People in need of a safe, warm place to stay, especially during the cold and wet winter months, will soon have access to a new 40-bed shelter in Surrey.

Mubra Asghar is a single mother who is proud to be creating a better life for her daughter.

Parents in Surrey and surrounding areas can mark Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2017, on their calendars to share their thoughts on student progress reporting, including report cards.

Thanks to the Single Parent Employment Initiative (SPEI), a unique government employment program launched just over a year ago, hundreds of single parents throughout the province, and their children, will be having a brighter Christmas with some extra cheer this year.

The B.C. government has distributed $802,808 in compensation for municipal property taxes to the City of Surrey.

The British Columbia government has committed more than $81,000 for two new labour market partnership projects with agriculture-horticulture and landscape-horticulture industries in the province, to help identify their labour needs.

Simon Fraser University students with entrepreneurial ambitions in technology will be able to continue building their skills and developing market-driven products after an expansion of the successful Technology Entrepreneurship @ SFU program.

The B.C. government has awarded the Indus Media Foundation a one-time grant of $248,500 to share South Asian heritage through exhibition displays and learning tools intended for B.C. schools and community spaces. Peter Fassbender, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, along with Amrik Virk, MLA for Surrey-Tynehead, addressed Surrey high school students and community members at Simon Fraser University.

B.C.’s strong economy means British Columbian families in need of affordable rental housing will soon have access to close to 2,900 new units of housing, thanks to the B.C. government’s funding commitment of $516 million toward the 68 projects announced.

Communities throughout the lower mainland will benefit from one-time targeted funding of $52,166 for Kwantlen Polytechnic University to support adult-literacy programs.