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City Guide - Vancouver - Business | ||
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Business Business Profile: Vancouver's central business district coincides with the main retail areas downtown, and is supplemented by eight regional town centres within the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Traditionally, Vancouver's dominant industries have been in the primary sector, drawing on the vast wealth of resources in the province of British Columbia. Even today, the industries that represent the largest proportion of the 134 firms with head offices in Vancouver are in the forestry and mining sectors, followed by construction, food distribution, retail and financial services. The largest of these firms are Westcoast Energy, MacMillan Bloedel (forest products), Jim Pattison Group (diverse industries), Telus (telecommunications), BC Hydro & Power Authority and Finning International (heavy equipment). Other important sectors include tourism and conventions, agriculture and export and transhipment industries, taking advantage of the city's rail, road and sea connections. Vancouver is home to one of North America's busiest ports and one of the top 20 in the world, with some 70 million tonnes of cargo (principally coal, grain, sulphur, potash and wood pulp) passing through the Port of Vancouver every year, and a further 40 million tonnes through the district's other two ports. The past years have seen an increase in film production in the British Columbia, and the majority of the one billion Canadian Dollars spent in 1999 was in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland. Although Vancouver's stock exchange is the second largest in terms of volume of shares traded (23% of the total), it lags well behind Toronto and Montreal in overall value, with just over 1% of the Canadian market. It has recently been joined with Alberta Stock Exchange and is now called the Canadian Venture Exchange. Around 80% of the working population is employed in the service sector, with the bulk of the rest working in construction and primary industries. The average taxpayer earned C$29,000 in 1996. In 1998, the average unemployment rate was 8.1%. Business Etiquette: Normal business courtesies should be observed, although Vancouverites are less formal than Europeans and usually use first-name terms after initial introductions have been completed. Business cards are usually exchanged on meeting a colleague for the first time - and a compliment on Vancouver's beauty is sure to be well received. Both men and women usually wear suits but short-sleeved shirts are acceptable in summer. Appointments and punctuality for business meetings are naturally expected and business hours are generally 0900-1700 weekdays, although may start and end earlier or later, depending on the company. Lunch meetings are more common than breakfast meetings, but these are rarely alcohol-fuelled affairs. |