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Ashley Ford
Province

Vancouver is getting yet another major hotel for the downtown core. Okabe North America Inc., owner of Coast Hotels and Resorts, said yesterday it will build a 20-storey, 220-room full-service hotel at 1180 West Hastings St.

When completed in 2009, the $60-million four-star Coast Coal Harbour will sit in a strategic position just two blocks from the new Vancouver convention centre.

“The Coast Coal Harbour Hotel will become our flagship property,” said firm president Graeme Barrit. “Vancouver is an important holiday gateway for the entire Pacific Northwest and this new hotel will allow us to more effectively market our growing network of properties in popular tourist destinations and to capture a larger share of the tourism market.

“Vancouver clearly needs more hotel capacity around the convention centre. This new hotel is in a spectacular location which is ideally suited to business and leisure travellers,” said Shu Naito, vice-president of Okabe North America. “Vancouver, we feel, has tremendous growth potential leading up to and following the 2010 winter Olympics.”

Construction is scheduled to start this month and is expected to create approximately 415,000 person-hours of employment. The first new hotel built by Okabe since the opening of the Coast Victoria Harbourside Hotel and Marina in 1991, the project will be managed by Delta Land Development Ltd. and built by Vancouver’s Scott Construction Group.

One of the most striking visual elements of the Downs/Archambault & Partners-designed property will be the main entry off West Hastings, highlighted by an expansive backlit green, blue and yellow glass ceiling.

It will also have an 8,000-square-foot ballroom and conference facility, private boardrooms, business centre, locker room and a landscaped podium roof deck with an outdoor lap pool and hot tub.

A new 100-seat restaurant specializing in west coast cuisine will occupy the West Pender Street side of the building.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

Saved from demolition, a truly special place

Lynn Mitges
Province

For 10 years, this big beauty has been making friends and influencing people.

It was 10 years ago today that the Roundhouse Community Centre first opened its doors to the public and took its place as a new beacon to community arts programming.

Within a decade, the Roundhouse has become a lifeline for artists, performers, the community, and every member of the family.

The celebration features several upcoming events and fundraisers, but the big deal is the Roundhouse 10th Anniversary Community Bash block party on May 12 from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. If you have a child who’s 10 years old, they, too, get to celebrate the first decade.

Mostly, it’s an opportunity for those who’ve made the Roundhouse such a success to say thanks to the public.

“So many times you get the building but then don’t get the funding to do anything,” says one of the Roundhouse arts programmers Elizabeth Kidd.

“We’ve got the whole package and we have enormous support,” she says.

There’s no other place in North America like the Roundhouse, which not only embraces all art forms and offers them to the public, but it’s a community centre with working studios and a gym. It’s arts and sports for all ages of any ability or interest.

“It really works well,” says Kidd. “The driving belief has been the strong passion that we have.”

Originally part of a cluster of structures that housed steam locomotives, the Roundhouse was built in 1988. When steam locomotives were shunted aside for diesel-powered engines, the Roundhouse sat unused for years. It was only through loud public protest that the building wasn’t demolished. The building was restored for Expo 86, but then sat empty again until 1990 when the plan was hatched to revitalize the building as a public amenity. Construction started in 1995, the building was turned over to the Park Board in 1997 and opened to the public on May 3, 1997. Check roundhouse.ca for events.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

Renamed cinemas introduce points program aimed at 18-to-30-year-olds

Frank Luba
Province

The words “bank” and “fun” normally aren’t found in the same sentence, but Scotiabank is hoping to change that.

Starting today, major Cineplex theatres in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver are being rebranded as Scotiacard Theatres to draw attention to the fact that the bank is introducing a free SCENE card.

The new card will grant moviegoers a 10-per-cent discount on concessions and earn points for free movies and snacks every time they catch a flick.

More points can be earned by paying with a SCENE VISA card or a SCENE Scotiacard debit card.

A Cineplex theatre in Toronto, was used to test the new program.

Rick White, Scotiabank vice-president of brands and marketing, said discussions about the new program began in March 2006.

“We want to be more relevant with younger people in Canada,” said White. “Movies are such a big, big part of our culture,” with 63 per cent of Canadians between the ages of 12 and 49 going to the movies once a month or more.

Scotiabank wants to reach those Canadians and struck the partnership with Cineplex. “Gold” card programs appeal to people who are 35 years of age or older. SCENE is aimed at 18- to 30-year-olds.

“There’s a lot of apathy toward the long-term points program for travel,” said White. “This is immediate, experiential.”

Discussions are also under way to link the SCENE to entertainment options such as telephone services, music venues and some major retailers. “It will put fun into banking,” said White.

The launch of the service in B.C. will be tonight at the Scotiabank Theatre Vancouver, formerly Paramount Vancouver, at the corner of Burrard and Nelson.

All the details are available on the website at www.scene.ca.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

 

Boomerangs ‘spend too much’

Sheila Brady
Province

Adult children are returning to their parents’ homes in unprecedented numbers, with rosy dreams of saving for their own first homes — yet few are socking away enough cash for an adequate down payment, according to a recent survey.

“These kids have to get a reality check,” says Cid Palacio, vice-president, BMO Bank of Montreal, which commissioned the poll of 1,205 people, conducted by Decima Research in six Canadian cities.

“They have unrealistic ambitions and will be chasing this rainbow of homeownership without a tangible or practical plan on how to get there.”

They may be playing too much and not saving enough, says the senior banker.

The survey found almost one in three Canadians between 21 and 34 had moved back home to save for their first house.

While “boomerang kids” often come home after university or between jobs, the survey discovered a high number of Canadians between 31 and 34 are still at home, putting money aside for their own residence.

According to the survey, Toronto, Halifax and Calgary posted the highest percentage of “stay-at-homes” over 30.

Not so surprisingly, they also have some of the highest home prices in the country, says Palacio.

Twenty-two per cent of this older group live with their parents in the suburbs surrounding Toronto and 17 per cent in Halifax and Calgary.

These stay-at-homes have an average income of $43,000 and they have been stashing about 12 per cent of their pre-tax income into home-savings funds for about 18 months.

They expect to save enough for a 25-per-cent down payment within 3.8 years, according to the findings.

No way, says Palacio. “They should be saving twice as much money or realize it will take them eight years, not four.”

Young Canadians living on their own have the same homeownership ambitions and are saving only two per cent less of their income, says Palacio.

Possibly, it’s about lifestyle, too many parties and not enough savings, or the stay-at-homes entered the work force with a lot of debt from school, she says.

Most important, these young Canadians need to get informed about the home market, look at prices and likely downgrade their dream to a smaller house.

They also need a financial plan, and with rising house prices, consider that they won’t be able to save 25 per cent of a house price for a down payment, she says.

Thirty per cent of these young buyers intend to use their First Time Home Buyers RRSP plan as a major source of funding and

60 per cent intend to rely

on their savings or investments.

The survey was conducted in March and based on 1,205 young Canadians living in Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver.

The results are considered accurate to within 2.9 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

Choose safe bets and keep your shirt

David Friend
Province

TORONTO — While it has never been clinically diagnosed, chances are you or someone you know has investment phobia, especially if you’re in the susceptible under-35 set.

Typical symptoms include a slight fever when discussing your financial future and extreme vertigo at the thought of mutual funds. Get over it.

By now you probably know that it’s never too early to start putting money aside, both for retirement and for the shorter term. Your grandma told you and so did your mother. But then the fear set in.

“A lot of people are scared of talking to a financial planner because the feeling is they don’t have enough money or it’s going to be very costly, but that’s not the case,” said Julie Sheen, vice-president of BMO Term Investments.

“In some respects your financial affairs are never as complicated as at the beginning, when you’re starting out and have all these options.”

Options range from buying a dream home and bringing up a few children to taking an extended trek across Europe with nothing but a backpack. All of them are going to cost you money that you probably don’t have today.

Sheen suggests that young investors start by putting their money in “buckets,” or separate savings, such as one for a house and another for a car.

“The one problem with having a single savings bucket is that once you get used to pulling money out for vacation it’s pretty easy to whittle down your savings relatively quickly,” she said.

Even if you have a lower-

paying starter position, which you expect will come with pay increases over time, there’s still an opportunity to invest for the short term.

In that situation “it makes sense to be building a non-registered savings because you’re in a relatively low tax bracket and can carry forward the RRSP deduction . . . and make the contribution later when your tax bracket is higher,” she said.

Mutual funds are a popular form of investment that, for young investors, must be chosen especially carefully, suggested Scott Ward of investment firm Edward Jones.

“A lot of times younger investors have the mentality, ‘I’m young and I can afford to take risks.’ If you lose your money in the market . . . you’re never going to make it back” once you factor in the time it takes to recover the full amount, he said.

Instead, go for safer mutual funds comprised of reliable companies.

“If you’re younger . . . you want to build a foundation first. Look for something with a good long-term track record that has been around for 10 or 15 years.”

Ward said to follow major companies by reading the business section of newspapers and websites and track what you consider to be smart and reliable investments. Ignore the “hot investments of the week” and favour ones that sell everyday products.

“People are very much creatures of habit and there are a lot of companies that make money because we do these things every day. These are quality companies that are going to be around selling products and services no matter how the economy does,” he said.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

People born elsewhere account for 75 per cent of Canada’s growth, StatsCan says

Doug Ward
Sun

If you think Greater Vancouver is ethnically diverse now, wait until 2031, when about one out of two people in the region will have been born outside of Canada.

This is the region’s demographic future if current trends — strong immigration flows from Asia and a low Canadian birth rate — continue over the next two decades, according to a new Statistics Canada report.

“In 2031, about 50 per cent of the population in the census area of Vancouver will be immigrants,” said Eric Caron Malenfant, one of the authors of the Statistics Canada report, called Demographic Changes in Canada from 1971 to 2001 Across an Urban-to-Rural Gradient.

Immigrants will also make up 50 per cent of people in Toronto by 2031, said the report. And 25 per cent of Montreal’s population will have been born abroad.

In 2001, immigrants accounted for 38 per cent of Greater Vancouver’s population and 18 per cent of Canada’s, said Malenfant in an interview.

Immigration, which has remained high since the end of the ’80s, has been the main driver of population growth in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

He said that about three-quarters of Canada’s population growth is due to immigration, with natural population increase accounting for the remaining quarter.

The fertility rate in Canada declined significantly between 1971 and 2001, dropping from slightly over 2.1 children per woman in 1971 to approximately 1.5 in the early part of 2000.

In fact, 1971 was the last year Canada’s fertility rate exceeded the replacement level, which is the fertility rate required for the population to replace itself in the long term, without migration. The replacement level is considered to be 2.1 births per woman.

And fertility rates are lowest in Canada’s three largest urban areas.

“If these trends in immigration and fertility continue,” said Malenfant, “then the increase in the diversity of Vancouver and Toronto will continue until 2031.”

Three out of four immigrants to Canada during the ’90s settled in the three cities, he added.

Malenfant said the latest projection is based on 2001 Census figures.

China is the top source country for immigration to B.C., followed by India and the Philippines.

The prediction of more diversity in the Lower Mainland isn’t surprising to Andrew Ramlo, director of the Urban Futures Institute. He noted that the former visible-minority population in Richmond has become a “visible-majority,” according to the 2001 Census figures.

Given the strong immigration flows and the low birth rate, it’s a “no-brainer” to project that immigrants will eventually make up 50 per cent of Greater Vancouver’s population, he added.

Canada’s natural population increase will decline even further over the next three to four decades as baby boomers die, he added.

Immigration accounted for 205,000 new arrivals in Canada last year.

Eleanor Yuen, head of the Asian Library at the University of B.C., said the 2031 projection makes sense given current demographic trends.

But she said there are many variables that could change the rate of immigration, including geopolitical changes in Asia. She noted that immigration from Hong Kong to Canada peaked in 1995 and tapered off in the late ’90s as the Asian city’s investment climate and job market improved.

Yuen, who came to Canada 20 years ago from Hong Kong, said Canada’s attraction for Asian immigrants is about more than economics.

“Canada is seen as a neutral country that is friendly to immigrants. Canada is a country of immigrants and it projects an image that makes immigrants feel very comfortable.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2007

Clare Ogilvie
Province

WHISTLER — Imagine whizzing along in a sky cab 436 metres above the ground in North America’s longest gondola ride.

For three years the idea has been just a dream. But yesterday Whistler Blackcomb announced that the $51.4-million Peak-to-Peak Gondola will be built between Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

“It will revolutionize the skiing experience at Whistler Blackcomb,” said Stuart Rempel, the company’s senior vice-president of marketing and sales.

Construction on the Doppelmayr 3S gondola, which will span 4.4 kilometres in total distance and include the world’s longest unsupported span, will begin this spring. Total ride time will be 11 minutes. The gondola will be able to carry 4,100 people per hour in its 28 sky cabins, each of which can carry 28 people.

Company officials said there will be an extra “nominal” charge for the lift, due to be finished in December 2008.

Whistler Coun. Nancy Wilhelm-Morden has voiced concerns over the project’s impact on one of Whistler’s most scenic views.

“The view from the village up Fissile Mountain is an iconic view, it is a signature view,” she said.

“[The gondola] is not in any way going to add to the view.”

Peak 2 Peak Ltd, a Whistler Blackcomb subsidiary formed for liability reasons, will build the gondola.

The council recently decided to give Whistler Blackcomb a tax break of up to $200,000 a year for five years to help with construction costs.

As the effects of climate change continue, the Peak-to-Peak will help skiers access the highest slopes.

“We are concerned about climate change, and certainly this lift joins the best skiing pods on both mountains where we have the best-quality snow and the most quantity of snow,” said Rempel.

© The Vancouver Province 2007

 

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Software security firm warns RFID tags could open door to high-tech identity theft

Peter Wilson
Sun

New digitally enhanced passports might make your life easier, but they could also potentially place your personal data in the hands of cybercrooks or terrorists, according to a report issued today by international security firm McAfee Inc.

That’s because the passports — some of which are already being tested by the U.S. government — contain radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags that contain such information as the person’s name, place of origin, date of birth, photo, and digital fingerprint. They’re designed to be read on a screen by customs and immigration officials.

“You wave it in front of a scanner and it authenticates you,” said McAfee’s security research and communications manager David Marcus in an interview.

“But what if I set up a fake scanner and I query people as they’re walking by, and I’m scanning at hip level where most people keep their passports?” said Marcus.

That information could then either be used for identity theft, said the McAfee Global Threat report, or by terrorists who want to target citizens of specific countries for attack.

As well, added Marcus, the same kind of hidden scanning could be used on RFID-equipped credit cards, that allow users to pay for goods simply by waving them as they pass through a checkout point.

“Our concern is that people implement RFID in a secure manner,” said Marcus. “And most of the [RFID] stuff that we’ve looked at has been broken very easily.”

Marcus said that is because the data is largely not being encrypted, or there are other insecurities in the way it is captured.

Scammers will also be concentrating more on cellphones, said the report, because they are increasingly being used for financial transactions.

“Trends show us recently that malware writers, the bad guys, simply follow the money trail,” said Marcus. “So if you’re doing money transactions or you’re buying and selling through the cellphone, then basically they’re going to write the same kind of malware for the cellphone as they do for the PC.”

And, like the holders of RFID-enhanced passports, cellphone users who make mobile payments at vending machines or in stores could find their personal information being intercepted.

Scammers might strike at cellphone users another way, said the report, by planting malware in the phones that would send text messages to costly premium services.

As well, said the report, financial and other personal information could be gathered through the simple interception of text messages sent from cellphones.

Internet telephony services like Skype are becoming another area of concern, according to McAfee. “Skype you can use to do Internet phone calls, and you can use to call regular telephones, and you can use it for instant messaging and chat and file-sharing,” said Marcus. “So it’s very common to get lots and lots of pop ups and lots of advertisements targeted at the Skype user. You end up getting a lot more directed advertising through that channel than you would if you were just making a phone call.”

© The Vancouver Sun 2007