Four B.C. businesses that are developing solutions to help ensure the province’s food systems remain secure, resilient and sustainable are the first to receive funding through the recently launched B.C. Centre for Agritech Innovation (BCCAI).

The B.C. government is planning to build a new Plant and Animal Health Centre to provide diagnostic services that support agricultural producers, food safety and the growth of a resilient food system in the province.

Establishing ways to further protect the online identity of Canadians to ensure people’s information is safer and more private was the central theme of a ministers’ symposium in Vancouver this week.

Amendments to the minimum amount developers and strata corporations must contribute to contingency reserve funds will help protect owners in the small number of stratas that are neglecting maintenance needs and risking higher insurance costs.

Investments through ChildCareBC’s New Spaces Fund are helping create more than 290 new child care spaces for school-aged children, and enabling more families in Surrey to access licensed child care spaces on school grounds, with more to come.

People who have difficulty purchasing menstruation products in the Interior, Cranbrook, Hope, Kamloops, on the Lower Mainland and on southern Vancouver Island will soon have more options thanks to newly funded period poverty pilot projects created by local community organizations.

Many B.C. families will see more money in their bank accounts starting Jan. 20, 2023, with the first of three enhanced BC Family Benefit payments.

People with residential properties in some areas with the highest demand in the province will soon receive their 2023 speculation and vacancy tax (SVT) declaration letter.