Communities, First Nations and businesses in British Columbia now have a platform to market their investment opportunities to the world.

The newest addition to B.C.’s international website is a portal to attract global investors to opportunities throughout the province and discover new regions.

Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Peter Fassbender made the announcement on behalf of Minister of International Trade Teresa Wat at the 2015 Union of B.C. Municipalities Convention in Vancouver.

BritishColumbia.ca integrates information about B.C. business opportunities with dynamic economic data about communities both large and small. This makes it easier for investors and site selectors to find all the data they need to make investment decisions, while at the same time discovering new communities and regions across the province.

The site features profiles of more than 390 municipalities, First Nations, regional districts and economic regions throughout B.C. and centralizes up to 1,300 data points for each community – all in one place. These data points include information on demographics, geography, labour force, quality of life and key sectors in the region.

The profiles also connect to a list of more than 7,000 local investment and business opportunities through early partnerships with organizations like VentureConnect and Spacelist that automatically list businesses for sale and commercial real estate.

The B.C. government designed the new features after conducting extensive research and through consultation with investors, communities, economic development corporations and First Nations. This announcement is another step toward fulfilling the BC Jobs Plan commitment to raise awareness of British Columbia as a safe, desirable and rewarding place to invest.

Quotes:

Teresa Wat, Minister of International Trade –

“Attracting investment is fiercely competitive. When investors and site selectors are looking to invest, they crunch a lot of data and expect to find it online. However, not all communities have the resources to compile that kind of information. That’s what this tool is all about – putting B.C. communities on a level playing field with communities around the world to attract investment, while at the same time, marketing them to the world so they can attract new dollars to their communities that create jobs for British Columbians.”

Peter Fassbender, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development –

“Strong, vibrant communities are essential to a prosperous, successful British Columbia. We work with all local governments in the province to help make our communities great places to live, work, visit and invest. The new features on BritishColumbia.ca will give B.C.’s communities, urban and rural, large and small, increased visibility online, enhancing their ability to attract interest and investment from around the world.”

Pat Deakin, economic development manager, City of Port Alberni –

“BritishColumbia.ca is a terrific resource for communities throughout the province. It serves every municipality and really levels the investment attraction playing field for those of us that do not have the capacity in house to gather and publish data or market ourselves as effectively as we would like. It will also help to connect those who are selling an opportunity and potential buyers more efficiently, reducing lag time in productivity. As an economic development practitioner, I am grateful for the site’s evolution, the way in which the innovation and roll-out have been managed, and the ease with which we can make changes to our information.”

Chief Ellis Ross, chair, Aboriginal Business and Investment Council –

“This new resource is a great way for First Nations to promote opportunities, highlight economic success stories, and set the stage for strong business partnerships in the future.”

Quick Facts:

• According to a 2014 study by Development Counsellors International, 67% of investors and site selectors rank websites as the most effective marketing technique for economic development. Of those polled, 59% make their first point of contact with an economic development group after locations have been shortlisted or identified as finalists.
• The majority of the data on the BritishColumbia.ca website has been collected from reliable sources such as Statistics Canada and will be updated regularly.
• In 2014-15, the BritishColumbia.ca website had over 700,000 page views with one-third of those coming from international traffic.

Learn More:

To check out the new features and learn more about trade and investment opportunities in B.C., visit: http://www.britishcolumbia.ca

Find out how international trade is creating new jobs in British Columbia: http://www.bcjobsplan.ca

For photos from today's announcement: https://flic.kr/s/aHskgQPJfr