NEWS UPDATE
2 NORTHERN BC Steady As She Goes In Northern BC The BC Northern Real Estate Board reports 3878 properties worth $1 billion sold through the Multiple Listing Service in the first nine months of 2017. At this time last year, 3834 properties worth $973.2 million had changed hands. As of September 30th, there were 4148 properties of all types available for sale through the MLS, down from 4519 properties at the end of September last year. “In many of the communities, sales statistics for the 3rd quarter are looking very similar to what we saw in 2016,” commented BCNREB President John Evans. In the Northern Region of the Board, sales activity in Fort St John is up over last year, and the number of active listings is down slightly. Recent seasonal layoffs at the Site C Dam have not yet shown an effect on the market. Work continues on many of the pipeline projects. In Fort Nelson, the sales have increased and the listings have slightly decreased. In the West, Prince Rupert sales and sales-dollar volume have increased slightly. Kitimat’s sales are slightly lower and inventory is down from last year. Sales and number of listings in Terrace have dropped only slightly this year compared to last year. In
Smithers, both sales and number of listings have risen, though there is still a supply crunch in residential detached housing. Overall, Smithers has seen steady demand throughout the year. In the South, Williams Lake had relatively no change in sales activity when compared to last September, though the number of listings coming onto the market has gone down slightly. 100 Mile House had a decrease in sales and number of listings year-over-year. In Prince George, there was an increase in sales activity and average sale price. There was no change in number of listings when compared to September 2016. Inventory is limited for residential detached houses.
QUESNEL Wildfire Economic Recovery Team Announced The City of Quesnel has recently announced that the Wildfire Economic Recovery Team is in place and ready to work. The team met today to review roles and begin planning their work in the months ahead. Their mandate is to determine the economic impacts of the wildfires on the North Cariboo, and to develop and begin early implementation of a plan for recovery. The North Cariboo team will be based in Quesnel but will
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be tackling the impacts of the North Cariboo sub-region and will be travelling to outlying communities. Recovery funding has been provided by the Province of British Columbia to each sub-region and to the Cariboo Regional District, with each local government determining how to best utilize their funds. Recovery Managers in each sub-region will connect regularly to share their learning and approaches to recovery. An office will be set up in the new Spirit Centre at 246 St. Laurent Street in the coming weeks, providing a base for the team, and a location for people to access information about recovery efforts.
PRINCE GEORGE UNBC Places Second in Maclean’s University Rankings T he University of Northern British Columbia maintained its status among the top universities of its size in Canada, according to the latest rankings compiled by Maclean’s magazine. UNBC placed second in the Primarily Undergraduate category that includes 19 universities, marking the 10th straight year UNBC has finished in the top three. Mount Allison finished f i rst i n t he P r i m a r i ly
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Undergraduate category followed by UNBC and Trent. “Sustaining this level of excellence requires the combined strengths of our faculty, students, staff, alumni, donors and supporters, working together to continually enhance the quality of our academic programming and research culture,” says UNBC President Dr. Daniel Weeks. “This ranking is another demonstration of how UNBC is inspiring next-generation leaders who are creating local solutions with global impact.” UNBC placed first in three of the 14 categories surveyed by Maclean’s, including the number of students who have won national awards. UNBC also received top grades in two categories devoted to how the university allocates resources, including the percentage of the library budget devoted to new acquisitions. UNBC excelled in the student to faculty ratio, the number of faculty members winning national awards and the amount of social science and humanities grants received. In the student satisfaction survey, Maclean’s once again gave UNBC top marks for the mental health services available on campus. Students also gave high marks to UNBC’s administrative staff, academic advising staff and the experiential learning opportunities. UNBC made gains in the national reputational survey of
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university faculty and senior administrators, high school guidance counsellors and business people. “UNBC continues to educate, innovate and lead in Northern British Columbia, across the country and around the world,” says UNBC Board of Governors Chair Tracey Wolsey. “UNBC has repeatedly placed at, or near, the top of the Maclean’s rankings, a testament to the hard work and commitment of the entire UNBC family.” UNBC placed first in the Primarily Undergraduate category the past two years. Simon Fraser placed first in the Comprehensive list and McGill maintained its top ranking in the Medical Doctoral category.
PRINCE GEORGE Construction To Begin On New Bridge At Cottonwood Nature lovers and admirers of Prince George’s parks and green spaces will be the beneficiaries of a new foot bridge in Cottonwood Island Park. The City of Prince George has contracted the services of Nahanni Construction Ltd for the design and construction of a new bridge to replace the previous structure, which was washed away during the ice jam in the winter of 2007/2008.
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