Getting Lights at Lafarge ready to illuminate Christmas in Coquitlam

It takes dozens of city workers and volunteer more than a week to install tens of thousands of lights for the annual Lights at Lafarge Christmas display in Coquitlam.

Nov 20, 2021 6:52 AM By: Janis Cleugh

Thousands of little lights are going up around Lafarge Lake in anticipation of next weekend’s opening of Lights at Lafarge, an annual display at Town Centre Park in Coquitlam.

This month, city staff from the parks and recreation department as well public works joined employees from Star Illuminations in Port Coquitlam and nearly 1,000 Park Spark volunteers to string up the bulbs, and fabricate and install the holiday pieces for the winter event.

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B.C.’s real estate market expected to ‘remain vigorous’ in 2022: BCREA

A new report said real estate sales in B.C. are expected to jump 29 per cent to more than 120,000 units this year, compared with 94,000 in 2020.

Home prices are expected to rise in 2022, but sales will take a dip, according to new data from the BC Real Estate Association.

A BCREA report issued Thursday said sales in B.C. are expected to jump 29 per cent to more than 120,000 units this year, compared with 94,000 in 2020.look towards ending single-family zoning like New Zealand?
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B.C. Women Entrepreneurs Have Spoken: They Want Better Access To Capital

Banks and other lenders must change their funding models to support female-owned businesses, a new survey from the Women’s Enterprise Centre shows

Want proof that women entrepreneurs have different funding needs than their male counterparts? Jill Earthy, CEO of the Women’s Enterprise Centre, offers a cautionary tale.

WEC began working with Vancouver City Savings Credit Union last June, when B.C. businesses were reeling from the early effects of the pandemic. “They recognized the need to have a loan product combined with the wraparound support services to help businesses, particularly women-led businesses, at that time,” Earthy says of Vancity. Recognizing that women entrepreneurs needed more than just funding in the form of a loan program, the credit union joined forces with her organization to offer wraparound support services.
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Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver forecasts “upward pressure on prices in the fall”

Greater Vancouver home buyers hoping to score a nice discount may be in a big disappointment.

Prices are expected to increase in the fall in the face of tight supply.

A third quarter market analysis by the real-estate board noted that “home price growth essentially flattened across Metro Vancouver in the summer”.

“Expect, however, to see upward pressure on prices in the fall as above-average sales volumes meet low inventory levels,” stated the report by the Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver.
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Central 1 Credit Union’s Chief Economist Forecasts Low Interest Rates To Continue

The chief economist of the trade association of B.C. and Ontario credit unions expects interest rates to remain low for some more time.

Bryan Yu with Central 1 Credit Union anticipates that the Bank of Canada will raise its interest-setting rate only toward the end of 2022.

Yu doesn’t see the bank “pulling the trigger too quickly”.

“Our view is that the bank is going to be more patient,” Yu told the Straight in a phone interview.
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Greater Vancouver has the most secondary homeowners in Canada: survey

A recent survey has found that Greater Vancouver has the most multiple property owners in Canada.

Carried out by Royal LePage, the online survey asked 1,500 Canadians in Greater Vancouver (500), the Greater Toronto Area (500) and the Greater Montreal Area (500) over one week in June. It was found that 12% of property owners in the GMA owned more than one property, 13% in the GTA and 14% in Greater Vancouver. Over 40% of those secondary property owners in the GTA and Greater Vancouver used equity from their primary residence to make the purchase.
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