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20 INVEST in BC 2 0 2 3 Official Publication of the BC Economic Development Association. In special partnership with BCBusiness. L O W E R M A I N L A N D / S O U T H W E S T recognized centre for disparate industries from mining exploration and finance to filmed entertainment to athletic fashion design. Further, Central 1 Economics expects the province's economic growth, job creation and housing demand to rotate back towards Metro Vancouver in the coming year as tourism and immigration recover from the disruption of the COVID -19 pandemic. Employers are increasingly bringing their workers back into centralized offices for at least a few days a week. "With business activity normalizing, business investment spending is expected to accelerate in metro areas," Central 1 chief economist Brian Yu wrote in the credit union's 2022-23 Regional Economic Outlook. "The flow of remote workers will slow or potentially reverse. These trends will propel growth back towards the Lower Mainland/Southwest, and Metro Vancouver specifically." 21ST-CENTURY ECONOMY Much of that growth is in fast-growing, export-oriented industries. A survey by office leasing company CBRE found Vancouver to have the fastest job growth in technology among all North American cities in recent years. CBRE's Tech- 30 report said the city added 28,300 information technology jobs between 2018 and 2021, a 44.2% increase. Despite the job cuts by major technology firms over the past year on a global level, Microsoft, PlentyOfFish, Tipalti Inc. and Masimo Corp. all expanded their office footprint in downtown Vancouver. The city remains attractive for technology recruitment both due to the quality of the Canadian workforce and Canada's relatively welcoming immigration policies compared to the United States. The list of knowledge-based industries growing in the region extends well beyond software development too. In January, Surrey-based No Meat Factory was the recipient of $42 million in venture capital to expand its production and marketing of vegan meat alternatives. In 2021, CTK Bio, the cleantech offshoot of Korean cosmetic industry supplier CTK, likewise set up its Canadian headquarters in Surrey. The plant is slated to expand by 100,000 square feet in 2024. Spurred by the experience of the COVID -19 pandemic, 350 manufacturers south of the Fraser River are collaborating on a Supply Chain Resiliency Program, providing an inventory of 823 unique industrial capabilities that could pivot their existing processes to support the production of key resources in the face of emergencies. MAJOR INVESTMENTS Capital allocated for major projects in the Lower Mainland grew faster in both absolute and relative terms than in any other region over the past year, rising 20% to more than $100 billion, the Certified Public Accountants of B.C. note. The Lougheed Town Centre development in Coquitlam, announced in 2021, is a $7-billion project. Also under construction is the $2.2-billion replacement of St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver's False Creek Flats. Major transit improvements are also on the bill, notably the $2.8-billion Broadway Subway line, which will extend the SkyTrain rapid transit system west from Clark VCC Station to Arbutus Street in Kitsilano. Plans call for the line to run all the way to the University of British Columbia at the tip of Point Grey by 2030. SkyTrain is also being extended eastward through Surrey and Langley in a $4-billion announcement confirmed in 2021. Surrey, which is on track to surpass Van- couver as B.C.'s largest city in the next decade TOP: CIT Y OF SURREY; BOT TOM: MIKE LUEDEY; TOP RIGHT: CIT Y OF MISSION FACTORY FLOOR: Surrey is cementing its role as the Lower Mainland's manufacturing and distribution hub with the expansion of the South Campbell Heights business park (left); the Abbotsford International Airport (below) handles half a million passengers per year; Mission has a plan to revitalize 3.5 km of Fraser River waterfront (right)