When the holiday season rolls around, it’s easy to forget that without B.C. resources such as wood products and minerals, many of the gifts you see would not be sitting under your Christmas tree.

Local businesses from around Vancouver Island gathered to hear about British Columbia’s economic success and progress made to-date thanks to the BC Jobs Plan as well as for an announcement on a new Labour Market Partnership Project with Vancouver Island manufacturers. 

In the bustling port city of Dalian, about 450 kilometres southeast of Beijing, British Columbia sometimes doesn’t seem all that far away. Delegates from the 2015 Forestry Asia Trade Mission experienced that feeling first-hand as they toured two factories where B.C. lumber is manufactured into products for the Chinese marketplace.

Heavy timbers made of high-quality British Columbian hemlock feature prominently in a spectacular wood frame home that Minister of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Steve Thomson and 2015 Forestry Asia trade mission delegates visited in Tsukuba, Japan.

Effective immediately, the province is expanding its network of where trucks can haul heavy, high value cargo, such as oversized construction materials used in the oil and gas industry.

Environment Minister Mary Polak announced next steps towards developing a Climate Leadership Plan by spring 2016, as she marked the release of the Climate Leadership Team’s recommendations for the B.C. government’s new Climate Leadership Plan.