Business

PartnerStack co-founders (left to right) Luke Swanek, Jon Mendes, Neil Chudleigh and Bryn Jones are shown in a handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

Canadian companies seeing venture capital funding boom, interest in fintechs high

About US$2.1 billion was raised across 197 deals in the first quarter of 2021

Head baker Brook Schaddelee, (from left), manager Michele Byrne and chocolatier Jack Schaddelee smile behind the counter at the Dutch Bakery and Diner. The establishment has operated for 65 years and the current operators still use the traditional European recipes of grandfather and founder Kees Schaddelee. (Courtesy of Dutch Bakery and Diner)

Best of the City: Third-generation owners keep Dutch Bakery recipes alive after 65 years in Victoria

Bakery thrives again after readapting business model during pandemic

The patios in the 1300-block of Gladstone Avenue serve as a pilot program as Victoria explores permanently allowing street and sidewalk dining spaces. (Courtesy Build Back Victoria)

Build Back Victoria programs add vibrancy to the city

Supporting local businesses leads to trial runs for City of Victoria

Customers fill their carts at The Root Cellar store on McKenzie Avenue. Daisy and Adam Orser opened the location 13 years ago and are working on transforming the former Oxford Foods in Cook Street Village into theiir second store. (Emma Rossum Photography)

Second Root Cellar store to open in Victoria as early as late fall

Customers serve as motivators for co-owner Daisy Orser amid pandemic

Customers fill their carts at The Root Cellar store on McKenzie Avenue. Daisy and Adam Orser opened the location 13 years ago and are working on transforming the former Oxford Foods in Cook Street Village into theiir second store. (Emma Rossum Photography)
Isaiah Archer (from left), Nina Colovic, Iwan Williams and Matt West-Patrick are partners of Whistle Buoy Brewing Co. Fifth partner Colin Curtis is not pictured. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

Best of the City: Beers, buds, no boats – this is Whistle Buoy Brewing Co.

Following the local craft brewing trend, Whistle Buoy has made over 120 names for itself

Isaiah Archer (from left), Nina Colovic, Iwan Williams and Matt West-Patrick are partners of Whistle Buoy Brewing Co. Fifth partner Colin Curtis is not pictured. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
Yumbrosia Fine Foods offers a wide variety of quality products imported from Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Best of the City: Yumbrosia brings a world of flavour to Oak Bay

Owner Ihsan Askar provides quality international products to Victoria and beyond

Yumbrosia Fine Foods offers a wide variety of quality products imported from Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
Farmgate sales of meat have been restricted in B.C. since new federal rules took effect in 2001. (B.C. government photo)

B.C. issuing new farmgate licences to allow meat sales this fall

Health rules restrict sales to local regional districts only

Farmgate sales of meat have been restricted in B.C. since new federal rules took effect in 2001. (B.C. government photo)
Good Things Consignments owner Junice Da Costa Reis and staff member Terry Battersby pose in the archway of the store’s left wing on Saturday, July 10. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)

Best of the City: Oak Bay consignment store breathes new life into old items

Good Things Consignments has helped people find value in their items for 27 years

Good Things Consignments owner Junice Da Costa Reis and staff member Terry Battersby pose in the archway of the store’s left wing on Saturday, July 10. (Evert Lindquist/News Staff)
B.C. government program spending, in millions, from 2016 to 2021. (B.C. finance ministry)

B.C.’s tax take continued to climb during COVID-19 pandemic year

Federal billions offset loss in fees, licence revenues

B.C. government program spending, in millions, from 2016 to 2021. (B.C. finance ministry)
Downtown Victoria Business Association executive director Jeff Bray discusses his association’s third annual report, outlining the resiliency of downtown businesses throughout the pandemic. (Kiernan Green/New Staff)

Downtown Victoria reps surprised by business resiliency during pandemic

Loss of businesses modest, report shows, growth of new retail spaces continues

Downtown Victoria Business Association executive director Jeff Bray discusses his association’s third annual report, outlining the resiliency of downtown businesses throughout the pandemic. (Kiernan Green/New Staff)
B.C. Premier John Horgan listens as Finance Minister Selina Robinson presents the province’s latest budget, April 20, 2021. The budget forecasts $19 billion in deficits over three years. (Hansard TV)

B.C. budget deficit $5.5 billion, less than half last year’s forecast

Province’s COVID-19 spending tops $10 billion for 2020-21

B.C. Premier John Horgan listens as Finance Minister Selina Robinson presents the province’s latest budget, April 20, 2021. The budget forecasts $19 billion in deficits over three years. (Hansard TV)
B.C. Investment Management Corporation CEO Gordon Fyfe has led the corporation to achieve positive returns for the province’s civil service pension plan. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)

Victoria-based company nets record return for B.C. pension investment in pandemic year

B.C. Investment Management Corporation gained 16.5 per cent in 2020 for civil service pension plan

B.C. Investment Management Corporation CEO Gordon Fyfe has led the corporation to achieve positive returns for the province’s civil service pension plan. (Kiernan Green/News Staff)
QThreadz co-founder Mady Harber runs a pop-up shop of their normally online upcycled, gender-inclusive clothing store in Royal Athletic Park. (Courtesy of Mady Harber)

Sliding-scale, upcycled and gender-inclusive: Victoria shop creates accessible retail space

There are no gender or sexuality expectations at QThreadz

QThreadz co-founder Mady Harber runs a pop-up shop of their normally online upcycled, gender-inclusive clothing store in Royal Athletic Park. (Courtesy of Mady Harber)
Riders with Bikers Against Child Abuse chose to visit the Peninsula on Sunday because of the Sidney Street Market and its food trucks. The market is operating out of a temporary location in the parking lot of the Mary Winspear Centre. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)

Tourists starting to roll back into Sidney

Sidney Street Market organizers, vendors observing more out-of-towners

Riders with Bikers Against Child Abuse chose to visit the Peninsula on Sunday because of the Sidney Street Market and its food trucks. The market is operating out of a temporary location in the parking lot of the Mary Winspear Centre. (Wolf Depner/News Staff)
Cultus Lake Water Park is among the attractions receiving COVID-19 recovering funds in B.C. (Black Press files)

B.C. COVID-19 fund supports 83 tourist attractions, bus companies

Butchart Gardens, Hells Gate, water parks among recipients

Cultus Lake Water Park is among the attractions receiving COVID-19 recovering funds in B.C. (Black Press files)
Tseshaht Lead Beach Keeper Hank Gus says he’s looking forward to sharing the Broken Group Islands origin story with visitors. Gus has been a Beach Keeper for nine years. (Tseshaht First Nation photo)

Tseshaht First Nation re-opens Broken Group Islands with refreshed Beach Keepers Program

To help sustain the program, tour operators are encouraged to implement a $10 per day per guest fee

Tseshaht Lead Beach Keeper Hank Gus says he’s looking forward to sharing the Broken Group Islands origin story with visitors. Gus has been a Beach Keeper for nine years. (Tseshaht First Nation photo)
B.C. Premier John Horgan, right, walks with Hardy Wentzel, CEO of Structurlam in Okanagan Falls, March 2019. Horgan’s NDP government has emphasized value added production and redistribution of Crown timber licences. (Penticton Western News)

Record B.C. lumber profits should go to wildfire fight, Horgan says

Prices have plummeted from May peak, supply tightening

B.C. Premier John Horgan, right, walks with Hardy Wentzel, CEO of Structurlam in Okanagan Falls, March 2019. Horgan’s NDP government has emphasized value added production and redistribution of Crown timber licences. (Penticton Western News)
The Bank of Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Bank of Canada names new deputy governor, ‘temporarily’ expanding governing council

Sharon Kozicki will take on the role on Aug. 2 after serving eight years as an adviser

The Bank of Canada in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Cindy Pendergast, left, of Sidney’s Truth and Alibi cannabis shop heads out to make what was believed to be the first delivery of cannabis in British Columbia, following that service’s legalization July 15. (Photo courtesy Truth and Alibi)

Sidney said to be site of first legal cannabis delivery in British Columbia

Truth and Alibi delivered to a Sidney couple at 9 a.m. sharp July 15 when deliveries became legal

Cindy Pendergast, left, of Sidney’s Truth and Alibi cannabis shop heads out to make what was believed to be the first delivery of cannabis in British Columbia, following that service’s legalization July 15. (Photo courtesy Truth and Alibi)
B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains takes questions from reporters at the B.C. legislature, Nov. 20, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)

B.C.’s minimum working age going from 12 to 16 in October

Some recreation, farm, administrative, retail jobs allowed at 14

B.C. Labour Minister Harry Bains takes questions from reporters at the B.C. legislature, Nov. 20, 2019. (Tom Fletcher/Black Press)