A new employment project in Chilliwack will prepare up to 24 unemployed residents of the Fraser Valley for careers in manufacturing and support an innovative royalty remuneration system for Aboriginal artists.

With a fresh new year ahead, single mother Morgan Hegg of Williams Lake can resolve to continue on the new career path she has chosen.

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.

If you find yourself scratching your head for last-minute gift ideas this holiday season, consider a gift with a social impact.

In honour of the United Nations' 24th International Day of Persons with Disabilities and the 10th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Michelle Stilwell, Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation issued the following statement:

Two new Job Creation Partnerships with the Gabriola Arts Council will provide skills training and paid work experience to four Gabriola Island residents, resulting in a year’s worth of arts and culture programming and a renovated community cultural centre.

A government-funded skills training program is giving eight people real-world work experience and training in the public works sector to help them find full-time employment and join in on British Columbia’s growing economy.

A Community and Employer Partnerships program with a successful history of helping unemployed individuals find high-paying careers as retail automotive sales professionals is being funded again in the Lower Mainland.