Ep. 504: Vancouver: Beautiful, yes – but!
Guest: Bridgitte Anderson (Greater Vancouver Board of Trade)
No doubt about it: Vancouver is beautiful.
It’s beautiful to visit, it’s a beautiful place to study, and it’s a beautiful city to retire in. “But,” says Bridgitte Anderson, the CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, “it’s not so beautiful of a place to build a robust economy.” In fact, according to a new report commissioned by GVBOT, “the region’s economic size and mix under-performs when it comes to creating high-paid jobs or high-performing companies.”
Compared to 20 other “high quality mid-sized city-regions, spanning 9 pillars across economy, liveability and infrastructure and sustainability, Vancouver is well below par.” Anderson says. “Vancouver ranked 14 among the 20 cities for prosperity factors.”
Looking ahead, Anderson says, “The region has to address its underlying weaknesses soon if we hope to stay competitive.” Central to our ability to compete is Vancouver’s beautiful geography, an area that is confined by sea and mountains. Anderson says, “The upshot is that we have to innovate more deeply to stimulate housing, job and economic development.”
We invited Bridgitte Anderson, the CEO of the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade, to join us as a guest on Conversations That Matter about where our attention needs to turn to close our productivity and prosperity gap.
Want to learn more about our guest?
Check out their profile on our partnered program, Careers That Matter!
