BIV MAGAZINE
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BIV MAGAZINE: THE BC INVESTING ISSUE 2020 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER
B.C. TECH POWERS PROVINCIAL GROWTH International tech firms, drawn to B.C.’s access to talent, are boosting growth in the province’s service sector TYLER ORTON
W
hile most British Columbians rang in 2020 with sips of champagne or personal resolutions, one global financial giant had its eyes firmly set on the $510 million investment it was about to make in
Vancouver.
Mastercard Inc.’s January launch of a new cybersecurity centre in the city’s downtown core is set to create about 300 new positions in the province’s rapidly expanding technology sector. At the Exchange office tower on Howe Street, Mastercard’s new cybersecurity team finds itself in the company of another global giant making similar moves to tap B.C.’s service-oriented innovation industry: Amazon.com Inc. “We’re going to continue to be attractive to major multinationals making foreign direct investments, and that’s a good thing – but only if we make the investments to ensure that we have a balanced tech ecosystem,” Jill Tipping, CEO of the BC Tech Association, said on the day Mastercard revealed its major expansion plans. Big investments from massive multinationals are among the reasons B.C.’s economy is forecast to outperform all other provinces in 2020, spurred on significantly by tech’s growing influence on the service industry. “It is the services-based industries that are poised to drive the province’s employment gains, particularly within the information technology (IT) sector,” states the Conference Board of Canada in its fall 2019 outlook. The think tank projects the province’s economy will expand 3% in 2020 – above the 2.6% it is estimated to have grown in 2019, but below the 3.3% average annual growth rate enjoyed between 2014 and 2017. “The province has already attracted investment from major tech players such as Apple [Inc.] and Amazon and will continue to see a rise in demand for IT-related occupations within professional services such as computer services and consulting,” the Conference Board writes. “As well, the continued rise of financial technology and its related applications will lead to solid employment gains within the province’s strong financial sector over the next two years.” Jeff Booth, an entrepreneur and one of the city’s longest-serving leaders in the innovation sector, says demand for talent is
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Mastercard Inc. announced in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that it’s investing $510 million to open a new cybersecurity centre. From left: Ajay Bhalla, president, cyber and intelligence solutions, Mastercard; Ajay Banga, president and CEO, Mastercard; Navdeep Bains, minister of innovation, science and industry; and Ian McKay, CEO, Invest in Canada • SUBMITTED
driving much of the interest in Vancouver as a tech hub. Metro Vancouver is home to major universities as well as a number of smaller institutions pumping out thousands of tech workers. CBRE Group Inc.’s 2019 Scoring Canadian Tech Talent report determined the region was home to 74,700 tech workers – a
2020-02-26 12:05 PM
