Category: Business/Finance

  • Housing Market Expected to be Stable in 2015

    Housing Market Expected to be Stable in 2015

    Calgary, Dec. 10, 2014 – While the recent drop in oil prices has caused speculation about implications for the housing sector, stable conditions are expected given current forecasts for employment and migration. “While employment and migration are expected to support housing demand, estimates could change depending on the extent and duration of oil price declines,”…

  • European Small Planet Airlines will balance seasonality by establishing an AOC in Thailand

    European Small Planet Airlines will balance seasonality by establishing an AOC in Thailand

    The leisure airline Small Planet Airlines grows its activities in Southeast Asia by founding a company in Thailand with plans to start carrying tourists from China and South Korea to Bangkok in the autumn of 2015. Small Planet Airlines Thailand has been registered in Bangkok. The company intends to secure an air operator’s certificate in…

  • Residents Have Their Say on a Tim Horton’s in Black Diamond

    Residents Have Their Say on a Tim Horton’s in Black Diamond

      Our publisher, Tanya Thibodeau, is a great advocate for business and economy in our area. She wants to see the Diamond Valley area grow and thrive, so when she heard that a local group of concerned citizens were meeting to discuss the possibility of a Tim Horton’s coming to Black Diamond she wanted to…

  • MoneySense: 2015 Charity 100: A smarter way to give

    MoneySense: 2015 Charity 100: A smarter way to give

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  • Town of Okotoks Attends World GIS Day

    Town of Okotoks Attends World GIS Day

    The celebration of World GIS Day was held at the TELUS-Spark Science Centre in Calgary on the evening of November 19, 2014.  The event was coordinated by the Alberta Geomatics Group (AGG), SAIT and the Calgary Regional Partnership (CRP). A total of 480 delegates, sponsors, and exhibitors registered for the event. The Town of Okotoks had…

  • Mullen Group Ltd. Closes Investment Transaction in Kriska Transportation Group Limited

    Mullen Group Ltd. Closes Investment Transaction in Kriska Transportation Group Limited

    OKOTOKS, ALBERTA—(Marketwired – Dec. 1, 2014) – Mullen Group Ltd. (“Mullen Group” and/or the “Corporation“) (TSX:MTL) announced today the closing of the previously announced investment in a new growth orientated transportation and logistics company, Kriska Transportation Group Limited (“Kriska Transportation“). Mullen Group contributed its interest in Mill Creek Motor Freight L.P. (“Mill Creek“) in exchange…

  • Alberta Utilities Commission approves application for new ownership of AltaLink

    Alberta Utilities Commission approves application for new ownership of AltaLink

    Acquisition by Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary passes no harm test for financial impact on customer rates and service. In Decision 2014-326, the Alberta Utilities Commission approved the acquisition of Altalink, L.P. by a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy (BHE), based upon its established “no harm” test for financial impact on customer rates and service quality. The…

  • Predictive Site Safety – A Life-Saving Model for Oil Sands Operations

    Predictive Site Safety – A Life-Saving Model for Oil Sands Operations

    A new report from Visser Deloitte highlights the role of data analytics in driving a safety-first culture in oil sands operations. CALGARY, Dec. 4, 2014 /CNW/ – Injuries to workers in the oil sands are on the decline, but using data analysis tools and making some cultural shifts can help make workers even safer, says…

  • CFIB Proposes Permanent Solutions to Chronic Labour Shortages

    Taking the “temporary” out of the TFW program Toronto/Calgary – In a new report released today, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) calls for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to be replaced with a stronger solution to address permanent labour shortages. Geared towards entry-level workers, CFIB’s proposed Introduction to Canada Visa would simultaneously…

  • CBC: Oil price decline could lead to global shocks: Don Pittis

    CBC: Oil price decline could lead to global shocks: Don Pittis

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  • Price Growth Slows in Calgary

    Price Growth Slows in Calgary

    Improving inventories help ease price growth pressure Calgary – Calgary’s residential resale housing market posted relatively strong November activity reaching 1,782 units, a three per cent increase over the previous year, and nearly 13 per cent above long term averages. “Relative to other major centres, economic growth in Calgary remains one of the strongest in the…

  • Harper Government Destroys Farmer Control Over Seed

    Harper Government Destroys Farmer Control Over Seed

    (November 25, 2014 – Saskatoon, SK) – The National Farmers Union (NFU) is sounding the alarm with the passing of Bill C-18, the Agriculture Growth Act omnibus bill yesterday in the House of Commons. “Farmers must now contend with UPOV ’91. UPOV ’91 is one of the most farmer-unfriendly mechanisms we have ever seen,” exclaimed…

  • AB Small Business Confidence Stays Strong in November

    Sixty one per cent of entrepreneurs identify rising wage costs as a major constraint CALGARY – After reaching its highest level in two and a half years in October, Alberta’s small business confidence dropped by one point in November to 73.6, according to the latest Business Barometer survey results released today by the Canadian Federation…

  • Charitable Giving Strategies for the Holidays

    Charitable Giving Strategies for the Holidays

    By Kim Inglis For the third year in a row, Canadians have been more philanthropic than the year previous.  According to the most recent BMO Charitable Giving Poll, 84 per cent of Canadians made a charitable donation in the past 12 months with the average gift being $624 – an increase of 8 per cent…

  • Alberta Accountants Find Strength in Numbers

    The proposed Chartered Professional Accountants Act seeks to merge Alberta’s three professional accounting bodies to improve labour mobility. Unification in the accounting profession is a growing national and international trend. Since June 2013, the Alberta government has been working with the three self-regulating accounting associations – the Certified General Accountants Association of Alberta, the Certified…