BC Government Releases New Economic Plan; Burnaby Board of Trade Applauds Focus on Training, Clean Innovation and ESG

Today, the provincial government released its new economic plan entitled “StrongerBC” which outlines a strategic vision and priorities for economic development in Burnaby and across BC.

The plan, which can be viewed below or by clicking here, focuses on two primary areas — inclusive growth and clean growth – and includes a number of initiatives, focus areas, and priorities.

The Burnaby Board of Trade applauds the government for developing an economic plan to address the opportunities but also challenges of the coming decade.   The Burnaby Board of Trade particularly approves of the focus of the StrongerBC plan on skills training, innovation and ESG. (Environmental, Social and Governance).

Highlights of the plan include:

  • A significant focus on training and reskilling, including:
    • $136.6-million towards a new world-class Trades and Technology Complex on the BCIT campus here in Burnaby
    • 2000 new tech spaces at post-secondary institutions
    • More seats for students in healthcare, life-sciences and other growing sectors and expanded training opportunities for health care workers
    • Increased scholarships and internships
    • A new hub to provide easy access to training for in-demand jobs
    • More programs and training opportunities for Indigenous communities
  • Building out a Life Sciences and Biomanufacturing Strategy to further position BC as world leader in manufacturing things like the components of vaccines and therapeutics and medical devices
  • Development of an Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy and creating an ESG Centre of Excellence to leverage BC’s business leadership in this important area
  • Entrepreneur training programs for business people from equity-seeking communities to help more people fulfill their dreams of entrepreneurship and business ownership through a new Small Business Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan
  • Development of an external, Indigenous-led agency focused on Indigenous economic development
  • Create more domestic manufacturing capability across a variety of sectors and investing in capital upgrades, R&D and advanced technologies
  • Creation of an integrated marketplace where green companies can connect with businesses seeking their products or services, making it easier to clean technologies to be implemented in BC
  • Goods Movement Strategy to provide leadership and coordination among transportation industries and achieve greater coordination between roads, railways, and ports
  • Accelerate the timeline to connect all B.C. communities to high-speed internet
  • Develop a Trade Diversification Strategy that will focus on promoting trade from BC to more markets internationally

 

[embeddoc url=”http://bbot.ca/file/Econ-Plan-17FEB2022.pdf”]