determined that it would require a new marine terminal to be built (in addition to the existing Westridge Marine Terminal), 100 acres of land, a seven-kilometre trestle and 14 kilometres of additional pipeline – all of which would have added $1.2 billion to the project’s cost.

The study also identified issues over Tsawwassen First Nation treaty rights and environmental impacts. Ultimately, the company determined that option wasn’t economically feasible. •

Canada learned from mistakes, court hears In approving a $7.4 billion expansion to the Trans Mountain pipeline, the Government of Canada did not repeat the mistakes it made in approving the Northern Gateway pipeline, the Federal Court of Appeal heard October 12.

In opening arguments, Jan Brongers, lead counsel for the Attorney General of Canada, said the consultation process for Trans Mountain differed from the Northern Gateway process in six critical ways.

Two years ago, the same court that is now hearing the Trans Mountain appeal heard the Gitxaala vs. Canada case, which resulted in the court quashing Northern Gateway’s approval because of flawed First Nations consultations.

Even before that ruling came down, government officials took steps to close some of those gaps in the Trans Mountain process, including granting a four-month extension to allow for “deeper and more meaningful consultation” with affected First Nations.

“This additional time permitted not only deeper consultations with impacted First Nations, but also afforded time for additional information-gathering exercises,” Brongers said.

Those exercises included an upstream greenhouse gas assessment report for the pipeline twinning project and a report from a special ministerial panel, which was struck to get feedback from First Nations and the general public on the National Energy Board (NEB) final report on the expansion.

“Nothing similar to those initiatives had been done in Northern Gateway,” Brongers said.

And whereas the Crown failed to share strength-of-claim assessments with First Nations in Northern Gateway, Brongers said those assessments were shared

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in Trans Mountain. These assessments offer legal opinions on the strength of the claim that a First Nation might have with respect to its rights and title, should it try to assert those rights in court.

And whereas in Northern Gateway Crown officials were found to be mere note-takers who did not propose any recommendations to the governor-in-council (GIC) to address First Nations concerns, in Trans Mountain Brongers said cabinet ministers who made up the GIC “were directly implicated in the consultation.”

They received recommendations outside of the NEB certificate for additional accommodation and implemented them, including the creation of the Indigenous Advisory and Monitoring Committee and the $1.5 billion Oceans Protection Plan.

Individualized appendices were also provided to the GIC for each First Nation to avoid the problem of “generic” consultations that characterized the Northern Gateway consultations.

“In Trans Mountain, the direct consultation was by no means generic,” he said.

Brongers added that, in addition to the NEB’s recommendations and conditions, the GIC would have had additional government actions before them that were not available in Northern Gateway.

Notably, the Trans Mountain expansion required an upstream greenhouse gas assessment.

While acknowledging the Trans Mountain twinning project to be “politically controversial,” Brongers said, it was preferable to the alternatives: moving oil by rail or building a new pipeline.

Court officials say the seven-day Federal Appeal Court hearing was the longest ever. Arguments were scheduled to conclude October 13.

– Nelson Bennett

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news

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

9

Uniqlo sets its sights on Metro Vancouver expansion RETAIL | Additional

By Glen Korstrom gkorstrom@biv.com

J

apanese fashion brand Uniqlo opened its first B.C. location October 6 at Metropolis at Metrotown and is seeking space in downtown Vancouver for a second Metro Vancouver location, the company’s CEO, Tadashi Yanai, told Business in Vancouver during an exclusive interview October 5.

Yanai said he wanted to open his company’s first Canadian store in downtown Vancouver, but Uniqlo operatives could not find appropriate space for the right price, so they opened the 20,630-squarefoot store in Burnaby.

Finding reasonably priced space in a good location was easier in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), he said, so Uniqlo opened two outlets in the GTA last fall: a 33,400-square-foot store at CF Toronto Eaton Centre in September 2016 and a 30,000-squarefoot store at Metro Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre a month later.

And while all Canadian openings so far have been in malls, Yanai said future stores could be on streets.

“Definitely, I prefer a streetfront [store] in downtown,” he

outlets for global fashion retailer to follow opening of first B.C. store this month said. “That’s my preference.”

Uniqlo was rumoured more than a year ago to be interested in taking a large space on Robson Street’s north side between Thurlow and Burrard streets, but nothing materialized.

Yanai said his company is open to locating stores in spaces where lease rates are low and the store’s presence changes the character of a neighbourhood – a site such as the former Empire Granville 7 cinema complex at 855 Granville Street.

“That could be a good idea,” Yanai said of locating on Granville Street. “Because, if we’re paying the right rent, the fair rent for the downtown, it’s very difficult to make both ends meet.”

He sa id Un iqlo last month opened in a historic building in Lyon, France, partly because of municipal government encouragement and an attractive lease rate.

Retail Insider Media Inc. owner and analyst Craig Patterson said it would be a “game-changer” were Uniqlo to locate on Granville Street because the chain’s presence would draw in other established retailers that would want to be nearby.

Still, he does not think it would be a good move for Uniqlo unless

Uniqlo founder and CEO Tadashi Yanai visited Vancouver for the first time in early October and opened his company’s first B.C. store, at Metropolis at Metrotown | Glen Korstrom

it signs a lease that guarantees low rent for a lengthy period.

Otherwise, lease rates could rise and the only beneficiary would be landlord Terrma GP I Inc. On the flip side, Yanai said he is

also open to paying a substantial lease rate to be in the most prominent space available.

“It happens and it makes sense, particularly in places such as Paris, New York and London,”

he said of opening a store that he knows will lose money but acts as a billboard for the brand.

“In these three cities, having a primary location and presence is a must to globalize your brand.”

While the average Uniqlo store is between 10,000 and 22,000 square feet, the company is willing to go big.

Its Manhattan flagship store at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street is 89,000 square feet, while its two-year-old Chicago flagship store is 60,000 square feet.

Regard less of when Un iqlo opens in downtown Vancouver, Yanai said that his brand may also locate in suburbs in the future.

That could mean a store at the long-delayed McArthurGlen Designer Outlet Vancouver Airport Phase 2.

T he 2 40,000-squ a re-foot mall opened in mid-2015, and there were plans at the time for a 140,000-square-foot expansion to open this year. Phase 2 construction, however, has yet to start.

M a l l s s u c h a s B re n t wo o d Town Centre have Sears stores that are slated to close as part of that company’s dissolution, but Uniqlo already has a Burnaby location. •

10

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

news

Technology | Ottawa shortlists B.C. partnership backed by Telus for ‘supercluster’ strategy $950m Amount of funding slated by Ottawa for its so-called technology supercluster strategy, aimed at creating public-private partnerships in regions with extensive business activity that would allow for collaboration between companies and post-secondary institutions

1 Number of bids from B.C. shortlisted by the federal government for the strategy. The B.C. bid is from a partnership backed by Telus Corp.

(TSX: T), Microsoft Canada Development Centre and a half-dozen post-secondary institutions

9 Total number of bids shortlisted by the federal government 5 Maximum number of proposals Ottawa says it will consider when allocating the funding

>50 Number of separate bids for involvement in the supercluster strategy SOURCE: biv

Warning! Disruption ahead: Yahoo’s ex-chief innovator INNOVATION | Author

Salim Ismail advises businesses to take small steps to adapt to major changes

By TYLER ORTON

Highlights from Ismail’s keynote address

TORTON@BIV.COM

C

anadian serial entrepreneur Salim Ismail is the former chief innovation officer at Yahoo, the co-author of Exponential Organizations and the founding executive director of the Singularity University think tank.

He was in Richmond October 3 where he delivered a keynote address at the Edge Summit, presented by MacKay CEO Forums.

Ismail discussed how businesses and organizations are struggling to keep up with drastic changes brought on by advances in technology.

Before h is key note, Isma i l spoke to Business in Vancouver on Roundhouse Radio 98.3 FM. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Q&A Q: We don’t think too much exponentially. We tend to think in a much more linear, incremental way. What does exponential change involve, do you think?

A: The basis of it is that all of our education and training and intuition about the world teaches us linear extrapolation. If I say, “Hey, go 30 metres,” it’s very easy to predict where that is and it’s very easy to predict step by step what a third or two-thirds looks like. But if I say, “Take 30 exponential doubling steps – two, four, eight, 16, etc.,” at step 30 I’ve actually gone a billion metres, which is a little bit further than the 30 metres. It’s very hard to gauge whether it’s one-third or two-thirds of the way. Cognitively, our brains do not get these patterns very well.

How large organizations should adapt to exponential change

Author Salim Ismail tells CEOs at the Edge Summit in Richmond that they’re putting their companies at risk if they try to completely transform their businesses | Submitted

Q: Do organizations get these patterns very well? What happens when you bring in a lot of disruptive change to a large organization?

A: Well, pretty uniformly, if you try that, the immune system of the organization will attack, right?

Because all of our organizations are built to resist change and withstand risk. Dealing with that has now become, I think, the central problem facing businesses today.

Q: So how do you lead them to water and make them drink?

A: When I wrote the book, we actually came up with a set of constructs that people should go after. The primary is to educate the leadership that we are in this kind of new world.

We’ve been doing a lot of that at Singularity University. Recently,

“If you try and do a big business transformation exercise, you risk your company. We suggest strongly, do incremental change in the mother ship. Do disruptive change at the edge, pointing away.… I will argue that Apple’s core innovation is organization.

What they do unlike anybody else in the world is they will form a small team that’s really disruptive, they’ll take it to the edge of the organization, they’ll keep them completely stealth and they’ll say, ‘Go disrupt another industry.’ But nobody does this. So they started with music and then phones and then tablets, and now payments, retail, cars, watches, health care.

There’s no limit to their market cap.

They keep knocking over industry after industry.”

How self-driving cars will impact real estate “Once you have about a 20% of penetration of autonomous

we’ve actually devised a process, that takes about 10 weeks, that actually solves that immune system problem.

Q: Is it, to your earlier point, that companies have to confront their own discomfort about change initially in order to have any opportunity at all to think in the way that you’re proposing?

A: Yes, absolutely. No. 1 is to recognize that you’re operating in a null state. David Rose, one of

cars, we’ll see an increase of road capacity of between 10 and 15 times. Not per cent: times. Because these cars don’t need to park, they don’t have accidents, and they don’t need a big gap between other cars.

Think about real estate values.… real estate values globally spike in the big cities because they’re so hard to get in and out of. When it’s 10 times easier to get in or out of a city, what happens to real estate? We’ll light up the suburbs [and] downtown real estate prices will depress pretty dramatically.”

On blockchain, the technology backing cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin “This is the most disruptive technology I’ve ever seen.… There’s lots of areas where you have thirdparty ratification of services and they will all dissolve. Retail banking is essentially just a centralized ledger that we trust our life savings to that authentication that the bank knows I deposited $1,000.… If we decentralize the authentication, I don’t need the retail bank. I give retail banking about 10 years and then it’s gone.”

our faculty, makes this dramatic point. He says, “Any company designed for success in the 20th century is doomed for failure in the 21st.”

Q: Which industry do you think has itself in a better place than others?

A: There’s a couple that are safer like health care or financial services because of regulatory aspects, and that slows down the metabolism. That will work in the

Do incremental change in the mother ship. Do disruptive change at the edge, pointing away

[] Salim Ismail Co-Author, Exponential Change

short to medium term. It doesn’t work for the long term.

Q: No, because it’s a form of protectionism, isn’t it?

A: It is, in fact, a form of protectionism. What people typically do is erect those regulatory barriers so it’s harder for startups to get going or new drugs to be discovered, etc. But as time goes by, let’s say health care, as we get medical tourism and so on, that will start to disseminate.

Q: Are we going to then experience a situation where what we might now perceive as chaos or real disruption becomes the new normal?

A: I think it’s happening already and you can see it in the world of politics today. Even though the world is in a better place than you’ve ever seen it and we’re kind of dramatically moving at high speed towards an abundance of energy, health care, education, clean water globally, the politics of the world is literally going in the other direction. •

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12

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

news

REAL ESTATE

Proposed mortgage rules harmful for homebuyers: Fraser Institute A proposed measure by Canada’s Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions intended to reduce mortgage defaults is drawing criticism from the Fraser Institute.

The new rules would require all homeowners – even those who have down payments of 20% or higher and do not require mortgage insurance – to qualify for a mortgage rate two percentage points higher than the rate they are applying for.

According to the institute, there is no need

for this, and it will do nothing but hurt homebuyers.

“This proposed stress test for financially sound homebuyers is unnecessary and will do more harm than good,” study author and public policy consultant Neil Mohindra said. “Canadian homebuyers will pay the price.”

Some of the risks include higher loan pricing and reduced mortgage access. As well, competition could suffer.

The Fraser Institute said the rules were

developed in part in response to the 2008 recession; the crisis led to new international standards being developed as a

response to weak underwriting practices in the U.S. “Arrears data indicate that underwriting standards in Canada have consistently remained strong,” Mohindra wrote.

“For uninsured mortgages, the homeowner’s equity provides significant protection to the lender against loss.”

The report argues that financial institutions already have in place the ability to prescribe a combination of underwriting criteria to minimize risk.

transportation

outlook

Icelandair launches year-round non-stop flights out of YVR

B.C. home resales to drop 8% next year: RBC forecast

With Vancouver International Airport (YVR) on track this year to notch a record tally for annual passengers and better last year’s 22.3-million high-water mark, much attention has focused on new airlines flying out of the airport.

Beijing Capital Airlines and Hong Kong Airlines, for example, launched service to YVR in the past year while Flair Airlines is readying to launch flights in December.

Part of what’s driving the increased passenger count at YVR, however, is traffic from airlines that now operate year-round.

Icelandair, this month, is launching its the first full fall-and-winter season of flights out of YVR.

Canada’s housing market is in a cooling phase, according to RBC’s Canadian Housing Market Forecast Update released October 11, and home resales across British Columbia are expected to drop this year and next.

Higher borrowing rates will contribute to a predicted 8% decline in home resales across the province next year after a total anticipated 9.8% drop this year.

“Our view is that the B.C. market will be particularly sensitive to higher borrowing rates, as they will take a further toll on already-strained housing affordability in markets such as Vancouver and Victoria,” the report said.

“Policy measures – including a 15%

The Reykjavik-based carrier launched flights to Vancouver in May 2014 and flew twice per week on a seasonal basis.

That increased to four times per week during the peak May-through-October period, and for the first time the airline will operate two flights per week during the slower October-through-May period.

Flights are scheduled to ramp up to four flights per week again in May, said Boston-based Michael Raucheisen, who heads Icelandair’s public relations in North America.

“It looks like it’s going very well in Vancouver, so we’re excited to start year-round flights,” he told Business in Vancouver.

tax on purchases by foreign nationals in Metro Vancouver – implemented last year contributed to cool activity markedly in the province in 2017.”

Despite the drop in unit sales, prices are forecast to increase in both 2017 (up 6.5% to a provincial average of $763,200) and 2018 (up 5% to $801,100). The growth will be driven by “surprisingly tight” demand across B.C. “Policy measures also promoted many would-be sellers to hold off listing their properties for sale earlier this year,” the report said. “Nonetheless, we expect gradual erosion in those market conditions, which will temper price increases next year.”

K biv.com Go online to read these stories in full, along with much more business news updated daily at biv.com.

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14

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

finance

Data Points Bryan Yu

L

abour market momentum slipped in September with estimated B.C. employment falling by 6,700 persons or 0.3% from August. Employment has eased over the last three months, pointing to weaker hiring.

Nonetheless, year-over-year growth in B.C. was strongest in the country by far at 3.6% compared with a national reading of 1.8%.

September’s employment pullback reflected a decline in part-time positions that offset a rebound in full-time growth.

Half of the 16 industry groups added jobs, but net losses were concentrated in construction and agriculture, as well as in the professional/tech and information and culture service sectors. September’s dip came outside the Vancouver census metropolis area.

With strong hiring patterns, labour supply is increasingly an issue. The unemployment rate, at 4.9%, was the lowest since September 2008 and was posted at a time of high labour force participation and employment-to-workingage population rates. This could be keeping employers from finding an appropriately skilled workforce, while also contributing to higher wages.

A decline in net interprovincial migrants to B.C. due to strengthening economic

conditions in other provinces is not helping matters. Shortterm labour constraints could affect growth, and expedite a rotation to productivityenhancing technology.

A softer employment picture is forecast for the rest of the year, holding growth to about 3.5%. Employment growth is expected to fall to 1.9% in 2018.

The Lower Mainland and Victoria housing markets, meanwhile, remained highly active in September. While a strong economy and tight market conditions underpinned sales, recent interest rate hikes and prospects of further tightening in residential mortgage policy later this year likely led some buyers to speed up their purchases to lock in preapproved rates.

Multiple Listing Service sales in the Lower Mainland rose 25% year-over-year in September, up from 18% in August.

While primarily reflecting a drop in sales a year ago after enactment of the foreign-buyer tax, seasonally adjusted sales climbed from August. The sales-to-active-listings ratio, already entrenched in a seller’s market, rose.

Divergence between a nearrecord sales pace and strong seller’s-market conditions in the multi-family market and a weaker detached market have reflected ongoing effects of the foreign-buyer tax on higher-priced homes. The benchmark home price index rose 24% year-over-year for apartments, 15.5% for townhomes and 6% for detached homes.

Upward price momentum will likely continue into 2018. • Bryan Yu is deputy chief economist at Central 1 Credit Union.

Crossroads Hospice 24th ANNUAL Fundraising Gala

D 27%

Pretium Resources (TSX:PVG) weekly price gain

B.C. jobs growth is tops in canada

Despite being comparatively strong, job growth in B.C. slipped in September

Year-over-year employment growth in B.C. was 3.6% in September – double that of the 1.8% Canada-wide rate At 4.9%, B.C.’s September jobless rate was the lowest since September 2008 9

8

7 Per cent

B.C. labour market stumbles in September

D 41%

Corvus Gold (TSX:KOR) weekly price gain

6

5

4

3 2005

2008

2011

2014

2017

Unemployment rate SourceS: statistics canada, central 1 credit union

Rawpixel.com/SHUTTERSTOCK

Saturday NOVEMBER 25 2017 {doors open at 6:00pm} Hard Rock casino Theatre – 2080 United Blvd. Coquitlam

Tickets $125 • 604.945.0606 • www.treasuresofchristmas.ca Magical Giving Trees • Dinner with Wine Live Entertainment • Dancing • complimentary Valet Parking

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2017-07-28 3:56 PM

finance Redhawk Resources (TSX:RDK) weekly price gain

D 25%

Freegold Ventures (TSX:FVL) weekly price drop

F 19%

Burcon Nutrascience (TSX:BU) weekly price drop

A real estate Tale of two cities

edgar bullon/SHUTTERSTOCK

Metro Vancouver home sales and prices are up; Victoria home sales and prices are back down to August levels

But the soaring year-over-year price increases for detached homes in 2016 and early 2017 have subsided Year-over-year price change, dollars

$400,000 350,000 300,000 250,000

150,000 100,000 50,000 2015

2016

2017

Apartment

Townhome SourceS: REBGV, FVREB, central 1 credit union

Value of Victoria homes 2011 through 2014 dipped slightly but has risen ever since

Apartments have been the capital city market’s best-performing residential real estate class in the past year

Year-over-year per cent change

30 25 20 15

5 0 -5 2011

2012 Detached

2013

2014 Apartment

2015

2016

2017

Townhome SourceS: VREB, CREA, Central 1 Credit union

15

F 7%

INSIDERTRADING The following is a list of stock trades made by corporate executives, directors and other company insiders of B.C.’s public companies filed in the week ended October 11, 2017. The information comes from a compilation of required reports filed with the BC Securities Commission obtained from DisclosureNet.com.

officer Company: Global Blockchain Technologies Corp. (TSX:BLOC) Shares owned: 7,000 Trade date: October 5, 6 Trade total: $101,340 Trade: Sale of 47,000 shares at prices ranging between $2.07 and $2.25 per share

Insider Jason Ronald Bradley Dyck, director Company: Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX:ACB) Shares owned: 1,889,215 Trade date: October 5 Trade total: $652,500 Trade: Sale of 217,500 shares at a price of $3 per share

Insider Zachary R. George, director Company: Trez Capital Mortgage Investment Corp. (TSX:TZZ) Shares owned: 464,664 Trade date: October 5, 6 Trade total: $90,590 Trade: Acquisition of 18,200 shares at prices ranging between $4.95 and $5 per share

Insider John Edward Robins, director Company: Northern Empire Resources Corp. (TSX:NM) Shares owned: 667,555 Trade date: October 5, 10 Trade total: $119,640 Trade: Acquisition of 148,000 shares at prices ranging between $0.80 and $0.83 per share Insider Desmond Griffin, 10% owner Company: Glance Technologies Inc. (TSX:GET) Shares owned: 14,824,332 Trade date: October 5 Trade total: $107,365 Trade: Sale of 100,500 shares at prices ranging between $1.02 and $1.08 per share

10

-10 2010

Canadian Zinc (TSX:CZN) weekly price drop

Insider Gregory Yuel, director Company: Titanstar Properties Inc. (TSX:TSP) Shares owned: 7,460,543 Trade date: October 5 Trade total: $159,960 Trade: Sale of 3,999,000 shares at a price of $0.04 per share

200,000

Detached

October 17–23, 2017

Insider Pierre Lassonde, 10% owner Company: Orla Mining Ltd. (TSX:OLA) Shares owned: 17,068,000 Trade date: October 6 Trade total: $245,237 Trade: Acquisition of 193,100 shares at a price of $1.27 per share

Metro Vancouver homeowners continue to accrue capital gains on the value of their properties

2014

F 11%

BUSINESSVANCOUVER

Insider Chester Shynkaryk,

Insider Jonathan Charles Timothy Awde, director Company: Gold Standards Ventures Corp. (TSX:GSV) Shares owned: 880,400 Trade date: October 5, 6 Trade total: $83,450 Trade: Acquisition of 40,000 shares at prices ranging between $2.06 and $2.10 per share Insider Robert Jacob Van Santen, director Company: Valens Groworks Corp.

(TSX:VGW) Shares owned: 2,837,734 Trade date: October 6, 10 Trade total: $78,300 Trade: Sale of 65,500 shares at a price of $1.16 per share Insider Logan Bruce Anderson, director Company: International Battery Metals Ltd. (TSX:IBAT) Shares owned: 35,000 Trade date: October 6 Trade total: $60,500 Trade: Sale of 50,000 shares at a price of $1.21 per share Insider Lloyd I. Miller III, 10% owner Company: Southern Arc Minerals Inc. (TSX:SA) Shares owned: 986,900 Trade date: October 5, 6 Trade total: $57,065 Trade: Acquisition of 98,500 shares at prices ranging between $0.57 and $0.58 per share •

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16

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

realestate New city office tower started; B.C. resort properties upgraded

real estate roundup Peter Mitham

Towering symbolism A symbolic demolition took place in downtown Vancouver last week as GWL Realty Advisors Inc. launched the newest addition to the next wave of office development at 753 Seymour Street.

GWL president Paul Finkbeiner and Stephen Taylor, vice-president, real estate, with Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan, as well as acting mayor Raymond Louie, joined forces to “symbolically demolish” an extract from the wall of the parkade that sits on the site of Vancouver Centre 2, a 33-storey office tower set to complete – not symbolically – in 2021.

The tower will address the realities of the Vancouver

office market with approximately 371,000 square feet of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum-certified space that also aims for LEED’s cousin WELL, a certification of building health. GWL says the combination of standards promises to make the tower “one of the healthiest and most sustainable buildings in the city.”

While acting mayor Louie wielded the symbolic hammer, Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a press release for the event, as he did at the groundbreaking for 475 Howe Street, that 753 Seymour is “sure to be a new hub” for Vancouver’s tech sector as it facilitates “green economic growth.”

The tower has yet to sign an anchor tenant, but GWL believes market conditions – specifically, “heightened demand for office space in the downtown core” – support speculative construction.

Colliers International pegs downtown Vancouver office vacancies at 5.1% in the third quarter, down from 6.9% a year ago.

While vacancies are set to rise

as the next wave of construction is completed, Cushman & Wakefield notes that the Vancouver office market will become ever tighter on a global scale as completions lag behind global demand.

Snow quality With long-range forecasts calling for another winter of thick snow, and winter tires now required on the Coquihalla, ski hills from Whistler to Revelstoke are prepping for another season.

In the case of Panorama Mountain Village Inc., planning is taking the long view. Panorama recently signed Replay Resorts Inc. to elevate the guest experience at the resort, which is near Invermere and features a 4,265-foot vertical drop at the height of its 3,000 acres.

“Replay will begin work immediately on defining a future vision and the key aspects of the resort master plan within resort operations and real estate development. This combination will elevate the guest and ownership experience, while continuing to differentiate Panorama from other

destinations in the industry,” a statement announcing the partnership explained.

Replay will identify tracts of land ripe for development, building on the $25 million invested into the resort since 2010. The initial development, Trappers Ridge, launched in 2012. With the assistance of Replay, new amenities for the resort as well as ski-in, ski-out and golf-oriented units are planned.

Panorama president and CEO Steve Paccagnan was unavailable for an interview but provided comments indicating that “a rapidly evolving tourism environment” required Panorama to take steps to differentiate itself from competitors.

Several new hotels have opened in Revelstoke with the expansion of its namesake mountain resort, while fresh investment in Mount Baldy above Osoyoos and $345 million worth of improvements at Whistler Blackcomb tip the time as ripe for improvements.

Big volume While some resort owners

invest in upgrades, the broader world of resort properties will come into focus at the Western Canadian Lodging Conference in Vancouver November 21-22.

The city’s an apt venue, given that B.C. has been a hot spot for hotel deals this year.

Colliers International reports that 19 hotels sold in Western Canada in 2017’s first half, and 13 of the deals were in B.C. While economic woes dogged other markets, buyers leapt at the chance to buy properties such as the Robsonstrasse in Vancouver and the Coquitlam Sleepy Lodge.

There was also BC Investment Management Corp.’s strategic sale of its 25-hotel SilverBirch portfolio to Hong Kong-based Leadon Investment Inc. for $1.1 billion.

Colliers pointed out that most of the deals took place outside Vancouver, which lacked properties for sale. The stock of available assets is likely to decrease because most of the properties that changed hands are set for conversion or redevelopment. • pmitham@telus.net

Sale closes for Howe Sound’s Furry Creek golf course waterfront land is assessed at $11 million.

Fine Peace is a subsidiary of China-based Gentle Group, a noted developer of residentialheavy golf resorts in China. Fine Peace Canada was incorporated on September 25 in Canada and was first registered as Fine Peace Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong one year ago.

Geller said the new owners

intend to upgrade the clubhouse and the golf course. He added that the company is also considering developing a mixture of approximately 250 townhomes and low-rise apartments on the waterfront.

According to BC Assessment, townhouses in the area were assessed last July at an average of more than $1.3 million “There was also a marina in the

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original plans for Furry Creek [in the 1980s],” Geller said, adding that it could be among upcoming discussions with the SquamishLillooet Regional District and that future plans could include a resort hotel.

B efore t he B u r ra rd Group bought it, Furry Creek was developed by Tanac Development Canada, a subsidiary of Japan’s Tanabe Corp. It opened in 1990. •

R8876

T

he sale of the Furry Creek Golf & Country Club closed on October 10, as Chinabacked Fine Peace (Canada) Holdings Ltd. bought the 18-hole course and related lands from the Burrard Group, which has been operating Furry Creek under GolfBC Holdings Inc.

Michael Geller of Geller and Associates, the Vancouver property developer and consultant who helped stickhandle the deal for Fine Peace, confirmed the sale but would not disclose the sale price.

The course is on the Sea-to-Sky Highway south of Squamish and north of West Vancouver.

Furry Creek’s 152 acres was assessed at $3.63 million on July 1. Its 15.54 acres of vacant

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER

profile

October 17–23, 2017

17

Cliff Mander | Founder and CEO, CKM

Sports Management Ltd.

rob kruyt

Embracing the analytics: inside a Sports agent’s playbook

by Patrick Blennerhassett news@biv.com

A

s one of the best rol ler-hockey goaltenders on the continent growing up, Cliff Mander was a hot commodity.

In his early 20s he was being f lown around the world to play in competitive tournaments all over the U.S. and as far away as New Zealand and Argentina. Born in 1984, the Vancouver native was negotiating to play in professional tournaments and leagues in places like Colorado, San Jose, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

He also started picking up tricks of the

trade: how to get hotels, per diems and flights thrown into the deal, and how to make sure he was being treated well as a paid professional.

“I quickly realized if you were able to connect with these teams and these coaches and sell yourself off your resumé, I was able to secure job opportunities all over the place,” he said. “I was basically being flown in as a ringer to win. That’s what it was at that point. And as a goaltender, they’re paying for everything.”

The experience set off a light bulb in Mander’s head. He loved the conversations and negotiations that took place.

While he was being flown around the

world to backstop professional rollerhockey teams, he was also selling cars at a dealership and attending Simon Fraser University (SFU), working toward a degree in psychology. His roller-hockey career came to a crashing halt in 2006 after he tore the labrum in his hip, but Mander pivoted quickly.

“It definitely pushed me into a business mindset as opposed to hockey,” he said.

“I really realized I wanted to work with hockey players, and I wanted to work as an agent. I wanted that feeling of success and finding opportunities.”

Mander started researching what it meant to be a sports agent for hockey

players and found the backgrounds of agents were quite varied. He also asked agents out for coffee and learned how cutthroat the business was.

“I quickly realized it was a very competitive industry,” he said. “And they literally would not have coffee with you because I think instinctively any advantage they provided you, you would use to become their competitor.”

Mander was undeterred; he knew he was on the right career path and, in 2010, started CKM Sports Management Ltd., a sports-management company. continued on page 18

18

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

embracing the Continued from page 17

“I had no experience,” he said.

“But I wanted to understand the industry and the weaknesses in the industry. And when I continued to research [sports-management companies] I realized there were a lot of resources that they weren’t providing that directly related to the performance of the player.”

That same year Mander got his break. His first client was Michael Colantone, who was playing in the Junior A BC Hockey League. Colantone was suiting up for the Victoria Grizzlies when he was traded to the Prince George Cougars.

“Everyone around him was telling him not to report and not show up,” said Mander.

Colantone reached out to Mander through his website asking for advice. Mander said he should report, and think about schooling down in the United States.

One of the things Mander did for Colantone that was outside of the norm was dive into his analytics on the ice – something only a few agencies were getting into at that point. Mander found he could help Colantone improve his on-ice production by telling him to increase his passes per shift.

This small tweak turned out to be a boon for Colantone, who had a career year in Prince George with 72 points in 52 games to end the 2011-12 season. After that,

profile Mander helped Colantone land a scholarship with the UMass Lowell River Hawks, a Massachusettsbased college hockey team that played in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1.

Mander’s attention to analytics, which were still on the game’s periphery, garnered notice in hockey circles, and the clients started rolling in. Dave Thomas, a mentor with SFU’s Venture Connection program, has helped Mander along his career path for years.

Thomas, who is also a partner with business marketing and consulting firm Rocket Builders, said Mander’s on-ice attention to detail is what sets him apart.

“A lot of the time Cliff and I will meet in a rink,” he said. “When the puck drops, conversation stops, because he is focused on the players and how they can improve every day. Data isn’t everything, but Cliff can translate it into skill development.”

Within four years Mander, who finished his SFU degree in 2013, had amassed 40 clients, and his company now advises more than 180 hockey players. Mander, who focuses on younger players who might still be playing minor hockey, offers a host of options for his clients, including postsecondary education planning and nutrition, strength training, psychological assessments and real estate investments. He said the idea is to create an environment where hockey players can

Inside information: cliff mander

Currently reading: Grit by Angela Duckworth

First album bought or music downloaded: ATLiens by Outkast

When you were a kid, what you wanted to be when you grew up: Sports agent or architect

Profession you would most like to try:

It definitely pushed me into a business mindset as opposed to hockey. I really realized I wanted to work with hockey players, and I wanted to work as an agent. I wanted that feeling of success and finding opportunities

[] Cliff Mander Founder and ceo, CKM Sports Management

I’m doing it … but I’d say actor/movie star

Toughest business or professional decision: To focus on my business versus complete an MBA or law degree

Advice you would give the younger you: Maximize your creativity and ability by challenging yourself every day

What’s left to do: Lots. I feel I’m only at the tip of the iceberg in my overall career

do what they do best: play hockey.

“It’s really about making sure the guys have a safe infrastructure around them,” he said, noting that most players have an entourage of family and friends. “Sometimes guys like to use friends for investments and that side, which is fine. It’s just about making sure their money is moving forward and not backward or being spent significantly. It is a long-term play for these guys because they’re not going to play forever.”

Mander is working toward his certification with the National Hockey League Players’ Association because one of his clients, Manuel Wiederer, just signed a three-year entry-level contract to play for the San Jose Sharks.

Mander said his background in psychology and experience within the culture of hockey also help him identify with the players on a personal level. Many pro athletes grow up as stars on their local teams, but when they graduate to bigger leagues, the players around them are just as talented, and success can come down to factors like motivation and perspective.

“The whole culture feeds into that pressure,” Mander said. “For us, we really try to know the numbers and percentages. So especially with the younger guys, they can get tunnel vision, and if that tunnel doesn’t go to where they want, it can be very challenging psychologically.” •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

19

Small Business

Bottom-line basics If you want to set your company on the right course, you need to start by knowing where all the hidden costs are

Recommended reading Vancouver Public Library offers a selection of in-print and online reading for small-business owners

Why company succession success is often elusive

22 23 24 Jonathan Rhone, president and CEO of Axine Water Technologies, with company founder Colleen Legzdins, sees many advantages for clean tech in the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement | BIV files

When it comes to next steps for entrepreneurs, the builders of businesses are not always the best sellers of businesses

Size matters for small businesses Why 10 is the magic number for your startup enterprise

25

Seeking CETA’s small-business benefits TRADE | Canada-EU

deal could generate big business for small B.C. firms

By Hayley Woodin hwoodin@biv.com

E

xpansion into Europe was already “baked into the equation” for Vancouver-based Axine Water Technologies ahead of CETA, Canada’s free trade agreement with the European Union, taking effect this fall.

“The biggest thing that I see in the short term is just access to talent,” said company president and CEO Jonathan Rhone. “Europe is a massive pool of highly educated talent. So this will make it easier to attract both entrepreneurs who can create new technology businesses, as well as employees to help us grow.”

Rhone, who also chairs the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance, has A xine at 25 people and growing. The company’s industrial waste-water treatment products primarily head south of the border to customers in the U.S., but the company is turning its

attention across the Atlantic for growth – first for employees, second for new export opportunities.

“The Europeans are arguably a decade ahead of us when it comes to greening their economies,” explained Glen Hodgson, a senior fellow with the Conference Board of Canada.

For small clean-technology companies in British Columbia, that brings opportunities and challenges. The agreement provides an easier path to export to the world’s thirdlargest importer of clean-tech products – a $148 billion market in 2016, according to the federal government.

It also gives more established European players clearer, largely tariff-free access to Canada.

“In the near term, it may mean that local suppliers have a harder time sort of capturing a market share in a city like Vancouver, but it also means that a Canadian-based company can suddenly sell in Frankfurt

or Copenhagen or lots of other markets, which are actually more green, where they actually may have more opportunities immediately,” Hodgson said.

The ability of small companies in any sector to take advantage of CETA, however, relies on understanding the agreement, along with the market it opens up.

A recent survey by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business found 56% of small businesses were unfamiliar with the agreement.

Research by the Conference Board of Canada has also found that while small businesses accounted for 98% of exports to the EU between 1994 and 2008, revenue from those exports amounted to an annual average of just $410,000. And while CETA eliminates nearly all trade tariffs, the EU’s 28-nation diversity creates its own cultural and linguistic barriers to trade. continued on page 23

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Small Business

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Shedding light on the hidden costs of doing business finance | Charting

By Albert Van Santvoort avansantvoort@biv.com

H

idden costs can affect business bottom lines more than entrepreneurs realize.

For example, while cheques are an antiquated payment option that hasn’t been technologically necessary for most of this century, industry standards and vendor requirements often require small businesses to use them – and it could be costing them time and money.

Using physical payment methods like cheques could be costing Canadian businesses up to $4.4 billion a year, according to a C.D. Howe Institute report released in 2015.

Costs associated with physical payments add up quickly and can often be overlooked. A report released earlier this year by Plooto, a Canadian financial technology company, found that cheques could be costing businesses $9 to $25 per cheque.

The $25-per-cheque cost includes everything from the time it takes to write, deposit and account for the cheque to the postage needed to send it and the time it takes to receive and reconcile bank statements.

a clearer course for your enterprise starts with knowing all the numbers According to Plooto CEO and co-founder Hamed Abbasi, many small-business owners might not realize how much human capital is being used to handle cheque payments – time and effort that could be used more productively elsewhere within the organization.

“That was my job as the CEO of the company, to sit down with the bookkeeper at the end of the day, get the chequebook, get all of our paper invoices and manually write everything and sign everything,” Abbasi said on Business in Vancouver’s show on Roundhouse Radio. “I’ve never met a person who says, ‘I love writing cheques.’ It’s a really antiquated process; it doesn’t fit into the 21st century, so why are small businesses still using it?”

David Lee, financial adviser at BlueShore Financial, agreed that these costs can sneak up on small businesses and new entrepreneurs, but he said that if business owners are too hasty when switching from physical cheques, they may be hit with unexpected electronic transfer fees.

“These sources of payments like e-transfers also come at a cost for some [businesses],” Lee said. “If they’re not on the proper banking packages they may have to absorb

some of the cost associated with an e-transfer.”

Lee also warned of credit card merchant payments and other transactional fees. These costs are necessary for sales, but also need to be accounted for in the price of the product or service.

But if suppliers or customers require cheque payments, their associated costs might be unavoidable.

To minimize payment delay costs, Lee said, it’s important for businesses to have a line of credit to ensure they don’t incur additional costs for NSF cheques or overdraft charges.

While many business owners consider the cost of labour while planning to start their business, many don’t consider associated costs like payroll management, direct deposit fees and insurance.

Insurance for buildings and cars might be obvious expenses to consider, but liability and business insurance might not. “[Owners] will usually focus on running their business,” Lee said.

“So things like insurance are usually not at the top of their mind.”

Many new entrepreneurs will try to minimize these costs at the risk of their own business, but some insurance is better than none, according to Lee.

Small-business operating costs can cause unpleasant surprises for aspiring entrepreneurs | Teguh Jati Prasetyo/Shutterstock

New entrepreneurs can also easily underestimate the cost of professional advice as well as obligations associated with setting up a business, such as fees for permits and licences, some of which require the professional help of an accountant and/or lawyer.

A n o t h e r u n e x p e c te d c o s t for many small businesses is maintenance. While upkeep of production equipment seems obvious, the need to maintain and update software may be less apparent. Businesses that are not capital-intensive might not

consider the need and costs associated with technology.

Lease-to-own equipment financing rather than buying outright is one strategy business owners and entrepreneurs can use to reduce upfront costs. Leasing equipment might also provide a tax benefit. When buying capital equipment, businesses can deduct only a portion of the cost each year, over the lifetime of the equipment. By leasing equipment, businesses can deduct the full amount of the lease payment, which reduces their taxable income. •

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Small Business

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

23

Recommended reading resources for small businesses research | Vancouver

I

n celebration of Small Business Month, the reading and information experts at Vancouver Public Library (VPL) have put together a selection of mustreads and top resources for aspiring entrepreneurs and small businesses – and it’s all free with a Vancouver library card.

Seeking ceta’s Continued from page 19

“In Canada we have been kind of comforted by the fact that we have a big market south of the border and that has been enough for many small businesses,” said Werner Antweiler, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) Sauder School of Business and a chair in international trade policy.

“As we’re becoming more of a global trading system, I think that small and medium-sized enterprises have to understand that there are opportunities to be had in investing in exporting,” Antweiler said, adding that many European manufacturers are already poised to take advantage of that trend, being on average a bit larger than those in Canada and possessing a stronger culture of global expansion.

To that end, Andrew Morden,

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president and CEO of energy storage systems company Corvus Energy, sees CETA as an opportunity to shift B.C. and Canadian companies’ thinking.

“For us to be successful here in British Columbia, and even to provide services to the end-users here in British Columbia, we really need to be able to work seamlessly globally,” Morden said.

Corvus, which won Exporter of the Year at the BC Export Awards in 2015, primarily exports to markets in Europe, within and outside of the EU. Some of its work, however, is very much tied to B.C. For example, the company recently finished a project with Seaspan, but for a Turkish customer. It’s also working with BC Ferries on a project that will ultimately see vessels from a Dutch shipyard sail in B.C. waters.

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battery suppliers, because of nationalistic feelings,” Morden said.

“We want them to be open to the best product at the best price.”

He said CETA will help bring the best of B.C. clean tech to market.

That push, however, may come at a cost. According to John Ries, senior associate dean of research and professor at UBC’s Sauder School of Business, evidence suggests that new free trade agreements facilitate a “very substantial margin of increase” in new firms entering the newly accessible market. Large, incumbent firms with the resources to raise existing export investments, however, typically take advantage of such agreements more frequently.

“If you’re small and you don’t have the financial wherewithal to make that investment or knowledge to make that investment, then it’s going to be a deterrent for you,” Ries said.

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He offered a “cautionary note” for small businesses on the fence about making that investment.

“Standing pat and not taking advantage of opportunities could put small business behind if European companies are now going to be able to compete more effectively in our marketplace,” he said.

“You have to stay aggressive and take advantage of opportunities.

Because there are challenges and opportunities, as they say, with regard to a free trade agreement.”

One of the biggest barriers to getting more small businesses to export to Europe hasn’t been eliminated by CETA, according to Antweiler.

In addition to noting the need for greater education around CETA generally, along with the need to correct what he calls a “marketing deficit” when it comes to putting B.C. clean tech on the map specifically, Antweiler argued that Canada needs to work harder to

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encourage small businesses across sectors to grow.

“If you have a barrier to growing, to turn from a small to mediumsize business, that hampers economic growth, and it limits our potential to go and export,” said Antweiler, citing the 17.5-point jump from the federal government’s 10.5% small-business tax rate to its general rate of 28%.

He said looking to new markets takes investment, and whatever gains there are to be had may not justify incurring such a hefty tax bump.

“When you look at the numbers, out of a million or so small or medium-sized enterprises, only about 4% are actively exporting, and only about 1% out of the million is exporting outside of the United States.

“That basically means we have a problem actually getting small enterprises interested in looking at overseas markets.” •

24

Small Business

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Shop’s closure highlights succession plan importance retirement | Business

By Glen Korstrom gkorstrom@biv.com

T

he Umbrella Shop’s looming closure in December marks an end to a Vancouver business being run by three generations of owners during the past 82 years.

And as surely as it will leave countless loyal customers wondering where to buy umbrellas, it will also spark thoughts among small-business owners for how best to shut down an enterprise and sell it for a profit.

Umbrella Shop owner Corry Flader told Business in Vancouver that she decided three years ago to stop running the business.

Her brother and business partner, Glen Flader, had died and her inspiration for the business was waning.

“I continued doing business but knowing that my end was coming, I told my staff, ‘I am not much longer for this business,’” said Flader, who has also recently been dealing with health problems.

At its height, the Umbrella Shop had four stores, a factory and 18 employees. It now has two stores, which are closing soon, and five employees.

Flader did not want to discuss whether she tried to sell the business, but she stressed that a shutdown is a “100% certainty.”

B u si ne ss clos u re s h app en frequently.

Strategic Succession CEO John Robinson pointed to Pepperdine University’s annual surveys of business brokers that find that approx i mately 75% of sma l l

builders are not always the best business sellers

businesses valued at $5 million or less fail to sell after a first attempt.

The reasons for those failures, he said, tend to be that the owner either: •is not emotionally ready to retire; •has an unrealistically high expectation for a sale price; or •is unwilling to accept terms, such as a fraction of the proceeds be up front and the remainder to be paid in future years based on performance.

Robinson is a consultant who gets businesses ready for sale.

Selling a business, he said, is not like selling a house.

You don’t simply find a broker, determine a price and put a forsale sign on the lawn.

Selling a business is “massively more complex,” Robinson said.

He and his team collect hundreds of pages of documents – tax returns, financial statements, customer lists, contracts with suppliers, lease arrangements and other forms. They then often suggest a lawyer or accountant restructure parts of the venture.

Mistakes include having a substantial amount of cash in the business or owning real estate when the company’s core business is technology or retail.

Sometimes owning real estate can be a good hedge for the successful operation of the business.

Avigilon Corp. (TSX:AVO) bought a former Telus Corp.

(TSX:T) office tower on Robson Street for $42 million in November 2015 and then sold the nine-storey structure for $107.5

Umbrella Shop owner Corry Flader is closing her family business after 82 years |

If you want to kill succession planning dead, don’t delegate

[] Michael Timms author, Succession Planning that Works

million earlier this year.

More often, however, a prospective buyer for a small business is interested solely in the business and not in assets that are unrelated or distract from that venture.

“The mere act of getting ready to sell your business is going to require a number of advisers before you even get to a business broker or a mergers and acquisitions adviser,” Robinson said.

Dan Toulgoet/vancouver courier

People a re a lso i mporta nt, perhaps most important, added Vancouver’s Michael Timms, who consults with executives and wrote Succession Planning that Works.

“In larger businesses, typically, you try to implement a culture where managers know that they can’t get promoted until they have at least one or Continued from page 24

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Small Business

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

25

Why 10 is the magic number for the size of a small-business team

Podium Todd Kane

I

f you are a young startup or a growing small business, your success often requires you to expand your team. To keep your teams running efficiently, it is important to consider how you structure them as they grow. Teams should rarely be more than 10 to 12 people.

One of the central themes of team management is to influence future behaviour of individual team members. For a leader to effectively influence individuals, it is important to foster a relationship with each person. Without a relationship,

shop’s closure Continued on page 33

two successors in place to replace them,” he said.

“That is a strong motivator for people to take succession seriously.”

He urges business owners who

to look after things if you were on vacation for a week. Engage those stars on your team and ask if they would like to become leaders in training. You can scale back the size of your teams easily by selecting a few people to lead smaller teams. Your role as a manager then becomes supporting those individuals; rather than dealing with the day-today requests of 30 people, you can focus on the professional development of three or four key individuals. This approach will create a more scalable and cohesive team structure that will ensure your future success as an organization. •

them all would take up most of their week. Meeting with 10 people for 30 minutes each per week equals five hours of time. If you are not dedicating this amount of time to coaching and developing your team, you will struggle to maximize your staff’s contribution to your company. This is invested time in your No. 1 resource as an organization – your people.

So why does the team size matter?

In my 15-plus years as a leader and a management consultant, I have seen all types of approaches to management and leadership. The most successful teams typically have something in common. The individual team members are engaged, believe in the goals of the team and feel

supported by their peers. This sense of common purpose and a deep relationship is difficult to foster in a team of 50 people. For the leader of that team, it would be hard to remember everyone’s name, let alone understand the motivations of each of them.

One of the most effective strategies for team leaders to build relationships is to hold one-onone meetings. Yet it is a strategy that is often met with some resistance by managers who think they don’t have the time for weekly meetings with staff.

There are two common problems that create the belief that as leaders they don’t have time.

First, leaders are already busy dealing with issues arising from a lack of direction or communication, which would be eliminated if they were meeting with staff individually and giving them direct coaching.

Second, leaders have so many direct reports that meeting with

Groom future leaders by structuring smaller teams Early in my career, I worked for an organization that was growing by 20 to 30 people per week.

This scale of growth is usually a death sentence to culture and organizational structure.

Instead, it resulted in an amazing success story. It forced us to focus on cultivating leaders from within the organization. If you have a team that is more than 10 to 12 people, consider who in that team you would trust

Todd Kane (todd@evolvedmgmt. com) is president of Evolved (www.evolvedmgmt.com), which helps organizations use proven management practices to improve their business results. His approach has produced numerous awardwinning teams across North America.

recruit staff to think longer term and not to simply hire a cashier and forever think of that person as simply a cashier.

“If you want to kill succession planning dead, don’t delegate,” he said.

“If you want people to be able to step up and be prepared to

take on your role, you need to expose them to all that you do.”

When a business owner is the only one in the company who finds new business and manages client relationships, it will be extremely hard for that person to sell the business when they want to retire, he said.

The key to being able to pass on the business and extract a sale price is to have competent employees who are responsible and can run the operation.

Those employees might want to buy the business, and if they don’t, their presence will add value to the business in the eyes

of an outside investor.

That is why keeping qualified staff is so important.

“If you’re never really talking to your employees about how they can advance in their career, you’re not giving them a compelling reason to stay with you,” Timms said. •

it becomes extremely difficult to influence people in a positive manner. What people tend to rely on in the absence of a relationship is power. Some people in leadership positions rule by provoking fear with anger and threats. This type of negative, power-based style has an illusory effect of short-term gains.

When the boss is feared, people tend to do just enough to not get in trouble. Unfortunately, they are rarely engaged in their work and as a result produce belowaverage results.

This content was produced by Business in Vancouver’s advertising department. BIV’s editorial department was not involved in its creation.

Business TransiTions Forum

Keeping it in the family: Challenges and successes of family business transitions Seeking advice and learning from others is vital, say executives from third-generation family business A successful business not only survives the natural ebbs and flows of time but can even thrive on change.

key, Klassen and Parkes agreed and found it helpful to learn from others who had been through a similar experience.

Times of transition, when ownership and leadership are transferred, can be one of the most challenging periods for a company. From a direct seller-buyer transaction to management buyout to family succession, there are ways to successfully pass on the torch — if a clear plan and strategy is in place for the transition.

A survey released by the Business Development Bank of Canada earlier this fall indicates that 4 out of 10 small and mid-sized business owners in British Columbia plan to exit in the next five years but many are not prepared for the transition. unlocking wealth David Tyldesley, the co-founder of The Business Transitions Forum, has worked with businesses in different industries for twenty years.

“We were really surprised by how many people don’t have a plan in place and don’t really know where to start,” Tyldesley said.

Almost 60 percent of business owners are 50 years old or over, the BDC survey found, and the coming wave

“Family meetings are the biggest help because you get to sit down with people who are all in different stages of the process and it normalizes the stress and the fear,” Klassen said.

Travis Klassen and Erin (Klassen) Parkes, 3rd generation business owners will share their family transition story at The Business Transitions Forum in Vancouver on Nov. 15.

of retirements will create a boom in business transitions. More than a quarter of these will be family successions from one generation to the next.

Family succession, however, presents a unique set of challenges and risks.

“It’s very different when you are dealing with a family business,” Tyldesley said. “You’re dealing with a lot of emotions, family ties, and some very sensitive discussions.”

Beautiful dance or awkward handshake Travis Klassen and Erin (Klassen) Parkes, both members of the execu-

tive team for Valley Carriers, know first-hand the trials of a family transition. Their grandfather started the pulp and sawdust company more than 50 years ago.

For the last few years, the business has been run by the third generation of Klassens.

“Most of us grew up in the company, working part-time in the yard, but the transition was challenging,” Klassen said. “When you are doing a succession plan, you have a combination of a long, slow beautiful dance and a long, awkward sweaty handshake.”

Communication and planning were

Klassen and Parkes are already thinking about how to best prepare for the next family succession, even though that might not be for another couple decades down the line.

“We are still learning the dance,” Parkes said. seeking success One of the major ways of ‘learning the dance’ is through events with other businesses owners and experts in the industry.

Tyldesley produces the annual Business Transitions Forum, cofounded with business partner Mark Stephenson, and hosts the business networking and expertise-sharing conference in major cities across Canada.

“It is really resonating with the marketplace,” he said. “One of the obvious reasons is demographics with the

To learn more, visit www.businesstransitionsforum.com

aging population of the baby boomer generation.”

But it’s not just baby boomers looking to sell who attend, he said. A large percentage of the attendees have no immediate plans to sell but are looking for information about increasing the value of their business.

“Even if they aren’t planning to sell anytime in the near future, it’s worth discussing building value,” he said.

“A key concept is making your business sellable – it doesn’t mean that you are trying to sell it, but a sellable business is a more valuable business.”

The conference brings together more than 300 people interested in the topic from business owners in different industries to advisors and transition experts to investors.

The “3rd Annual” Business Transitions Forum is being held at the Westin Bayshore in Vancouver on November 15, 2017. Tickets are available online.

Early bird tickets are available until October 18.

26

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Events

Women in Business panel discusses career opportunities and challenges

B

usiness in Vancouver launched Women in Business (WIB) in June 2016 as B.C.’s first magazine designed for women in business. The publication covers everything from recruitment, career advancement and networking to office dynamics, self-employment, starting a business and the challenges of work-life balance. The magazine is an extension of BIV’s commitment to expand its content delivery while continuing to be B.C.’s largest provider of business news and intelligence.

The Women in Business panel discussion coincided

with the fall edition of WIB magazine, which focused on the topic of careers. Held at Vancouver’s Shangri-La Hotel, the event featured an insightful panel discussion moderated by Business in Vancouver reporter Hayley Woodin. The panel included Cybele Negris, CEO and co-founder, Webnames.ca; Natalie Dakers, founding president and CEO, Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator; Ilana Schonwetter, investment adviser, BlueShore Financial; and Rita Andreone, partner and chair of the executive committee, Lawson Lundell LLP. • Photography: Dominic Schaefer

Left to right, panellists Natalie Dakers, founding president and CEO, Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator; Rita Andreone, partner and chair of the executive committee, Lawson Lundell LLP; Cybele Negris, CEO and co-founder, Webnames.ca; Ilana Schonwetter, investment adviser, BlueShore Financial; and moderator Hayley Woodin, reporter, Business in Vancouver

Sue Belisle, president and publisher, Business in Vancouver Media Group, welcomes attendees

Guests ask panellists questions after the discussion

Guests network with panellists and fellow attendees after the discussion

Cybele Negris (right) of Webnames.ca provides a candid example of how far honesty and bravery got her while speaking at another event earlier in her career

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Access the nomination form at biv.com/iwib

Nominations deadline: November 6th, 2017 Gold Sponsor:

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

27

Top 100 National/ global companies As illustrated by the brands displayed below, British Columbia is home to a wide range of companies that have national and global operations and market reach.

Business in Vancouver’s Top National and Global Companies feature provides an annual inventory of the 100 biggest in the province ranked by their number of B.C. employees.

29

Analyzing revenue growth and list ranking changes Biggest movers in rankings on Business in Vancouver’s top-100 list

31

Staff and revenue up for top companies 69% have moved up in list rankings over the past five years

BIVLIst

Top 100 national and global companies operating in B.C.

28, 30, 32, 33, 34

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Top 100 National/Global Companies

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Top 100 national nationaland andglobal globalcompanies companiesoperating operatingin inB.C. B.C. RANKED BY | Number Ranked BY | Numberof ofB.C. B.C.employees employeesin in2017 2017 Rank '17

1 2 3 4 4 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Company

Senior executive(s)

Primary business

Key geographic areas business operates in Year founded

Worldwide staff B.C. staff '17/'16 '17/'16

Jim Pattison Group 1067 Cordova St W Suite 1800, Vancouver V6C 1C7 P: 604-488-5213 F: 604-694-6917 jimpattison.com Walmart Canada Corp 1940 Argentia Rd, Mississauga L5N 1P9 P: 1-800-328-0402 F: NP walmart.ca Telus Corp 510 Georgia St W 23rd floor, Vancouver V6B 0M3 P: 604-697-8044 F: 604-432-9681 telus.com London Drugs Ltd 12251 Horseshoe Way, Richmond V7A 4X5 P: 604-272-7400 F: 604-272-7579 londondrugs.com Northland Properties Corp 1755 Broadway W Suite 310, Vancouver V6J 4S5 P: 604-730-6610 F: 604-730-4645 northland.ca Teck Resources Ltd 550 Burrard St Suite 3300, Vancouver V6C 0B3 P: 604-699-4000 F: 604-699-4750 teck.com A&W Food Services of Canada Inc 171 Esplanade W Suite 300, North Vancouver V7M 3K9 P: 604-988-2141 F: 604-988-5531 aw.ca Shaw Communications Inc 1067 Cordova St W, Vancouver V6C 3T5 P: 888-472-2222 F: NP shaw.ca Air Canada5 6001 Grant McConachie Way, Richmond V7B 1K3 P: 888-247-2262 F: NP aircanada.com Home Depot Canada Inc 1 Concorde Gate Suite 900, Toronto M3C 4H9 P: 416-609-0852 F: 416-412-6791 homedepot.ca TD Bank Group 700 Georgia St W Suite 300, Vancouver V7Y 1AZ P: 866-222-3456 F: NP td.com

Jim Pattison, managing director, CEO and chairman

Diversified

North America, Central America, Europe, Asia, Middle East

1961

42,000 41,000

17,555 17,218

Lee Tappenden, president and CEO

Mass merchandise department store

Canada

1994

2,300,00011 2,300,000

9,2002 9,215

Darren Entwistle, president and CEO, Doug French, executive vice-president and CFO

Communications products and services

All provinces in Canada

1990

47,0003 47,000

8,2503 8,250

Brandt Louie, chair, Clint Mahlman, executive vice-president and chief operating officer

Pharmacy, retailer, mass merchandiser

B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba 1945

7,500 7,500

7,000 7,000

Robert Gaglardi, chair, Tom Gaglardi, president

Hotels, real estate, restaurants

B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, Ontario

1963

14,0004 14,0004

7,00044 7,000

Donald Lindsay, president and CEO

Diversified resource company focused on copper, steelmaking coal, zinc and energy

Canada, U.S., Peru, Chile

NP

9,800 9,400

6,800 NP

Paul F.B. Hollands, chair and CEO, Susan Senecal, president and COO

Franchisor and operator of quick-service restaurants

Across Canada

1956

22,5284 22,5284

5,11144 5,111

Bradley Shaw, CEO, Jay Mehr, president, JR Shaw, executive chair

Enhanced connectivity provider with consumer, Western Canada and parts of Ontario wireless, business network services and business infrastructure divisions Scheduled passenger and cargo airline serving Worldwide Canadian, U.S. and international destinations

1966

NP NP

4,9362 5,040

1937

30,0003 30,000

4,5003 4,500

Home improvement supply retailer

Canada, U.S., Mexico

1994

350,0004 350,0004

4,48744 4,487

Canada, U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific

1855

87,5173 87,517

4,3883 4,388

B.C., Alberta, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, North and South Carolina

1938

6,2576 6,257

4,2476 4,247

Jim Treliving, co-owner and co-chairman, George Casual-dining restaurant Canada, U.S., Mexico Melville, co-owner and co-chairman, Mark Pacinda, president and CEO Ashley Cooper, CEO, Ted Reid, president and CFO, Security officers, mobile patrols, home alarms, Canada, U.S. Fraser Cooper, CTO K-9 patrol, access control, closed-circuit television, perimeter protection, remote video monitoring Ronald Toigo, Peter Toigo, managing directors Real estate development and restaurant North America operations

1964

24,0003 24,000

4,0003 4,000

1976

10,607 8,250

3,893 2,525

1969

NP NP

3,5002 3,6007

Richard Baker, governor and executive chair, Gerald Storch, CEO

Department store concentrating on apparel, accessories and soft home categories

1670

65,0003 65,000

3,4003 3,400

Rod Baker, president and CEO

Multi-jurisdictional gaming, entertainment and B.C., Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova hospitality operator Scotia, Washington state

1982

5,5003 5,500

3,2733 3,273

1955

7,800 7,800

3,100 3,000

1832

89,6103 89,610

3,0203 3,020

1981

235,175 235,175

2,849 2,849

Calin Rovinescu, president and CEO Jeff Kinnaird, president, Home Depot Canada

Canfor Corp 1700 75th Ave W Suite 100, Vancouver V6P 6G2 P: 604-661-5241 F: 604-661-5253 canfor.com Boston Pizza International Inc 10760 Shellbridge Way Suite 100, Richmond V6X 3H1 P: 604-270-1108 F: 604-270-4168 bostonpizza.com Paladin Security 3001 Wayburne Dr Suite 201, Burnaby V5G 4W3 P: 604-677-8700 F: 604-677-8701 paladinsecurity.com Shato Holdings Ltd 4088 Cambie St Suite 300, Vancouver V5Z 2X8 P: 604-874-5533 F: 604-874-2066 Hudson's Bay Co 674 Granville St, Vancouver V6C 1Z6 P: 604-681-6211 F: 604-689-2280 hbc.com Great Canadian Gaming Corp 95 Schooner St, Coquitlam V3K 7A8 P: 604-303-1000 F: 604-279-8605 gcgaming.com West Fraser Timber Co Ltd 858 Beatty St Suite 501, Vancouver V6B 1C1 P: 604-895-2700 F: 604-681-6061 westfraser.com

Mauro Manzi, senior vice-president, Pacific region, Financial services TD Bank Group, Jim Kershaw, senior vicepresident, Pacific region head, TD private wealth management Don Kayne, CEO Lumber, value-added wood products, pulp, paper and green energy

Across Canada and the U.S.

Ted Seraphim, president and CEO

Diversified wood products company producing B.C., Alberta, southeastern U.S. lumber, laminated veneer lumber, mediumdensity fibreboard, plywood, pulp, newsprint, wood chips and energy Winnie Leong, senior vice-president, B.C. and Financial services North America, Latin America, Yukon region Caribbean, Central America, AsiaPacific Sandra Stuart, group general manager, president Banking and financial services All provinces in Canada and CEO

Scotiabank 650 Georgia St W 34th floor, Vancouver V6B 4N7 P: 778-327-5451 F: 604-668-2096 scotiabank.com HSBC Bank Canada 885 Georgia St W, Vancouver V6C 3E9 P: 604-685-1000 F: 604-641-3098 hsbc.ca

Sources: Interviews with above firms and BIV research. Other companies may have ranked but did not respond by deadline or were unable to break down numbers regionally. NP Not provided 1 - Includes all Walmart employees worldwide 2 - BIV estimate 3 - 2016 figure 4 - 2015 figure 5 - Includes Rouge 6 - As of December 31, 2016 7 - Approximately 2,000 are franchisee-employed, remainder are corporate-employed

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in the List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Carrie Schmidt, lists@biv.com.

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November 8, 2017 | 6:15pm – 9:00pm

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For more information or to register for the event visit www.biv.com/ceo

Top 100 National/Global Companies

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

29

B.C. head count down, profit up for MEC, Canaccord ECONOMY | More than one in four companies on BIV list dropped in rank this year compared with 2013

By Albert Van Santvoort avansantvoort@biv.com

Revenue growth of companies that dropped furthest in rankings

27% of companies were further down the list than they were in 2013

rominent Vancouver businesses Mountain Equipment Co-op and Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. (TSX:CF) were among the 27% of businesses on Business in Vancouver’s list of top national and global companies operating in B.C. that dropped in ranking in 2017 compared with 2013.

Companies are ranked on the l ist based on the nu mber of people they employ in B.C. Canaccord Genuity Group fell 16 spots to 81st in 2017 from 65th in 2013, with a 25% drop to 380 employees in 2017 from 507 employees in 2013.

While these companies have had stable or declining employment, they are still experiencing revenue growth. The five companies that reported the greatest drop in ranking on Business in Vancouver’s list increased their revenue by an average of 39% between 2012 and 2016.

Only two of the five companies that had the most significant drop in ranking on Business in Vancouver’s list had a decline in revenue in 2016, and that drop was relatively small. New Gold

MEC and Canaccord Genuity were among leaders in revenue growth 60

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. VersaCold Logistics Services

50

Stemcell Technologies Inc.

40

Paladin Security

Per cent

P

Companies that made the biggest moves up or down in list rankings

Bell Canada Absolute*

30 20

Canadian Western Bank

10

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.

0

Mountain Equipment Co-op

-10

New Gold Inc. -30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

50

New Gold Inc.

60

Mountain Equipment Co-op*

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.

One-year revenue growth

List ranking numbers gained or lost

Canadian Western Bank

Five-year revenue growth

*One-year growth includes 14 months due to fiscal year-end change

*Absolute had the sixth-largest ranking drop following Sierra Systems but revenue data for Sierra Systems was not available by deadline

source: BIV list

source: BIV list

Inc.’s (TSX:NGD) revenue fell 0.6% in 2016 from 2015 and Absolute’s revenue dropped by 1.1% during the same period.

Even with growing revenues, decl i nes i n t hei r nu mber of employees in B.C. caused some companies to fall on Business

Absolute

in Vancouver’s list. T he five companies that fell the most in ranking on the list had an average B.C. employment drop of 31.9% between 2013 and 2017.

New Gold Inc. had the largest drop in employment, with its B.C. payroll shrinking 52% to

467 employees in 2017 from 978 employees in 2013.

While Mountain Equipment Co-op’s staffing in B.C. fell from 781 employees in 2013 to 461 in 2015 (the most recent year for which the company provided data), the co-op had the largest

one-year and five-year revenue growth among the five companies that had the largest drop in rank on Business in Vancouver’s list. The co-op increased its revenue by $162 million, or 54%, to $464.8 million in 2016 from $302 million in 2012. •

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October 17–23, 2017

Top 100 national nationaland andglobal globalcompanies companiesoperating operatingin inB.C. B.C. RANKED BY | Number Ranked BY | Numberof ofB.C. B.C.employees employeesin in2017 2017 Rank '17

21 22 23 23 25 26 27 28 28 30 31 32 33 34 34 34 34 38 39 40

Company

Senior executive(s)

Primary business

Best Buy Canada Ltd 8800 Glenlyon Pky, Burnaby V5J 5K3 P: 604-435-8223 F: 604-412-5237 bestbuy.ca Seaspan ULC 10 Pemberton Ave, North Vancouver V7P 2R1 P: 604-988-3111 F: 604-984-1615 seaspan.com CIBC 400 Burrard St 4th floor, Vancouver V6C 3A6 P: 604-665-1645 F: 604-665-1114 cibc.com GCT Global Container Terminals Inc 375 Water St Suite 610, Vancouver V6B 5C6 P: 604-267-9200 F: 604-915-9557 globalterminals.com

Ron Wilson, president and COO

Consumer electronics retailer (home office, All provinces in Canada home theatre, entertainment, mobile and appliances) Marine transportation, shipbuilding, ship repair International and other related services

Ritchie Bros Auctioneers Inc 9500 Glenlyon Pky, Burnaby V5J 0C6 P: 778-331-5500 F: 778-331-4628 rbauction.com Tolko Industries Ltd 3000 28 St, Vernon V1T 6M1 P: 250-545-4411 F: 250-550-2550 tolko.com Lululemon Athletica Inc 1818 Cornwall Ave Suite 400, Vancouver V6J 1C7 P: 604-732-6124 F: 604-874-6124 lululemon.com Bell Canada 2925 Virtual Way, Vancouver V5M 4X6 P: 604-678-7500 F: NP bell.ca LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services 3680 Gilmore Way, Burnaby V5G 4V8 P: 604-431-5005 F: NP lifelabs.com VersaCold Logistics Services 3231 No 6 Rd, Richmond V6V 1P6 P: 604-255-4656 F: 604-255-4330 versacold.com Kal Tire 1540 Kalamalka Lake Rd, Vernon V1T 6V2 P: 250-542-2366 F: NP kaltire.com HUB International Insurance Brokers 4350 Still Creek Dr Suite 400, Burnaby V5C 0G5 P: 604-269-1000 F: 604-269-1001 hubinternational.com Ledcor Group of Companies 1067 Cordova St W Suite 1200, Vancouver V6C 1C7 P: 604-681-7500 F: 604-681-9700 ledcor.com Catalyst Paper Corp 3600 Lysander Lane Suite 200, Richmond V7B 1C3 P: 604-247-4400 F: 604-247-0512 catalystpaper.com Coast Hotels 1090 Georgia St W Suite 900, Vancouver V6E 3V7 P: 604-682-7982 F: 604-682-8942 coasthotels.com Electronic Arts 4330 Sanderson Way, Burnaby V5G 4X1 P: 604-456-3600 F: 604-456-5000 ea.com Premium Brands Holdings Corp 10991 Shellbridge Way Suite 100, Richmond V6X 3C6 P: 604-656-3100 F: 604-656-3170 premiumbrandsholdings.com Rogers Communications 4710 Kingsway Suite 1600, Burnaby V5H 4W4 P: 604-214-2161 F: 604-431-1414 rogers.com Charlwood Pacific Group 1199 Pender St W Suite 900, Vancouver V6E 2R1 P: 604-718-2612 F: 604-718-2678 charlwoodpacificgroup.com SAP Canada Inc 910 Mainland St, Vancouver V6B 1A9 P: 604-681-3435 F: NP sap.com

Ravi Saligram, CEO

Frank Butzelaar, CEO

S RS & INVE STOR

BUS ESS

YOU R GUID E

TO THE MAR

IJUA NA INDU

STRY IN BC

TO YOUR GUIDE AND THE RULESND ARDS LEGAL STA BC APPLIED TO THE BUSINESS S BEHIND VARIOU ES CONSUMABLOIL S INCLUDING AND EDIBLES

Worldwide staff B.C. staff '17/'16 '17/'16

1982

125,0001 125,000

2,7891 2,789

1970

NP 3,000

2,41922 2,200

Canada, U.S., Caribbean, U.K., Japan, Australia

1867

43,000 3 44,000

2,200 NP

Doron Grosman, president and CEO

Operates four Green Marine-certified terminals in two principal North American ports: GCT Vanterm and GCT Deltaport in Vancouver and Delta; through GCT USA, GCT New York on Staten Island, NY, and GCT Bayonne in Bayonne, NJ Industrial auctioneers; services and information to help people buy and sell used heavy equipment Lumber, oriented strand board, plywood and veneer, kraft paper, harvest bins, biomass energy and other value-added products Designer and retailer of technical athletic apparel

East and west coasts

1907

3,700 3,700

2,200 2,200

Canada, U.S., Europe, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Mexico, Japan

1958

NP 1,590

2,116 439

B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba 1956

2,790 3,6564

2,1044 2,602

Canada, U.S., Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe

1998

10,3211 10,321

2,1011 2,101

George Cope, president and CEO, BCE and Bell Canada

Communications products and services

Canada

1880

49,9681 49,9682

2,00021 2,000

Sue Paish, CEO

Laboratory testing services

B.C., Ontario

1969

5,400 5,400

2,000 2,000

Douglas Harrison, president and CEO

Supply chain solutions for temperatureCanada 1946 sensitive products, including warehousing, transportation and other supply chain services Tire and mechanical sales and service for the Canada, Europe, Africa, Australia, Latin 1953 retail and commercial markets America

3,382 2,159

1,741 939

5,6001 5,600

1,6011 1,601

Brad Thorlakson, president and CEO Laurent Potdevin, CEO

Robert Foord, president David Moon, Dave Terry, co-CEOs and copresidents

Insurance brokerage

International

1998

10,000 9,000

1,554 1,239

Dave Lede, chairman and CEO, Ron Stevenson, president

Diversified construction company

Canada, U.S.

1947

7,807 7,777

1,538 1,830

Joe Nemeth, president and CEO

Specialty papers, directory paper, newsprint, market pulp

B.C., Canada

2005

2,5735 2,700

1,5005 1,5466

Victor Komoda, president

Hotel ownership, management and franchising B.C., Alberta, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Pacific seaboard of U.S.

1972

3,000 3,000

1,500 1,500

Matt Bilbey, COO, EA Studios, David Rutter, general manager and executive producer

Interactive entertainment software

Burnaby, Montreal, Edmonton, Kitchener, Waterloo, Charlottetown

1982

8,500 8,500

1,500 1,350

George Paleologou, president and CEO, Will Kalutycz, CFO

Specialty food manufacturing and differentiated food distribution

Western Canada, Washington state

2009

5,2141 5,214

1,5001 1,500

Joseph Natale, CEO

Telecommunications and media company

Canada

1960

23,5007 23,508

1,3897 1,390

Gary Charlwood, founder, chair and CEO, Martin Charlwood, president and COO

International franchisor of recognized brands in More than 67 countries real estate, mortgage brokerage, property management and business travel Business management software, ERP Worldwide (enterprise resource management) solutions, analytics, mobile, collaboration in the cloud

1972

22,020 24,714

1,348 1,013

1972

84,183 76,962

1,300 1,137

Kirsten Sutton, vice-president and managing director, SAP Labs Canada; global head, SAP Jam Engineering

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Key geographic areas business operates in Year founded

Mike Stevenson, senior vice-president and region Full range of financial services head, B.C. and northern territories

Sources: Interviews with above firms and BIV research. Other companies may have ranked but did not respond by deadline or were unable to break down numbers regionally. NP Not provided 1 - 2016 figure 2 - As of December 31 of previous year 3 - 2015 figure 4 - As of April 30, 2016 5 - As of December 31, 2016 6 - As of April 2015 7 - BIV estimate

Biz a n n a C H C N

EPRE NEU

Top 100 National/Global Companies

BUSINESSVANCOUVER

IE E I N D U ST R ENT OF TH

POLIC ING

D S I N VO LV E

SECUR ITY

Top 100 National/Global Companies

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

31

B.C. staffing, revenue up for top national, global firms GROWTH | 69%

of companies moved up in ranking on Business in Vancouver’s top-100 list

Revenue growth of the companies that have risen the most on the top-100 list over the past five years

Stemcell Technologies Inc. had the largest five-year revenue increase, improving its revenue by $18 million, or 98%, to $126 million in 2016 from $64 million in 2012

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers and Stemcell Technologies are two of the biggest revenue and rankings leaders

100

80

Per cent

60

40

20

Ritchie Bros.

Auctioneers Inc.

VersaCold Logistics Services

Stemcell Technologies Inc. One-year revenue growth

Paladin Security

Bell Canada

Five-year revenue growth

source: BIV lists

By Albert Van Santvoort avansantvoort@biv.com

BC

’s top 100 global and national firms raised their total number of employees in the province by an average of 7.4% from 2013 to 2017, according to data collected by Business in Vancouver.

For the top 100 global and national companies whose revenue

data was available, revenues rose by an average of 8% between 2012 and 2016.

Sixty-nine per cent of the companies on Business in Vancouver’s 2017 Top 100 National and Global Companies list – which ranks companies by number of staff in B.C. – moved up in rank in 2017 from 2013, and 27% dropped in rank over the same period. The remaining 4% have held their

position since 2013. Jim Pattison Group has held its No. 1 position every year since 2013. The company has increased its revenue 28%, growing to $9.6 billion in 2016 from $7.5 billion in 2012.

Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc. jumped 55 spots on BIV’s list, from 80 in 2013 to 25 in 2017. The auction firm’s revenue increased by $323 million, or 73.6%, to $760 million in 2016 from $437 million

in 2012. Ritchie Bros. increased its B.C. employment numbers by 15.5% during the same period.

However, through a massive hiring initiative this year, the company expanded its B.C. employee base by 482% to 2,116 in 2017 from 439 in 2016.

Stemcell Technologies Inc. had the largest five-year revenue increase, improving its revenue by $18 million, or 98%, to $126

million in 2016 from $64 million in 2012. Stemcell Technologies tied with VersaCold Logistics Services for the second-highest rise in rankings on Business in Vancouver’s list, Stemcell Technologies moving to 47th spot this year from 78th in 2013.

Of the five companies that reported the greatest positive movement in rank among Business in Vancouver’s top 100 national and global companies, the average five-year revenue growth was 50.3% between 2012 and 2016.

The average one-year growth was 14.4% between 2015 and 2016. •

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Top 100 National/Global Companies

Top 100 national nationaland andglobal globalcompanies companiesoperating operatingin inB.C. B.C. RANKED BY | Number Ranked BY | Numberof ofB.C. B.C.employees employeesin in2017 2017

41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 54 54 54 58 59 60

Company

Senior executive(s)

Interfor Corp 1055 Dunsmuir St Suite 3500, Vancouver V7X 1H7 P: 604-689-6800 F: 604-689-6825 interfor.com Lafarge Canada Inc 7455 132 St Suite 200, Surrey V3W 1J8 P: 604-521-8811 F: NP lafarge-na.com

Duncan Davies, president and CEO

1963

2,8461 2,856

1,1621 1,162

NP 100,0002

1,080 1,157

Lush Fresh Handmade Cosmetics North America 8680 Cambie St, Vancouver V6P 6M9 P: NP F: NP lush.ca Sunrise Farms 13538 73 Ave, Surrey V3W 1C9 P: 604-596-9505 F: 604-596-6966 sunrisefarms.ca Gordon Food Service Canada 1700 Cliveden Ave, Delta V3M 6T2 P: 604-529-0700 F: 604-529-0970 gfs.ca Nordstrom 1617 6th Ave Suite 500, Seattle 98101 P: 206-628-2111 F: NP ca.nordstrom.com Stemcell Technologies Inc 1618 Station St, Vancouver V6A 1B6 P: 604-877-0713 F: 800-567-2899 stemcell.com Stantec 111 Dunsmuir St Suite 1100, Vancouver V6B 6A3 P: 604-696-8000 F: 604-696-8100 stantec.com

Mark Wolverton, CEO and co-owner

Cruelty-free cosmetics, handmade using fresh, North America ethically sourced ingredients

1833, France; 1956, Canada 1996

6,5813 NP

1,061 NP

Peter Shoore, president

Food processing

B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario

1983

2,350 2,200

930 900

Danna Dunnage, president

Food service products and services

North America

1897

17,0004 17,0004

85344 853

Blake Nordstrom, Peter Nordstrom, Erik Nordstrom, co-presidents

Apparel retailer

U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico

1901

72,5001 72,500

8261 826

Allen Eaves, president and CEO

Cell separation, culture media, instruments, antibodies, cytokines, small molecules, education and contract assay services Professional consulting in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, environmental sciences, project management and project economics Parking management

Vancouver, B.C.; Tukwila, Wash.; Grenoble, France

1993

904 846

809 671

Canada, U.S.

1954

15,284 14,921

804 880

145 cities across Canada and the U.S.

1962

9,1461 9,146

7711 771

Energy and power monitoring systems, power and automation solutions, electrical distribution network management Janitorial services, exterior maintenance and document shredding

Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Africa, North America

1836

144,000 170,000

750 750

B.C., Alberta, Ontario

1956

NP 1,184

749 620

Global communications and information company providing operational solutions to commercial and government organizations worldwide Independent, pure-play children’s content company

Canada, U.S., India, Australia, Brazil, Russia

1969

4,800 4,800

718 671

NP

2006

NP 1,257

701 700

Worldwide provider of network security appliances and a market leader in unified threat management Cement manufacturing

Worldwide

2000

4,2005 4,018

700 NP

Western Canada and Washington state

1873

55,0007 45,0007

70088 700

Worldwide

1992

NP 1,046

700 700

Angus English, regional leader, B.C.

Academy Award-winning visual effects and animation unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group Professional consulting engineering services

Worldwide

1959

36,500 34,5009

7009 700

Leigh Parker, chair, Richard McConnachie, vicechair, Bill Currie, president and COO

North American truck and heavy equipment dealer

Canada, U.S.

1949

1,225 1,245

695 690

Jeff Fuller, owner, Al Jessa, president

Casual fine dining

29 locations across Canada and western U.S.

1992

4,300 4,200

680 680

B.C., Alberta, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba

1907

1,006 880

624 480

Imperial Parking Corp (Impark) 601 Cordova St W Suite 300, Vancouver V6B 1G1 P: 604-681-7311 F: 604-681-4098 impark.com Schneider Electric Canada 3700 Gilmore Way, Burnaby V5G 4M1 P: 604-422-2642 F: NP schneider-electric.ca Best Service Pros 85 Schooner St Suite 101, Coquitlam V3K 7A8 P: 604-347-7455 F: 604-874-5846 best.ca MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd 200 Burrard St Suite 1570, Vancouver V6C 3L6 P: 604-974-5275 F: 604-974-5807 mdacorporation.com DHX Media 380 5th Ave W, Vancouver V5Y 1J5 P: 604-684-2363 F: 604-602-0208 dhxmedia.com Fortinet Inc 4190 Still Creek Dr Suite 400, Burnaby V5C 6C6 P: 604-430-1297 F: 604-293-8885 fortinet.com Lehigh Hanson Canada 8955 Shaughnessy St6, Vancouver V6P 3Y7 P: 800-665-6006 F: NP lehighhansoncanada.com Sony Pictures Imageworks 725 Granville St, Vancouver V7Y 1K4 P: 604-673-2500 F: NP imageworks.com WSP Canada Inc 1985 Broadway W Suite 200, Vancouver V6J 4Y3 P: 604-736-5421 F: 604-736-1519 wspgroup.com Inland Group 2482 Douglas Rd, Burnaby V5C 6C9 P: 604-291-6021 F: 604-299-7819 inland-group.com Joey Restaurant Group 505 Burrard St Suite 950, Vancouver V7X 1M4 P: 604-699-5637 F: 604-699-5630 joeyrestaurants.com Purdys Chocolatier 8330 Chester St, Vancouver V5X 3Y7 P: 604-454-2777 F: 604-301-4402 purdys.com

Primary business

Manufacturer of commodity structural lumber, B.C., Washington, Oregon, Georgia, machine stress-rated products, industrial South Carolina, Arkansas lumber and timbers and appearance lumber David Redfern, vice-president, Greater Vancouver Largest diversified supplier of construction Canada, U.S. area materials in the U.S. and Canada

Neal Cormack, regional leader, B.C.

Jill Tipping, vice-president, operations, and CFO Kevin McCrum, CEO, Bruce Taylor, COO, Garth Miller, director, finance and IT Howard Lance, president and CEO

Kirsten Newlands, senior vice-president, animation production, DHX Studios Ken Xie, founder, board chair and CEO , Michael Xie, founder, president and CTO

Randy Lake, president

Karen Flavelle, CEO, Peter Higgins, president and Chocolates, nuts, ice cream and seasonal gifts chocolate scientist

Sources: Interviews with above firms and BIV research. Other companies may have ranked but did not respond by deadline or were unable to break down numbers regionally. NP Not provided 1 - 2016 figure 2 - Total of parent company, LafargeHolcim 3 - North America only 4 - 2015 figure 5 - As of December 31 of previous year 6 - Lehigh Cement address 7 - Figure for parent company, HeidelbergCement 8 - Fluctuates between 600 and 700 9 - Includes acquired firms Focus, Parsons Brinckerhoff/Halsall Associates, Levelton and MMM Group

VancouVer

relocation Guide 2018 The official relocation guide of The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade

Key geographic areas business operates in Year founded

Worldwide staff B.C. staff '17/'16 '17/'16

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in the List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Carrie Schmidt, lists@biv.com.

Essential advice for relocating yourself, your family or your business to Vancouver, British Columbia and its surrounding communities.

VancouVer relocation guide

2017

Rank '17

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Top 100 National/Global Companies

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

33

Top 100 national nationaland andglobal globalcompanies companiesoperating operatingin inB.C. B.C. RANKED BY | Number Ranked BY | Numberof ofB.C. B.C.employees employeesin in2017 2017 Rank '17

61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80

Company

Senior executive(s)

Primary business

Super Save Group of Companies 19395 Langley Bypass, Surrey V3S 6K1 P: 604-533-4423 F: 888-808-0080 supersave.ca Village Farms International Inc 4700 80 St, Delta V4K 3N3 P: 604-940-6012 F: 604-940-6312 villagefarms.com Central 1 Credit Union 1441 Creekside Dr, Vancouver V6J 4S7 P: 604-734-2511 F: 604-734-5055 central1.com Microsoft Canada Inc (Vancouver development centre) 725 Granville St Suite 700, Vancouver V7Y 1G5 P: 604-693-7726 F: NP mcec.microsoft.ca KF Aerospace Group 5655 Airport Way, Kelowna V1V 1S1 P: 250-491-5500 F: 250-765-1489 kfaero.ca Holt Renfrew 737 Dunsmuir St, Vancouver V7Y 1E4 P: 604-681-3121 F: 604-681-9285 holtrenfrew.com Creation Technologies 8999 Fraserton Crt , Burnaby V5J 5H8 P: 604-430-4336 F: 604-430-4337 creationtech.com WhiteWater West Industries Ltd 6700 McMillan Way, Richmond V6W 1J7 P: 604-273-1068 F: 604-273-4518 whitewaterwest.com TPD 595 Howe St Suite 1205, Vancouver V6C 2T5 P: 604-685-3530 F: 604-689-5981 tpd.com

William Vandekerkhove, president

Gas and propane retailing, waste recycling and Yukon, B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, shredding services, propane distribution, fence Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and portable toilet rentals Grower and marketer of hydroponic produce B.C., Texas

1977

8501 NP

6051 6051

1989

1,30023 1,300

6002 600

Don Wright, president and CEO

Wholesale financial services to B.C. and Ontario B.C., Ontario credit unions

1944

665 648

577 562

Janet Kennedy, president

Development and sale of computer software and games

1985

NP 4 1,250

5682 568

Barry Lapointe, chair and CEO, Tracy Medve, president

1970

7902 790

5612 561

Mario Grauso, president

Aircraft cargo, heavy maintenance and aircraft Canada, U.S. modifications, repair and overhaul, avionics, pilot flight training, leasing Luxury retail NP

1837

NP NP

5402 540

Geoff Reed, founder and chairman, Bhawnesh Mathur, president and CEO

Contract electronic design and manufacturing services provider

1991

3,000 3,000

520 550

Geoff Chutter, president and CEO, Paul Cass, COO, Paul Chutter, chief business development officer , Daryn Abercrombie, CFO Paul Tournier, president

Largest and most experienced builder of water Worldwide parks and attractions in the world

1980

NP 652

510 578

Canada, U.S.

1980

1,0002 1,000

5052 505

NorLand Ltd 3183 Norland Ave, Burnaby V5B 3A9 P: 604-291-1255 F: 604-291-2813 norlandlimited.com Flight Centre (Canada) 1133 Melville St Suite 600, Vancouver V6E 4E5 P: 877-967-5302 F: NP flightcentre.ca Raymond James Ltd 925 Georgia St W Suite 2100, Vancouver V6C 3L2 P: 604-659-8000 F: 604-659-8099 raymondjames.ca Colliers International 200 Granville St Suite 1900, Vancouver V6C 2R6 P: 604-681-4111 F: 604-681-2911 collierscanada.com Canadian Western Bank 666 Burrard St Suite 2200, Vancouver V6C 2X8 P: 604-669-0081 F: 604-683-0051 cwb.com New Gold Inc 555 Burrard St Suite 1800, PO Box 212, Vancouver V7X 1M9 P: 604-696-4100 F: 604-696-4110 newgold.com Mountain Equipment Co-op 1077 Great Northern Way, Vancouver V5T 1E1 P: 604-707-3300 F: 604-731-3691 mec.ca

Dave Reynolds, president and CEO, Tim Doucette, executive vice-president and CFO

HR managed services (payroll, benefits management, outplacement, etc.), HR consulting, HR technology, temporary staffing, permanent recruiting, executive search Diverse group of specialized businesses that have been serving the construction industry since 1954 Travel agency

Canada, especially Western Canada, and the U.S.

1954

557 NP

503 NP

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, U.K., U.S., South Africa

1995

19,0002 19,000

5002 500

Lloyd Costley, COO, Anne Meyer, senior vicepresident and CFO, Paul Allison, CEO

Full-service investment firm

Canada

2001

1,029 815

487 440

Kirk Kuester, executive managing director, B.C.

Fully integrated commercial real estate services Worldwide

1898

15,000 NP

484 400

Mario V. Furlan, senior vice-president and regional Business and personal banking, trust services, Western Canada general manager investment and wealth management services

1988

2,168 2,104

474 481

Hannes Portmann, president and CEO

Gold and precious-metals mining

1980

1,6522 1,6523

46732 467

David Labistour, CEO, Sandy Treagus, CFO

1971

2,2002 2,200

4611 4611

EY 700 Georgia St W Suite 2300, Vancouver V7Y 1C7 P: 604-891-8200 F: 604-643-5422 ey.com/ca Corix Group of Companies 1188 Georgia St W Suite 1160, Vancouver V6E 4A2 P: 604-697-6700 F: 604-697-6703 corix.com Chevron Canada Ltd (Burnaby refinery) 355 Willingdon Ave N, Burnaby V5C 1X4 P: 604-257-4040 F: NP chevron.ca Weyerhaeuser Co Ltd 925 Georgia St W Suite 500, Vancouver V6C 3L2 P: 604-661-8000 F: 604-661-8377 weyerhaeuser.com

Fiona Macfarlane, managing partner, B.C., and Canadian chief inclusiveness officer

Speciallty outdoor retail co-operative that B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, supports active outdoor lifestyles in Canada; Quebec, Nova Scotia employs a multi-channel strategy and features a mature private-label product line Professional accounting and advisory services International

1945

247,570 1 190,000

436 453

Michael DeGiglio, president and CEO, Stephen Ruffini, executive vice-president and CFO

John Beauvais, president

Scott Thomson, president and CEO

Fred Dzida, president

Key geographic areas business operates in Year founded

Worldwide

Canada, U.S., China, Mexico

Canada, U.S., Mexico, Australia, Chile

Worldwide staff B.C. staff '17/'16 '17/'16

Sustainable utility infrastructure solutions for small to medium-sized communities across North America Petroleum products manufacturing

B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, 2006 Manitoba, Ontario, Alaska, Wisconsin, California, Oklahoma, Texas Across Canada 1935

NP NP

4102 410

NP 58,0004

4002 400

Dimensional softwood lumber, engineered lumber (Parallam, TimberStrand), oriented strand board, northern bleached softwood kraft pulp

North America, South America, Europe, 1900 Asia

10,400 11,674

387 405

Sources: Interviews with above firms and BIV research. Other companies may have ranked but did not respond by deadline or were unable to break down numbers regionally. NP Not provided 1 - 2015 figure 2 - 2016 figure 3 - Includes contractors 4 - BIV estimate

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in the List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Carrie Schmidt, lists@biv.com.

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Top 100 National/Global Companies

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Top 100 national nationaland andglobal globalcompanies companiesoperating operatingin inB.C. B.C. RANKED BY | Number Ranked BY | Numberof ofB.C. B.C.employees employeesin in2017 2017 Rank '17

81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 90 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100

Company

Senior executive(s)

Primary business

Key geographic areas business operates in Year founded

Worldwide staff B.C. staff '17/'16 '17/'16

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc 609 Granville St Suite 2200, Vancouver V7Y 1H2 P: 604-643-7300 F: NP canaccordgenuitygroup.com Graham Group 7216 Brown St, Delta V4G 1G8 P: 604-940-4500 F: 604-940-4502 grahambuilds.com Sierra Wireless Inc 13811 Wireless Way, Richmond V6V 3A4 P: 604-231-1100 F: 604-231-1109 sierrawireless.com Global Relay 220 Cambie St 2nd floor, Vancouver V6B 2M9 P: 604-484-6630 F: 604-608-2941 globalrelay.com O'Neill Hotels & Resorts 925 Georgia St W Suite 810, Vancouver V6C 3L2 P: 604-684-0444 F: 604-684-0482 oneillhotels.com

Daniel Daviau, president and CEO

Financial services

Canada, U.S., U.K., France, Ireland, China, 1950 Hong Kong, Australia

1,697 1,7001

3801 382

Grant Beck, president and CEO

Integrated construction solutions

Canada, U.S.

1926

3,34322 3,775

37522 390

Jason Cohenour, president and CEO

Hardware, software and services for connected devices

Canada, U.S., U.K., Hong Kong, China, Australia, Japan, France, Luxembourg

1993

1,162 1,089

371 346

Shannon Rogers, president and chief legal officer, Warren Roy, CEO and founder

Cloud archiving and information governance Worldwide solutions for the global financial sector and other highly regulated industries Hospitality company; owns and operates hotels North America and resorts under these brands: Marriott, Hilton, IHG, Wyndham, Carlson Rezidor, Choice Hotels, Best Western, Oak Tree Inn Plant-based 100% natural health and wellness Across Canada products

1999

400 386

362 350

1994

3,977 NP

358 NP

1992

NP 677

346 221

Paul Struthers, executive vice-president and managing director, Sage Canada

Business management software, solutions and services for small and mid-sized businesses

Worldwide

1981

NP 14,000

3323 347

Tomoyuki Iida, president

Pulp manufacturing

Western Canada

1969

611 638

326 326

Emmie Leung, founder, Ed Walsh, vice-president, operations

Provides integrated recycling resource B.C., Ontario, Saskatchewan, Manitoba management and waste disposal solutions to the and Michigan, U.S. commercial, municipal and industrial sectors Financial services Canada

1976

1,006 1,006

325 325

1859

19,71744 19,717

30555 305

Robert Miller, president and CEO, Owen Davies, vice- Forest and other seedlings producer, biofuels and Canada, U.S. president, finance and administration, and CFO related technology

1988

46966 575

30566 445

Roy Hessel, CEO

Leading online eyewear retailer of eyeglasses, contact lenses and related vision care products

Canada, U.S., Japan, Australia, New Zealand

2000

NP 339

303 316

Brian Scudamore, founder and CEO

Umbrella company for 1-800-Got-Junk?, Wow 1 Day Painting, You Move Me and Shack Shine

Canada, U.S., Australia; 240 franchises system-wide

19897

3,00089 3,000

3008 300

Scott Miller, CEO

Provides customer relationship intelligence software that improves customer relationships to grow customer lifetime value Embedded, persistent end-point security and management solutions for computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones Cloud-based audit and risk management software with data analysis for finance, governance, risk, IT and compliance professionals

Canada, U.S., Europe, Australia, South Africa, Hong Kong, Singapore

2000

622 876

293 392

North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Australia

1993

500 500

279 269

Offices and hosting in North America, Europe and Asia; used by more than 14,000 organizations in more than 140 countries J. Cowan McKinney, chair, board of directors, Stuart Electronic and LED design and manufacturing for Burnaby and Nelson (Canada); Detroit, the automotive and commercial vehicle industries Mich., and Laredo, Texas; Fresnillo and Ross, CEO, Ian Scott, COO, Jonathan Fogg, CFO Zacatecas (Mexico) Greg Malpass, CEO and founder, Andrew Buckley, Salesforce.com and cloud technology B.C., Ontario, Quebec, California, New executive vice-president, Corinne Hua, CFO implementation and enhancement services, York, Texas software development and consulting, marketing automation, big data, force.com development Cal Yonker, CEO, Mark Kelly, CFO IT and management consulting services, systems Canada integration and managed services

1987

303 247

259 205

1989

1,115 1,000

240 236

2006

NP 239

234 188

1966

NP 612

231 265

1948

4558 455

2258 225

Robert Pratt, president, ONE Lodging Management, John O'Neill, president and CEO

Saje Natural Wellness 88 Pender St E Suite 500, Vancouver V6A 3X3 P: 1-877-275-7253 F: NP saje.ca Sage 13888 Wireless Way, Richmond V6V 0A3 P: 604-207-9480 F: NP sage.com/ca Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd 510 Burrard St Suite 700, Vancouver V6C 3A8 P: 604-684-4326 F: 604-684-0512 dmi.ca Emterra Environmental 6362 148 St, Surrey V3S 3C4 P: 604-599-8151 F: 604-597-5051 emterra.ca National Bank of Canada 555 Burrard St, Vancouver V7X 1M7 P: 604-661-5500 F: 604-661-5509 nbc.ca PRT Growing Services Ltd 1006 Fort St Suite 101, Victoria V8V 3K4 P: 250-381-1404 F: 250-381-0252 prt.com Clearly 2955 Virtual Way Suite 400, Vancouver V5M 4X6 P: 604-669-1555 F: 604-669-6855 clearly.ca O2E Brands 887 Great Northern Way Suite 301, Vancouver V5T 4T5 P: 1-866-234-0057 F: NA o2ebrands.com Vision Critical 200 Granville St, Vancouver V6C 1S4 P: 604-647-1980 F: 604-647-1005 visioncritical.com Absolute 1055 Dunsmuir St Suite 1400, PO Box 49211, Vancouver V7X 1K8 P: 604-730-9851 F: 604-730-2621 absolute.com ACL Services Ltd 980 Howe St Suite 1500, Vancouver V6Z 0C8 P: 604-669-4225 F: 604-669-3557 acl.com Pacific Insight Electronics Corp 1155 Insight Dr, Nelson V1L 5P5 P: 800-995-1155 F: NP pacificinsight.com Traction on Demand 2700 Production Way Suite 500, Burnaby V5A 0C2 P: 604-620-6040 F: NP tractionondemand.com Sierra Systems 1177 Hastings St W Suite 2500, Vancouver V6E 2K3 P: 604-688-1371 F: 604-688-6482 sierrasystems.com Fields 766 Cliveden Pl Suite 130, Delta V3M 6C7 P: 604-549-9280 F: 604-549-9281 fields.ca

Jean-Pierre LeBlanc, chief wellness officer

Geoff Haydon, CEO, Errol Olsen, CFO Laurie Schultz, president and CEO

Jason McDougall, CEO, Dean Petruk, president and COO

General retailer for value-priced apparel and everyday needs

Sources: Interviews with above firms and BIV research. Other companies may have ranked but did not respond by deadline or were unable to break down numbers regionally. NP Not provided 1 - Fiscal 2017; March 31 2 Includes all divisions and workforce partners 3 - Full-time; plus 24 contractors/consultants based in B.C. 4 - As of April 30, 2016 5 - As of October 31, 2015 6 - Seasonal; highest volumes in November 7 - Year that first company, 1-800-Got-Junk?, was founded. O2E Brands was founded in 2014 8 - 2016 figure 9 - Approximate, fluctuates depending on the season

Western Canada

Business in Vancouver makes every attempt to publish accurate information in the List, but accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Researched by Carrie Schmidt, lists@biv.com.

Next week’s list – Biggest video game developers in B.C.

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BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Insights

Publisher | Sue Belisle, 604-608-5151 Editor-in-chief; vice-president, Glacier Media | Kirk LaPointe, 604-608-5183 Managing editor | Timothy Renshaw, 604-608-5131 Deputy Managing editor | Mark Falkenberg, 604-608-5174 Business in Vancouver is owned by Glacier Media Inc., 303 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6

Canadians thinking small in a big land

A

big land averse to big thinking: welcome to Canada at 150.

Energy East is its latest casualty.

TransCanada Corp.’s $15.7 billion pipeline proposal, which would have generated an estimated 3,000 jobs during its construction and allowed Canadian energy to flow to markets other than the U.S., fell victim to the country’s business backwater outlook.

geography is the only thing big about Canada It’s more evidence for international investors that geography is the only thing big about Canada.

However, ambitious resource infrastructure projects are one thing; the country’s trade and mobility infrastructure is another.

The former is key to opening doors to allow Canada’s energy riches, which generated $160 billion in federal gross domestic product in 2015, to reach world markets and command international market prices; the latter is fundamental to maintaining all goods

35

last laugh

movement within the country and beyond, and it needs attention now.

The Boston Consulting Group in Canada (BCG) has launched a project to address that issue, because, as the management consulting firm points out in 15 Things to Know about Canadian Infrastructure, Canada’s infrastructure deficit has reached $270 billion.

As an infrastructure laggard, the country will face more constraints in exports that are already squeezed by its supply-chain bottlenecks, mediocre productivity and inability to execute major projects. Factor in shortfalls in digital infrastructure, which is now as critical to any country’s success as are roads, rail lines, shipping corridors and airports, and small-time Canada won’t be getting any bigger any time soon.

The BCG’s CanInfra Challenge is one way to spark innovative idea generation, but the country’s enterprise core needs a radical remake to address systemic complacency and develop a national vision for energy and resource development and a culture of audacious ambition to match this vast land. Without it, B.C. and the rest of Canada will continue to be a bargainbasement resource warehouse for a United States economy that is increasingly insular, self-absorbed and punitively hostile to competitive Canadian products and trade.

Taking to the streets to stem rising tide of city’s homeless youth

Podium Kirk LaPointe

R

egrettably I must write this column.

I had hoped not to.

It arises from our collective failing as a community to properly support those in deep need.

Our governments have pledged but not delivered to help those on our streets.

The median age of our homeless population is in its 40s. But each night, between 500 and 1,000 young people sleep outside. The least I can do is to give over one night to do the same, and to ask for your support in doing so.

Covenant House Vancouver is 20 years old now, having helped 20,000 in our midst, and I wish

it weren’t the venerable presence it needs to be.

Each year it organizes an Executive Sleep Out to raise funds for its crisis program. The word crisis is overused in our society but not in this context.

Consider the data Covenant House amassed from the last year alone: •399 youth stayed in the crisis program for food and shelter in the overrun 59-bed facility.

There they created individual plans to help find a job, upgrade education and skills, and secure safe shelter.

•574 were helped by the House’s outreach teams for food, first aid and naloxone, to support them with visits to the hospital, arranging appointments, and guiding their lives if they don’t feel ready to come off the streets.

•897 came to the House’s dropin facilities for food, to arrange access to mental health and addictions support and counselling, and to get a brief break from the enervating life on the

what’s your opinion?

street.

It is a fallacy that these children of Vancouver – and they are ours, truly – have great agency in their lives. What they have experienced tells of trauma, exploitation, suffering, addiction and need. Again, some data: •70% witnessed family violence; •50% struggle with substance abuse; •50%, at least, age out of foster care at age 19 and are left to their devices with no means of income or support; •39% deal with mental illness; and •33% have been sexually exploited, some of them as victims of human trafficking.

This is not the city we want, probably not even the city we think we would ever have. Yet our governments are either great pretenders (remember the mayor’s 2008 promise to end homelessness by 2015?), providers of lip service, or illequipped to tackle the causes

and effects and generate the proper policies and practices to mitigate the deepening damage.

Homelessness grows in the city – the last count was 2,138 in Vancouver out of a total of 3,605 in Metro Vancouver, a 30% rise since the last election.

Covenant House should be a service we do not need, but there is no doubt that its longer-term plans to expand its programming will be met with high demand. Our best foot forward is to help, because waiting for government only perpetuates the fatalities (140 in B.C. in 2015) and suffering.

Last week was Homelessness Action Week, and while there are new funds planned to help create shelter provincially and a new ministry to specifically tackle addictions and their impact in our province, the swiftest action is to get people off the street and into services that can help and give them a new set of chances.

On the night of November 16,

I would prefer to be in a warm bed, after a full meal and perhaps an evening of entertainment or relaxation. I know I would feel secure, undisturbed, and by morning well rested for the day ahead. That is not what the hundreds of young people on our streets will experience, so it is a meagre measure for me to be out in the cold in a sleeping bag on a bed of cardboard for several hours.

I’d like to say I won’t need to do this again, but I doubt it.

While you can provide funds to anyone – and, by the way, more are needed for the 60-person Executive Sleep-Out – my personal online page for donations is: http://support.covenanthousebc.org/goto/KirkLaPointe.

If you have a problem in getting the donation through, contact me at klapointe@biv.com, and I’ll get the funds to the right place. Their place. • Kirk LaPointe is editor-in-chief of Business in Vancouver Media Group and vice-president of Glacier Media.

| BIV welcomes readers’ opinions. All letters, including those sent by email, must include the author’s name, address and daytime telephone number. Business in Vancouver, 303 West 5th Avenue, Vancouver, B.C. V5Y 1J6. Email: news@biv.com. We reserve the right to edit for brevity, clarity and legality.

36

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Insights

B.C.-Alberta economic links tightest among Canadian provinces

Podium Jock Finlayson and Ken Peacock

C

anada is a federation made up of provinces and territories with a significant amount of subnational autonomy. The provinces are responsible for delivering health care and education and have jurisdiction over employment standards and occupational regulations governing the labour market. Control of Crown land and regulating the operations of resource industries are also under provincial jurisdiction. Although independent, the provinces cooperate and are integrated and interdependent with each other in an economic sense. The two westernmost provinces, B.C. and Alberta, have especially strong economic connections and exhibit a high degree of economic interdependence.

One significant element of the relationship is the extent of interprovincial trade. In recent years, B.C.’s merchandise exports to Alberta have exceeded

$7.2 billion, far more than to any other province. Geography is clearly a factor here, but it is noteworthy that B.C.’s exports to Alberta are two and half times larger than what we export to Ontario (even though Ontario’s economy is roughly three times larger than Alberta’s). Interprovincial trade tends to attract little attention in comparison to international trade. Yet B.C.’s merchandise exports to Alberta exceed the value of what we export to China.

The Alberta situation is slightly different. British Columbia ranks as Alberta’s second-largest provincial export market, after Ontario.

Alberta sells around $8 billion in goods to B.C. annually. The comparatively strong B.C.Alberta ties are reflected in the fact that even though Ontario’s economy is also nearly three times the size of B.C.’s, Alberta’s merchandise exports to Ontario are generally just one and a half to two times larger than exports to B.C. Alberta benefits greatly from Canada’s transportation linkages to Asia. The majority of the nearly $6 billion in goods Alberta exports to Asia are shipped through British Columbia ports. Many consumer and industrial goods imported

by Alberta also come via the

B.C. gateway. While B.C.’s gateway connections to Asia are essential to the Alberta economy, the associated economic gains for B.C. are also substantial. Connecting Alberta to overseas markets generates export earnings for B.C. in the form of transportation and related services, which in turn support tens of thousands of jobs in this province.

Services more generally are a significant part of interprovincial trade, and transportation services play a large and growing role in B.C.’s export base.

The total value of services exported to Alberta is more than $9 billion, meaning interprovincial trade in services exceeds the value of goods exports.

Among all exports to Alberta, transportation services are the second-largest source of export earnings, after natural gas.

The economies of B.C. and Alberta have been comparatively strong for some time, albeit with bumps along the way. Since 2011, B.C. has led the country in average annual economic growth, followed by Alberta (Manitoba and Saskatchewan were close behind).

Job opportunities that accompany economic growth have attracted migrants from other provinces. B.C. and Alberta are the only two provinces over longer periods to consistently

record net inflows of people from other parts of Canada.

Although the crash in oil prices recently led to a modest amount of net out-migration, cumulatively over the past five years Alberta recorded a net inflow of more than 100,000 people from other provinces. In B.C., the cumulative net inflow over the same period was approximately 55,000. Of interest, all other provinces experienced net outflows of people over the period 2012-16.

In addition to being the only two provinces with net in-migration from the rest of Canada, B.C. and Alberta have the highest levels of bilateral migration between any two provinces. Given the geography of the country, this is not terribly surprising, but it is interesting that geography and close economic linkages between B.C. and Alberta result in more interprovincial migration than occurs between Ontario – with more than three times the population – and any other Canadian province. One could reasonably expect that the greatest interprovincial migration flows would be between Ontario and Alberta or Ontario and B.C. Although language inhibits mobility to some extent, one might also expect substantial migration between Ontario and Quebec, the two most populous

B.C.’s merchandise exports to Alberta exceed the value of what we export to China

provinces. Yet it is B.C. and Alberta that stand out as the two provinces with the largest absolute bilateral flow of people.

The economic connections between provinces are important sources of economic activity. Arguably, theses linkages are most extensive between B.C. and Alberta, especially with respect to labour markets and interprovincial migration.

The economic ties between B.C. and Alberta have been strengthened by the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement and further reinforced by the successor New West Partnership Trade Agreement that includes Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Policy-makers in both provinces are well advised to keep this in mind and work to further expand and facilitate trade, labour mobility and business connections generally. • Jock Finlayson is the Business Council of British Columbia’s executive vicepresident and chief policy officer; Ken Peacock is the council’s chief economist.

You’ve been approached to sell your business – now what?

Podium Erica McGuinness

T

wo weeks ago I sat down with a client who confided that he’d been approached by someone wanting to buy his business. He hadn’t been thinking of selling, but he was open to hear what the interested party had to say.

“How do I go into this meeting without blinders on?” he asked.

“What do I need to know?”

It was the third time in a matter of months a business owner had called me after being approached. With capital readily available at historically low borrowing rates, it’s becoming more common to receive an offer that’s unsolicited.

Would-be buyers are either competitors looking to achieve scale or a larger proportion of market share, private equity investors wanting to partner and grow the business, or

investment bankers representing an interested buyer.

Being approached can put business owners in a tough predicament. You don’t want to lose an opportunity, but you’ve spent years growing your business, taking risks and making sacrifices. You may not feel prepared to sell, or maybe the idea of selling today is in stark contrast with your longer-term succession plan.

When my clients look to me for advice, they want to know – apart from whether to sell – how do you distinguish credible buyers from tire kickers?

The goal of these preliminary discussions is not to put a deal together, but to determine if there is something worth exploring.

If you do get approached, here is some of the recent guidance I provided.

Know what’s piquing your interest: Did a competitor recently sell for a strong value and it got you thinking? Does this buyer offer something strategic – like a broader customer base or access to better suppliers? Does the timing feel right? Whatever the reason, know what it is before you enter

a discussion.

Find out their rationale: Why do they like your business? What is their strategic plan? Asking lots of questions will help you assess whether a transaction is something you want to pursue.

Confidentiality is key: Make sure your information is protected. And if you’re going to share it, ensure there is a confidentiality agreement in place that protects your people and customers. Also, be strategic in what you share. At this stage, you should provide only the information necessary for the buyer to make a preliminary assessment. For example, a financial summary highlighting a few years.

Ask for their approach to value: This doesn’t mean negotiating the exact purchase price right out of the gate. It means understanding how the buyer will get to a price and typical methodologies or deal structures they’ve used on prior transactions. Getting this out in the open quickly can save a lot of time and energy. If you’re not getting a clear answer, it could be because they haven’t bought a business like yours

The goal of these preliminary discussions is not to put a deal together, but to determine if there is something worth exploring

before, they are not serious or their intentions aren’t true.

Don’t pay to have a discussion: There have been instances where international investment banking firms have reached out to local businesses saying they have a buyer but require investment for a preliminary analysis.

If they do have a legitimate buyer, it shouldn’t cost you a penny. Don’t forget, they approached you.

Think strategically about how to position your business: For example, the buyer may ask for five years of historical

financials, but you made a significant capital investment three years ago that dramatically improved cash flows and decreased cost structure. Your financial results from five years ago may not be relevant to the business you run today.

While opportunities may abound, it’s too difficult to say whether taking that first meeting with an interested party will result in the sale of your business. Sometimes even a serious buyer is not the best fit, and other times the process needs to be open to more than one party to find the right fit and get a competitive price.

As for my client who was approached recently, the process is still ongoing. For him, he saw no harm in entertaining an offer once he was well prepared to do so. At the very least, he may come away with a better sense of what his business is worth and an understanding of how he really feels about the prospect of a sale. • Erica McGuinness is vice-president at Sequeira Partners Inc., where she advises clients on transactions, and board director of the Association for Corporate Growth.

BUSINESSVANCOUVER

send your free listing to fortherecord@biv.com

October 17–23, 2017

37

for the record People on the Move Email your For the Record information to: fortherecord@biv.com.

Please include a high-resolution, colour headshot where possible.

Hospitality/Tourism/ Convention Tim Mow Thailand-based Tim Mow has joined the WhiteWater Southeast Asia team as vice-president of development and technical services.

Mow’s career in the aquatic industry has spanned 30 years, from waterpark operations and maintenance in California to design and managment of water parks in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Mow most recently served as general manager of Vana Nava Water Jungle in Hua Hin, Thailand.

Mike Bose, chair, grant program, SurreyCares Community Foundation; Patricia Hanbury, director of programs and services, Down Syndrome Research Foundation; and Jeff Hector, chair, SurreyCares Community Foundation | Brian Giebelhaus

Legal

Lillian Y. Pan George Tai Lillian Y. Pan and George Tai have joined Dentons’ Calgary office as partners in the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution group and corporate group, respectively. Both are fluent in Mandarin and will expand Dentons’ offering to clients interested in business opportunities in China.

Media Barbara Johnston and Rowena Rae have joined the partnership of West Coast Editorial Associates LLP. Vancouver-based Johnston has worked for educational, health-care, Indigenous and legal organizations and publishers for more than 20 years. Rae, based in Victoria, has been freelance editing and writing since 2004; her projects range from government and business documents to books, magazine articles and educational materials.

Charlotte Gilmour Nora Eastwood A shley Letts Charlotte Gilmour and Nora Eastwood have recently joined Yulu Public Relations Inc. as director of client services and account manager, respectively.

Ashley Letts has returned to the firm as senior consultant. Gilmour has 10 years’ experience in public relations, having worked in both Vancouver and London, and has represented international brands such as Orange UK, Glenfiddich and Corbis as well as organizations driven by social or environmental mandates. Eastwood has worked at Irish public relations firms Q4 Public Relations and Hume Brophy, while also acting as a communications consultant in Northern Ireland’s political campaigns. Letts was the agency’s first hire in 2012, working on creative campaigns for clients such as Vancouver Farmers Markets, Donnelly Group, Okanagan Spring and Happy Planet. In the interim, Letts worked as public relations lead for O2E Brands.

Non-Profit Sheila Biggers Sheila Biggers has been appointed president and CEO of Junior Achievement of British Columbia. Biggers has more than 25 years of experience working in the not-for-profit and public sectors.

Joy Johnson Geoffrey Payne Joy Johnson, vice-president, research and international, at Simon Fraser University, and Geoffrey Payne, interim vice-president of research at the University of Northern British Columbia, have been appointed to Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research’s board of directors.

Denise Baker, executive director, Vantage Point, is retiring in May 2018. Vantage Point is a non-profit focused on capacity development and leadership training. Baker joined Vantage Point in the summer of 2013 and has helped the organization to

achieve many accomplishments: in the past year, the organization delivered more than 200 capacitybuilding sessions to more than 1,357 organizations in 76 communities across the province.

Nassaji, DoubleJump; Rasool Rayani (chair), Heart Pharmacy; Christina Seargeant, Workday; Nicole Smith, Flytographer; and Brianna Wettlaufer (chair, governance committee), Stocksy United.

Resources Ian Graham has been appointed vicepresident of operations for MGX Minerals Inc. Graham has more than 20 years of international experience exploring for and developing mineral deposits. He has spent more than half of his career working for major mining companies, including roles at Rio Tinto and Anglo American.

Hats Off

Sales/Marketing Gary Milne has joined Elton Media as managing partner, business development. Milne was previously at Momentum Media Marketing and has a career spanning more than 30 years developing sales teams and managing operations in radio, television and digital media. Milne has spent the last nine years developing media plans and marketing strategies for clients; one of his current projects is offering broadcast leadership to Vancouver’s first Aboriginal radio station, CJNY 1063, launching in autumn 2018.

Technology Daniel Cugnet has been appointed to the board of directors at Tinkerine Studios Ltd., the designer and manufacturer of 3D printers and software. Desmond Liew has resigned as chair and board member of the company. Cugnet is a Saskatchewan-based businessman and entrepreneur, and is the chair of Valleyview Petroleums Ltd., a privately owned oil and gas producer.

The Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology and Entrepreneurship Council (VIATEC) has announced its 2017-18 board of directors: Jim Balcom, Redlen Technologies Inc.; Robert Bowness (chair, finance committee), BC Pension Corp.; Robert Cooper, PlusROI Online Marketing Inc.; Scott Dewis, RaceRocks 3D Inc.; Colin How, How Creative; Bobbi Leach (vice-chair), RevenueWire Inc.; Mark Longo (chair, foundation committee), Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP; Justin Love, Limbic Media; Owen Matthews, Wesley Clover; Masoud

Business in Vancouver welcomes submissions from local small businesses and large corporations alike that demonstrate examples of corporate philanthropy and community involvement in the Vancouver area. Highresolution images are also welcome.

Last month, the YWCA Metro Vancouver hosted the Inclusive Workplace Appreciation Event as part of its initiatives to promote and celebrate BC Disability Employment Month. This year’s event took place at Dark Table restaurant, and honoured three local employers who are dedicated to building a more inclusive workforce: White Spot – Dunsmuir, K-Bro Linen and Dark Table. After the award ceremony, participants had lunch in complete darkness, served and guided by a blind server. More than half a million British Columbians self-identify as having a disability, but only one in four members of this demographic is employed.

The 2017 Goldcorp Invitational Golf Tournament raised more than $318,000 to support Special Olympics BC’s year-round sport programs, competitions and opportunities for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

SurreyCares Community Foundation donated $3,000 to the Down Syndrome Research Foundation to purchase occupational therapy equipment for its new Surrey office.

Coastal Community Credit Union donated $5,500, through its Building Healthier Communities Fund, to Cowichan Therapeutic Riding Association (CTRA). A trailer was purchased with the funds and will be transformed into a new mobile used tack store, which will expand the CTRA’s economic potential to provide therapeutic riding and equine-based wellness services for people with special needs. •

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for the record

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

trouble Lawsuit of the week Class action slams HSBC for failing to sound alarm over Ponzi schemer’s account shenanigans Investors burned in a $30 million Ponzi scheme are suing HSBC Bank Canada in a class action, claiming the bank failed to investigate and warn them about fraudster Virginia Tan’s use of HSBC accounts to further the scheme.

Jastram Properties Ltd. filed a notice of civil claim under the Class Proceedings Act in BC Supreme Court on September 29. The company claims it was introduced to Tan, a West Vancouver businesswoman, through a contract employee and friend of the company’s owners, Peter and Lale Doetsch, in May 2012. Tan’s scheme, which fell apart in early 2016, promised investors returns of 12% to 24% on promissory notes purportedly for bridge financing deals.

According to the lawsuit, Jastram invested more than $2.9 million in the scheme between May 2012 and March 2013, and some of the money was allegedly deposited and paid out through Tan’s HSBC accounts. The company invested another $3.45 million in the scheme between April 2013 and March 2015, with interest payments totalling $1,798,566 paid out before Tan’s fraud collapsed.

“By 2011, Tan was making cumulative deposits to the HSBC Tan accounts of approximately $1 million per month, and was making cumulative withdrawals from the HSBC Tan account of approximately $1 million per month,” the claim states. “Most of the deposits in the HSBC Tan accounts were large amount [sic] in round numbers, and most of the withdrawals were cheques written to individuals for smaller round number amounts. These kinds of transactions are hallmarks of a Ponzi scheme.”

Jastram claims HSBC “became concerned” about Tan’s account activity in early 2013 and by then the bank “knew, or concluded that it was reasonably likely, that Tan was using the HSBC Tan accounts for fraudulent purposes.” Tan stopped using the accounts in March 2013 and began routing funds through accounts at three other financial institutions before the fraud was exposed.

“At no time did HSBC take any steps to notify the proper authorities, or to warn other financial institutions, whose customers’ funds had been deposited into the HSBC Tan accounts ... about the circumstances relating to the cessation of activity in the HSBC Tan accounts,” the claim states.

Jastram Properties seeks unspecified damages for failure to investigate and warn of the fraud on behalf of all persons who invested with Tan and her companies and lost money when the scheme ceased.

The allegations have not been tested or proven in court, and HSBC had not responded to the claim by press time.

Discipline Law Society of British Columbia The Law Society of British Columbia (LSBC) announced October 5 that it has ordered that should former lawyer Gerhardus Albertus Pyper of Surrey seek and be granted readmission to membership in the LSBC, he will be suspended for two months commencing on the date on which he is readmitted.

On May 23, 2014, Pyper was suspended, primarily because he had failed to eliminate shortages in his trust account, as he was previously ordered to do. Between May 23 and June 13, 2014, he practised law while suspended by drafting, signing or sending two letters on his law firm letterhead on behalf of a client.

Pyper’s membership in the LSBC ceased on January 29, 2015, for nonpayment of fees.

Because he is not currently a member of the LSBC, the hearing panel determined that the suspension will commence when he is readmitted to the LSBC.

BUYER’S ALERT Companies listed below, which are not accredited by the Better Business Bureau, have failed to respond, as of

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October 6, to Better Business Bureau of Mainland BC’s efforts to mediate complaints from September 24 to September 30. In some instances, the company may have taken care of the complaint and considered the matter closed, or may believe the complaint is unjustified; however, if the BBB has not received a response, records cannot reveal either position. Please note that BBB accredited businesses must respond to customer complaints that are brought to their attention. The companies listed are not members of this Better Business Bureau. Source: BBB. Fraser Valley Screens, Langley Gentlemen’s Joggers, Prince George The following companies have responded to the BBB subsequent to being published: Canadian Weigh, Vancouver Naturally Your Studio, West Vancouver

WHO’S GETTING SUED These corporate claims were filed with the BC Supreme Court registry in Vancouver. Information is derived from notices of civil claim. Civil claims have not been tested or proven in court.

for the record Defendants Community Outreach Pharmacy Ltd. and Sukbir Mann and Harjit Sandhu Plaintiff Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Province of British Columbia Claim $1,392,405 for amounts wrongly claimed from PharmaCare.

Defendants Eastside Pharmacy Ltd. and Alexander Tam and Miracle Management Inc. Plaintiff Her Majesty the Queen in right of the Province of British Columbia Claim $1,051,629 for unjust enrichment arising from fraudulent PharmaCare claims.

Defendants City of Burnaby and ISL Engineering and Land Services Ltd. Plaintiff A C Paving Company Ltd. Claim $878,609 for concrete work.

Defendant 0792203 B.C. Ltd. Plaintiff Coast Hotels Ltd. Claim $653,700 for breach of lease.

Defendants Jun Yu and Wenlong Wang and WW Prime Enterprises Co. Ltd. dba

Glacier Valley Farm and Hong Yu Plaintiff Zheng Wang Claim $200,000 and 3.35 million renminbi for debt.

Defendants PR Forming Group Ltd. and Pinnacle Living (Capstan Village) Lands Inc. and Mondiale Development Ltd. and Stefano Passaglia and Giselia Correia Passaglia and John Doe Ltd. Plaintiff ALM Construction Ltd. Claim $446,437 for concrete stripping work; a builders lien.

Defendants DCC Construction Ltd. and Scott Andrew Ferguson Plaintiff Veltex Heating Ltd. Claim $197,433 for heating and air conditioning installation work; a builders lien.

Defendants Langley Flying School Inc. and Canada Jonathan Aviation Inc. and Ning Zhang and Jiansheng Qian Plaintiff Ke Chen Claim $180,000 for the return of funds after failing to complete a share transfer transaction.

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Defendants Michael Severin and Flat Out Hauling Inc. aka 1327451 Alberta Ltd. Plaintiff RCAP Leasing Inc. Claim $125,471 for debt.

Defendants City of Surrey and Yellowridge Construction Ltd. and LRD Concrete Forming Ltd. and Lance Robert Dickinson and Ruairi Joseph Dolan and Eoin Seamus McCloskey Plaintiff Peri Formwork Systems Inc. Claim $100,763 for equipment; a builders lien.

Defendant Qoola Yogurt (UBC Sub) Ltd. Plaintiff Alma Mater Society of the University of British Columbia Vancouver Claim $87,003 for breach of lease.

Defendants Jack Frost Hauling Ltd. and Francois Caron and Brock Turnbull Plaintiff National Leasing Group Inc. Claim $81,396 for debt.

Defendant Neil Black Plaintiff Raute Canada Ltd.

BUSINESSVANCOUVER October 17–23, 2017

Claim $48,538 for breach of contract for failure to reimburse plaintiff for costs of sending him to an MBA program.

Defendants 1038442 B.C. Ltd. and Petromaxx Construction (B.C.) LLP Plaintiff Canstar Mechanical Ltd. Claim $47,378 for HVAC and sprinkler installation work; a builders lien.

Defendants Homelife Glenayre Realty Chilliwack Ltd. and Mark Browne and Sears Canada Inc. and John Doe Ltd. Plaintiff Samer Raad Claim Damages arising from a flood caused by defendants’ defective washing machine.

Defendants ScotiaMcLeod, a div. of Scotia Capital Inc. and Glen Way and Lelio De Cicco Plaintiff Gladys Ann Eley by her guardian The Public Guardian and Trustee Claim Damages for breach of trust after defendants wrongfully permitted the release of plaintiff’s funds. •

Defendants 0445802 B.C. Ltd. and Kenneth Lloyd Richards Plaintiff Octane Fitness LLC Claim US$37,455 for fitness equipment.

Defendants BC Star Trucking Ltd. and Lickman Truck and Trailer Parts and Service Ltd. and Mohinder Singh Biring Plaintiff Arundel Capital Corp.

Claim $39,301 for an equipment lease.

Defendants Corporation of the District of North Vancouver and Stuart Olson Construction Ltd. Plaintiff KC’s Pumping Services Inc. dba PSI Concrete Pumping Claim $37,531 for concrete pumping work; a builders lien.

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BIV Datebook online For a comprehensive and searchable list of networking events in the Lower Mainland, go to Business in Vancouver’s Datebook at biv.com/events

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