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FEATURES
20 Scam Alert
Fending off fakes and fraudsters: how to protect your business.
BY FIONA ANDERSON
26 Reimagining Tourism
Improving this vital industry meant going back to the drawing board for the Island’s tourism association.
BY ANDREW FINDLAY
62 Guardians of the Seaweed
Traditions meet technology: How some B.C. First Nations navigate modern aquaculture, balancing sustainability with profitability.
BY DIANE SELKIRK
70
10 Ways to Find Your Focus
Too easily distracted by competing demands and interruptions? Here’s how to concentrate on what really matters.
SPECIAL SECTION 34
10 to Watch Award Winners 2025
Technology, from health care to finance and customer services, is a driving force behind this year’s awards honouring the Island’s most promising new entrepreneurs.
BY DAVID LENNAM, SHANNON MONEO AND LIONEL WILD
8 NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
11 IN THE KNOW
Art meets science, via a “techie rotisserie,” in Totem 2.0, a tool for carving totem poles; these UVic-recognized distinguished entrepreneurs are dressed for success; Hullo Ferries boasts booming ridership on NanaimoVancouver run; hospitality hub The Strath is up for sale; SIPP Taskforce 2.0 takes on tariffs; working out what those work dreams mean; the CRTC’s Claire Anderson weighs in on internet access; Douglas Reads.
74 INTEL
74 AI REPORTING FOR DUTY
How artificial intelligence will fit into the future of work. BY ROBYN QUINN
76 MORE THAN JUST BEING LOCAL
The virtuous cycle: healthy businesses supporting healthy communities. BY CLEMENS RETTICH
78 WHAT DO YOU VALUE?
Understanding your core values not only helps you personally. It also helps you be a better leader.
BY INGRID VAUGHAN
80 LIFE + STYLE
What you should know if you’re looking for a new jacket; Islandgrown celebratory sips; the team that paddles together, pulls together.
82 DID YOU KNOW
Strait talk: How we’ve got from the Island to the mainland, and back, over the years.
Make time for what matters most
Being there means everything.
Achieve More with an Athena Assistant
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 10 TO WATCH WINNERS!
Chuck offers a team-based approach for a total wealth strategy that addresses the entirety of your life.
AS WE WERE WORKING on this issue of Douglas magazine, our phones were buzzing with one breaking news alert after the other, almost all of them about the on-again, off-again threat of tariffs from across the border. Suddenly our strong economic partnership with our American neighbours is in peril, and so are many of our businesses.
It’s not just the prospect of 25-, or 50-, or 100-per-cent tariffs on Canadian goods that has businesses spooked. It’s the uncertainty. Predictability and stability are key to a good economy, and our situation right now is anything but predictable or stable.
All of that has made this, our 16th annual 10 to Watch Awards, more meaningful than ever.
As always, when the nominations trickled in (for Island businesses less than three years old), we were excited to see the variety of new initiatives here on Vancouver Island. We can’t help but admire the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit behind them and the optimism.
“This is a community that pulls together and supports its neighbours in good times and bad.”
Even at the best of times it’s hard for a new business to succeed. About half of startups fail within their first five years; 20 per cent in the first year alone. There are many reasons they don’t succeed, but high among them is the failure to raise enough starting capital, prepare a business plan or properly research the market.
There’s a lot that can go wrong for any business, and even more when that business is a new one.
But there is one superpower all the nominees and winners in this year’s 10 to Watch Awards share: They are all members of our Vancouver Island community, and this is a community that pulls together and supports its neighbours in good times and bad.
From food hubs to industry associations like VIATEC (Victoria Innovation, Advanced Technology & Entrepreneurship Council) and bigger-tent societies like VIEA (Vancouver Island Economic Alliance), there is always someone to offer encouragement and help, whether it’s with skills training or making essential connections.
For instance, in 2020, shortly after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic, the South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP) announced a task force to ensure local businesses would thrive despite the worldwide chaos. Not only did it protect existing businesses, it helped SIPP launch new initiatives like COAST (Centre for Ocean Applied Sustainable Technology), an innovation cluster designed to develop Pacific Canada as a global blue economy leader. Now that we’re facing another global challenge, SIPP has launched Rising Economy Taskforce 2.0.
So no matter what the future holds, whether it’s uncertainty from the south or the ever-present risks every entrepreneur faces, we know our business community is in good hands.
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to R: Alice Brum, Ian Clark, Grant Atwood
IN THE KNOW
CARVING OUT A BETTER WAY ITK
Indigenous artist Carey Newman works with Camosun Innovates to create a tool for cultural sustainability.
BY LIONEL WILD
With the help of a mechanism created by
master carver Carey
works on a second-growth totem pole at his studio on
Nation land. When the pole is finished, colourful lights inside it will glow between the tapered cedar beams.
“A really powerful and visceral experience.” That’s what Indigenous multidisciplinary artist Carey Newman calls watching a towering old-growth cedar cut down before his eyes deep in a West Coast forest a decade ago. “You just don’t hear it, you feel it. It shakes the ground around you.” It was the first time the 50-year-old master carver and
JEFFREY
Camosun Innovates,
Newman
Tsawout First
Impact chair in Indigenous art practices at the University of Victoria had watched a tree that he was going to work on felled in the forest a German client had requested that it be filmed. But it also planted the seed of an idea: how to utilize second-growth cedar in crafting totem poles for commercial and non-traditional clients instead of the rapidly vanishing old-growth trees used for Indigenous and cultural purposes.
As Newman puts it: “How do I honour that commitment? Not to cut down old growth strictly for profit any more.”
The result: a new mechanism, a sort of high-tech tool that trims cedar logs into beams that can be tapered, fit and held together while a carver works on them, as if working on a singular totem pole. Plus, there’s a rotational device that can turn these heldtogether cedar beams as the carver works.
Call it “Totem 2.0.” Newman does.
“The idea behind it is the same idea behind I hate to put it this way but a rotisserie chicken,” says Dr. Richard Gale, director of Camosun Innovates, the applied research and development centre at Camosun College that brought Newman’s idea to life with the help of halfa-dozen mechanical engineering students.
“By turning a crank, you can rotate all of them together, in either direction, so that Carey can take his tools to those collected 12 beams and carve them as if they were one coherent, oldgrowth cedar trunk.”
One mechanism is now in use, with a second, more refined version soon to come.
As for Newman, he wants the plans for this unique mechanism to be open source, “so that institutions, other artists are able to build them for themselves if they want.”
He adds: “It will be available to other carvers. I’m interested in this from a purpose-based perspective of protecting old growth. So any carver who wants to make a totem this way, I would welcome it.”
Tiny in Name, Big in Success
BY TAMMY SCHUSTER
Black tie or khakis and sneakers that’s the suggested dress code for the 2025 Distinguished Entrepreneur of the Year Awards (DEYA) gala hosted by the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business this June.
The reason for this alt dress code is a nod to the tech industry “uniform” and to the recipients of this year’s award: Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling, cofounders of Tiny.
entrepreneurial excellence and positive societal impact.
“The Gustavson School of Business created this award because we’re one of the few schools in North America that offer entrepreneurship intentionally,” says Mia Maki, associate teaching professor and associate dean of external and outreach.
LGBTQ2+ communities. Ratana and Arran Stephens, cofounders of Nature’s Path organic foods, were also honoured for pioneering sustainable food practices.
Wilkinson and Sparling have been partners in business since 2009 and together run Tiny, a publicly traded holding company that purchases small businesses and, unlike traditional equity models, maintains them. Their business philosophy is to acquire exceptional companies and allow them to flourish independently, empowering original founders and their teams to continue their work while providing access to leadership and resources for growth.
Now in its 21st year, DEYA recognizes and celebrates
UVic’s business school also turns 35 this year, and Maki says it’s important to recognize local entrepreneurs to reflect the considerable growth that the city’s business community has made over the last three and a half decades. “We’re so proud of the community that we’ve helped to create and support,” she says. “Andrew and Chris are both local and global. They’re based in Victoria, and they have made an impact in our community and beyond our borders.”
Past recipients of DEYA include Bobbie Racette, founder and CEO of Virtual Gurus, an inclusivityfirst talent marketplace creating opportunities for underrepresented groups, including Indigenous and
During their interview at last year’s gala, the Stephenses reflected on their complementary working relationship, something Maki sees mirrored in Wilkinson and Sparling’s partnership. That, and the fact neither are too jazzed about wearing a tuxedo to the event.
The gala, scheduled for June 10 at the Victoria Conference Centre, is traditionally a black-tie affair. However, this year’s gala is “black tie, your way” to reflect Wilkinson and Sparling’s tech style and culture and may infuse the gala with some interesting ensembles. But the focus remains on celebrating the award recipients.
“We’re super pleased that Andrew and Chris are being recognized because they’ve been a stealthy success and it’s really nice to spotlight and celebrate their accomplishments,” Maki says.
Cofounders Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling named 2025 DEYA winners.
Andrew Wilkinson
Securing Flexible Office Talk
Telus partnership dials up innovative secure communications solution.
Streamlining business communication across multiple devices, but with enhanced security: that’s what’s behind the new partnership between Telus and U.S.-based communications software giant Movius. This new collaboration, called Telus Unified MultiLine, will enable employees to utilize a dedicated business identity across various devices, including mobile phones, tablets and wearables — all with security features to ensure data privacy.
“Telus Unified MultiLine combines enterprise-grade security, empowering Canadian organizations to boost productivity and prioritize information security,” says Heather Tulk, Telus president, commercial and public sector.
Telus says the new software system integrates voice calling and SMS (texts) with Microsoft Teams, Cisco Unified Communication Manager and Salesforce, while supporting standard messaging applications such as WhatsApp. Telus Unified MultiLine effectively allows for various bring-your-own-device scenarios while providing ultimate flexibility for businesses and their employees — with all data safely secured.
Telus Unified MultiLine can be tailored to different business sectors and public organizations and will have seamless integration with the existing Telus network.
“We’re now deploying MultiLine in health care, insurance, professional services, transportation, public schools, retail and in areas where customer and company data privacy is a concern,” says Movius CEO Ananth Siva.
Getting Around: Hello to Hullo’s Ridership Numbers
Commuter ferry to Vancouver is making waves.
Getting to and from the mainland with ease and convenience is becoming a growth industry — and a boon for Islanders. Joining the likes of HeliJet, Harbour Air and of course the big daddy of them all, BC Ferries, Nanaimo-based Hullo Ferries is boasting a 50-per-cent annual passenger growth after 18 months in business, running two vessels between Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver’s Coal Harbour.
Hullo’s 12 daily sailings — or six round trips — have been supplemented by extra late sailings after select concerts and Canucks games, adding up to more than 650,000 passengers during the last year and a half.
The two vessels carry 354 passengers and are wheelchair accessible, but they do not allow bicycles. The one-way cost for an adult is $39.99.
A free shuttle bus service, operated by Hullo, transports passengers from Nanaimo’s ferry terminal to the mid-Island city’s downtown.
When asked whether Hullo is considering adding a service to Victoria, the company says that there are no current plans for a downtown Vancouver to Victoria run. However, if such a second route was undertaken, it would take another two years before a launch date.
Instead, the Garden City is seeing a new airborne option as Kenmore Air adds a new service starting in May between Victoria and Tacoma, Washington.
The Seattle-based airline’s new seasonal service operates May 15 to September 15, flying in and out of Victoria’s Inner Harbour to Tacoma, via a brief stopover on San Juan Island. The one-way fare is US $199.
We are living through what has been described as a “hinge moment in history,” when the future can easily go in drastically different directions. No one knows that better than author Mark Carney, the former Bank of Canada governor who was recently elected federal Liberal leader and simultaneously became the country’s prime minister.
In his timely new book The Hinge: Time to Build an Even Better Canada (McClelland & Stewart), he charts a bold, hopeful and ambitious path through this perilous period. He compares it to the darkest days of the Second World War, when the Allies faced the existential questions that ultimately swung what Winston Churchill called the “Hinge of Fate” toward freedom and prosperity.
Now in 2025 we face another hinge moment: A quarter-century of crises, globalization and technological change has already resulted in plummeting wages, lower quality of life and a loss of trust in our institutions. So how will we deal with the massive disruption to be presented by artificial intelligence and the net zero revolution? According to Carney, this is the time to build for the future with progress in mind.
Hullo Ferries’ service between Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver started in August 2023.
THE STRATH SEEKS NEW OWNERSHIP
A landmark transition faces Victoria’s downtown entertainment hub.
BY THOMAS STUART
For 79 years, The Strath has been a family-owned cornerstone of Victoria’s culture. In February, the Olson family who owns it announced the hospitality hub is on the market.
The Olson family has shaped Victoria’s nightlife for three generations. In that time, the six-storey complex at 919 Douglas Street grew beyond the original Strathcona Hotel to include 70 guest rooms, a liquor store and some of the city’s most recognizable bars and venues.
The sale process for The Strath will take time and the Olsons emphasize that business will continue while they search for the right buyer. Concerts, conferences and bookings remain on the schedule and building improvements are ongoing.
Whether a potential buyer would preserve the current business or redevelop is unclear.
The sale may include the parking lot across Courtney Street, adding development potential. However, the Olsons have expressed hope that new ownership will innovate while respecting The Strath’s role in Victoria’s entertainment landscape.
A Cultural Hub
Originally built in 1911 as the Empress Block, the building was converted to a hotel in 1913 and is now listed in Canada’s Historic Places as a notable example of Victoria’s early commercial architecture.
For decades, The Strath has presided over downtown Victoria’s cultural scene.
It was home to what is believed to be the province’s first cocktail bar. (The Strathcona Lounge, now Big Bad John’s, served its first Martini on July 1, 1954.)
In the late 20th century, The Forge, recently revived as Wicket Hall, hosted nowlegendary acts including The Tragically Hip, Meat Loaf, Blue Öyster Cult, Rage Against the Machine, Trooper and Nirvana. Today, The Strath reflects Victoria’s variety, from tweedy comfort to rockabilly charm, making it a favourite of professionals and undergraduates alike. Not just businesses, these venues are cultural touchstones for both locals and tourists. Now it remains to be seen what’s next for this Victoria landmark.
The future is unclear for the Strathcona Hotel complex, a Douglas Street landmark of Victoria hospitality.
SIPP Task Force
Relaunches to Tackle Tariffs
Proactive strategy is designed to safeguard the region’s future.
With the looming, on-again, off-again threat of the U.S. administration’s imposed tariffs on Canada, the South Island Prosperity Partnership (SIPP) has remobilized its task force to safeguard Greater Victoria’s economy.
The first task force was formed in 2020 by Greater Victoria’s economic alliance as a response to the COVID pandemic. The launch of the Rising Economy Taskforce 2.0 brings together government leaders, business organizations and financial institutions to address the region’s economic vulnerabilities resulting from U.S. President Donald Trump’s ongoing threats and attempts at intimidation.
“The Rising Economy Taskforce 2.0 is our commitment to turning threats into action, and action into lasting prosperity,” says Aaron Stone, CEO of SIPP. “We see the challenges ahead, but we also see opportunity. Just as we’ve been rebuilt stronger post-pandemic, we’ll emerge from this moment more resilient, more innovative and more united.”
ECOMM RECON
More texts mean more money for businesses.
That uptick in text messages on your phone urging you to check out the newest summer fashions, return to your favourite restaurant or even commit to a comfy sofa? They’re on the increase, and they’re money makers for Canadian businesses.
According to an Omnisend e-commerce marketing study, Canadian brands last year used 840 million emails, eight million SMS (texts) and three million push notifications to generate $143 million in revenue from 818,000 sales. Omnisend says Canadian brands sent out 4.7 times more push notifications and 77 per cent more SMS last year than they did in 2023.
Together, these channels have grown by 115 per cent year-over-year. Meanwhile, automated emails drove 29 per cent of sales, though they represented only 1.3 per cent of email volume.
The top industries for email marketing click-to-conversion rate? Autos at 28.3 per cent and arts and entertainment at 23.9 per cent.
A NEW ERA
OF
CULINARY EXCELLENCE
Fairmont Empress warmly welcomes Executive Chef Isabel Chung as the newest leader of the culinary team and a proud addition to Victoria’s dynamic food scene. With over two decades of global experience and a commitment to sustainable, authentic cuisine, Chef Chung invites you to experience her passion for flavour and innovation.
SWEET DREAMS AREN’T MADE OF THIS
What your nightly visions about work say about you and your mental state.
You might think you’ve left work at the office, but here you are, waking up in a cold sweat after yet another dream about strolling through the cafeteria with no clothes on. But what does it all mean?
The online job-search platform JobLeads recently partnered with celebrity dream interpreter Inbaal Honigman to define and decode the most common work dreams. Although not all work dreams are bad ones, they found that two in five people confess to having work-related nightmares, with 28 per cent of those surveyed experiencing them at least once a week.
Not surprisingly, many of them relate to stress at work, especially at a time when there is so much insecurity around job loss and other worries. If you are feeling stressed, the organizers of the study urge you to set clear boundaries, incorporates breaks (even micro-breaks) throughout the day and mentally switch off when the workday ends.
HERE ARE THE TOP FIVE WORK-RELATED DREAMS, AND WHAT THEY MEAN:
THE DREAM:
You’re late for work.
What it means: You’re overwhelmed by the demands and expectations of your job, and that work stress is creeping into your subconscious. 1 4 5
THE DREAM:
You’re having romantic dreams about a coworker.
THE DREAM:
You lost your job or were fired.
What it means: You’re feeling insecure. It could mean you feel your current job is at risk, but it could also reflect deeper anxieties about security and financial stability. This dream often pops up when you feel unsupported at work or in your
You’ve got a new job.
Good news! This positive work dream may symbolize a craving for change, but will almost certainly make you feel motivated, confident and energized.
What it means: Relax — these dreams rarely mean you’re physically attracted to, say, Bob from accounting. Instead, they might mean that you admire the individual’s confidence, creativity or work ethics, or simply that you crave greater harmony in your professional relationships.
THE DREAM:
Your former boss enters your dreams.
What it means: If your former boss was a good one, it could mean you need their positive energy and support right now. If your former boss caused you stress or aggravation, it might be a sign to watch out for similar behaviour in your current situation.
Oh — and if you’re dreaming about being naked at work (No. 8 on the list), you’re likely feeling vulnerable, unprepared, even judged, and if you’re the only one who is naked, you’re probably lonely, too. For the full results, visit jobleads.com.
FIVE MINUTES WITH CRTC Commissioner Claire Anderson
Claire Anderson is the first Indigenous woman and first resident of the Yukon to be appointed to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Since 2019, the Taku River Tlingit First Nation lawyer has been the CRTC’s commissioner for B.C. and the Yukon; she is also vice-chair of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals, a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting excellence in administrative justice, and serves as the chair of the council’s Truth and Reconciliation Committee.
Anderson was in Victoria in February for the ninth annual BC Communications Forum, where we spoke about protecting Canadian content, modernizing the Broadcasting Act and making sure all Canadians have access to the internet.
It’s so important to support content that reflects all our diversity.
Is part of your role to ensure Indigenous perspectives are reflected in CRTC decisions and consultations?
I do represent as Indigenous, but to answer your question, CRTC commissioners are tribunal decision-makers so we’re careful to not advocate from any one perspective. I think bringing my own lived experience as an Indigenous woman to discussions at the commission is valuable. We’re working on the Indigenous broadcast policy — asking questions about programming needs of Indigenous people and the vitalization of Indigenous languages and culture, definitions of Indigenous content and success and how the policy can recognize communities for self-determination.
Learn how to manage logistics and execution for a project of your own design. Camosun’s online certification program allows professionals with busy lives and full schedules to learn at their own pace — and it counts towards your PMP training requirement. Learn more at
camosun.ca/apm
Upcoming Info Sessions
that’s exciting. This money is coming from entities like Netflix right now, though some of those online streaming services have appealed and it may be a while before all the funding is available.
Where can we find the work being done by CRTC? Can Canadians provide input? Yes, people can stay up to date on the evolution of proceedings like the co-development of the Indigenous broadcasting policy, Online Streaming Act, modernizing the Broadcasting Act and many more by going to crtc.gc.ca/eng/consultation/.
Jun 05, 2025
Aug 21, 2025
Nov 20, 2025 Feb 26, 2026
Rising Economy 2025 brought together Greater Victoria’s business and community leaders for three days of thought-leading panels, keynotes and discussions about opportunities and challenges we face — and how we can rise to realize our potential, as individuals, organizations and a regional community. Thank you to our sponsors
Rising Economy 2025 brought together Greater Victoria’s business and community leaders for three days of thought-leading panels, keynotes and discussions about opportunities and challenges we face — and how we can rise to realize our potential, as individuals, organizations and a regional community. Thank you to our sponsors for making this important event possible!
SCAM ALERT
HOW
TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS FROM FAKES AND FRAUDSTERS BEFORE
IT’S TOO LATE.
BY FIONA ANDERSON
IT’S ONE OF THE OLDEST TRICKS IN THE BOOK a company receives an invoice that says it is past due and must be paid immediately, only it’s a fake designed to defraud the business and it’s still one of the most effective, especially as fake invoices probably look better today than they did 25 years ago.
Andrew Maxwell
One well-known fake invoice was from a Yellow Pages impostor. If you spent any time looking at it, you would have noticed that the fingers that do the walking were actually upside down, says Rosalind Scott, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau that services Vancouver Island. In that case, the “invoice” sent the recipient to a website where the company was signed up for a product that it didn’t want, and probably couldn’t even use.
But most fakes aren’t that obvious, and that makes it easy for business owners to become victims, especially when they are juggling deadlines, distractions and unfamiliar technology.
CANADIANS HAVE LOST MORE THAN
$500 MILLION DUE TO FRAUD
BETWEEN JANUARY 1 AND OCTOBER 31, 2024
‘A Multibillion-dollar Industry’
Between January 1 and October 31, 2024, Canadians lost more than $500 million due to fraud, with more than 28,000 people falling victim to scammers, according to the federal government’s Canadian AntiFraud Centre (CAFC). That number is probably much higher as it is estimated that only about five to 10 per cent of victims report being defrauded.
“It’s a multibillion-dollar industry,” Scott says.
The fake invoice scam is just one of many that businesses can fall victim to. Here are some of the others out there, ready to take your money or worse.
Government compliance notices. These usually include government department logos, a font that resembles government letters and a reference or file number. The business is directed to a website where it can get “help” filing their report and provide information that will enable the scammer to compromise the company’s network and banking information and even steal the company’s identity. No company wants to ignore a letter from the government and risk an audit or worse, which is why these are so effective.
Other government notices. Another common government impostor scam offers grant money to companies in exchange for a fee. According to the CAFC website (antifraudcentre-centreantifraude.ca), these scammers offer “special access” to government funding programs, may have official-sounding names and may use Government of Canada logos. The site asks you to pay an upfront fee, either to receive a list of available grants or to complete the application. In some cases, the site may ask that you open a new business bank account to receive the money. Once you provide the banking details, the scammers may use the account for purposes such as laundering money.
Fake loan scams. These scams direct people to a website that looks like a legitimate financial institution, but the “loan applications” are used to collect personal information that can result in identity theft and fraud.
Identity theft. Many think identity theft only applies to individuals, but it can also affect businesses. According to the BBB, criminals can steal a business’s identity by gaining access to financial or other sensitive information through hacking, malware, phishing emails, swiping credit card info or even finding sensitive documents that have been improperly discarded.
Ransomware attacks. In these situations, hackers get access to a company’s computer network and hold it for ransom, asking for money to return the data or return access to the company. For instance, in April 2024, Richmond-based retailer
London Drugs shut down its stores for a week after being attacked. But this is also happening to small companies, Scott says. “And they don’t want $20. They want a lot more.”
AI-generated deep fakes. Artificial intelligence has made scams even more sophisticated, says Simone Lis, president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau for the Lower Mainland. She heard a story of an accountant who thought they were talking to their CEO on a video conference call, but it was a scam artist who had created AI videos of what looked like the boss. AI can also be used to mimic voice messages, she says.
In all of these cases, the key to protecting yourself is education. Because if you track back a breach or scam, it’s probably something that is relatively minor that someone did. And that “someone” would be an employee.
WHILE SCAMMERS ARE GETTING VERY GOOD
NINE TIMES OUT OF 10
THEY MAKE MISTAKES
“The most important thing for businesses to do is educate their employees because all security breaches are tied vulnerability that a well-meaning employee has inadvertently caused,” Scott says.
How to Protect Your Business
While scammers are getting very good being copycats, nine times out of 10 they make mistakes that suggest something’s not quite right. Here are just a few things to look for:
• Check for typos, grammatical errors or even formatting errors on letters and emails, and make sure every invoice requires at two sets of eyes on it before it paid.
• Confirm the email address any communication is coming from. Beware of phishing, the practice of sending scam emails to a wide swath of people; “spear fishing” newer form of phishing that targets specific employees.
BEWARE OF INVESTMENT SCAMS
One way people lose money is through investment scams and although there are always new twists, they have been around for a long time. Charles Dickens even included what would eventually be called Ponzi schemes — where early investors are paid out by subsequent investors, rather than from business gains — in two of his novels, Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) and Little Dorrit (1857). Now technology is adding sophisticated twists to age-old scams, such as AI-generated deep-fake videos and voices that clone recognized experts and even family members.
“We’ve seen people lose millions of dollars,” says Sammy Wu, manager of investigations for the BC Securities Commission, who adds that the foundation of every investment scam is trust.
Here’s one way that trust can be gained online through a Facebook group.
A scammer joins your group pretending to have the same interests and then starts one-on-one comments with some of the group members. Over time, conversations move from Facebook to texts or WhatsApp.
Once trust is established — which can take months — your new “friend” will mention a great investment they made. When you ask about the investment, you are directed to a website that looks like a legitimate investment site, with investment packages to choose from and a number to call to set up an account. An account representative will offer to join your
Local IT support made simple
computer to help set up the account, often using the remote desktop application AnyDesk. Once that’s done, the scammers have access to your computer and all your information.
The “account” on the website will show good returns at the beginning and you may even be allowed to withdraw small amounts of money at first. But when the money you put in starts building up, it gets harder to take it out. There will be excuses, like money has to be paid up front to cover the capital gains tax. When you start asking too many questions and demand your money back, all communication is cut off and your money is gone.
Worse, the scammer, which is usually offshore organized crime, may have also drained your bank account and even taken out loans in your name.
If you are considering investing in an exciting opportunity, be on the lookout for these red flags:
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• There is some urgency that you will miss out.
• The investments involve cryptocurrency.
• When you ask questions about the investment, it sounds very sophisticated — for instance, using offshore trusts — but without any real details.
For more warning signs and ways to protect yourself, visit the BC Securities Commission website investright.org.
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The change was more than just a cleverly symbolic name switch, as 4VI is fundamentally different. A social enterprise is, by definition, a moneymaking venture that channels profits into a social cause. The non-profit organization formerly known as TAVI is now a for-profit enterprise balanced atop the four pillars of communities, culture, businesses and environment. That kind of paradigm shift doesn’t happen with a pen stroke.
While this significant transition was underway, Everett and his team launched the British Columbia Tourism Resiliency Program with $1 million in funding from Pacific Economic Development Canada. It was a quickly cobbled-together emergency initiative to shore up tourism-based businesses shell-shocked by COVID. Though it originated on Vancouver Island, the program went provincewide and went on to provide one-on-one consulting, expert coaching and online training to more than 3,000 businesses across B.C.
In hindsight, Everett views it as a miniroad test for the nascent 4VI.
“That program gave us this engagement with businesses and communities that we hadn’t really had before,’’ he says.
Investing in Community
Still, 4VI has experienced some growing pains. A little more than two years down
this new path, 4VI still includes “formerly Tourism Vancouver Island” in official correspondence, suggesting there remains some confusion out there in the public around 4VI. It’s the reason Everett and his team took steps last July to clarify what exactly the multifaceted entity called 4VI does.
Under the 4VI banner, there are now three entities: 4TVI fulfils destination marketing under contract to Destination British Columbia (much like TAVI did in
the past); 4Good is the social-based arm dedicated to funding community projects around Vancouver Island and is still a work in progress; and 4Ever Strategies is the social enterprise’s consulting arm staffed with experts on destination development, carbon-emission reduction planning and other services.
Everett sees huge potential for 4VI’s consulting opportunities. The more revenue 4VI can generate, the more money it can reinvest in community projects on Vancouver Island, which is the underlying, regenerative foundation for 4VI.
“We can sell products and services,” says Everett. “And we need to make money now.”
4VI is also selling a message and a new way forward. Everett is increasingly in demand as a speaker at industry events around the world, including a tourism industry decarbonization forum hosted by Turismo de Islas Canarias (Canary Islands Tourism) last November. Posting on LinkedIn afterwards, Jose Juan Lorenzo Rodriguez, managing director of Tourism Canary Islands, called 4VI “a benchmark on the other side of the planet.”
While Everett racks up air miles telling the 4VI story, the organization around him is focused largely on Vancouver Island and working with local partners like Tourism Cowichan. This small-community DMO
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Anthony Everett, 4VI president and CEO, is taking the organization’s message around the world.
THREE ENTITIES COMPRISE 4VI SOCIAL ENTERPRISE GROUP:
4TVI (Stewardship)
4VI’s regional tourism organization supports communities and tourism businesses in partnership with Destination British Columbia; the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport; Indigenous Tourism BC; and others.
4EVER (Strategies)
4VI’s professional services company offers innovative sustainability, storytelling and strategic planning solutions for destinations, communities, businesses and organizations.
4GOOD (Social Impact Fund)
Using 4EVER profits, 4VI’s social investment program aims to contribute $10 million to Vancouver Island communities by 2030.
Through funding, partnerships, shared expertise and resources, 4VI intends to build trust-based relationships between the tourism industry, communities and residents.
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has a modest budget of $1.1 million, nearly three-quarters of it coming from the municipal and regional district tax on short-term accommodation sales.
Tourism development specialist Kenzie Knight, a 4VI employee, is the full-time community lead for Tourism Cowichan. She manages the budget with guidance from the volunteer board of directors and heads up destination marketing and management.
“Tourism Cowichan pays 4VI annual fees totalling $405,000 for administration, wages, marketing, destination and productexperience development,” says Bob Day, Tourism Cowichan’s president and CEO.
Tourism experience development is a major focus for this community DMO. Recently, Knight and 4VI launched the Cowichan Spark Program, a judged contest that invited budding entrepreneurs to pitch their tourism ideas, with the three winners getting seed funding and business coaching from a mentor.
“We have a great working relationship with 4VI. Kenzie Knight meets with our board regularly and she’s able to get things up the pipeline very quickly,” says Day. “4VI’s social enterprise model really makes sense for us in terms of giving back to the community as the focus.”
Better for Business
One of 4VI’s goals is to support local businesses, which they do through everything from coaching to marketing to providing seed funding. For traditional tourism partners, that means a more responsive organization putting Vancouver Island on the travel and tourism map.
“They have been a constant exceptional resource providing direction and support whenever it has been needed,” says Adele Larkin, general manager of Black Rock
Oceanfront Resort in Ucluelet. Nik Coutinho, director of sales and marketing for Prince of Whales, has monthly check-ins with 4TVI president Brian Cant. Since making the social enterprise transition, 4VI partnered with the Marine Education & Research Society on a responsible marine-mammal viewing awareness campaign and supported Prince of Whales’s successful quest to achieve Biosphere Certification in 2023. Coutinho says revenue 4VI generates through
4VI supports many Indigenous-led initiatives, including Tribal Park Allies, a program spearheaded by Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation natural resources manager Saya Masso, who is pictured here on the Big Tree Trail on Meares Island. MELISSA
Experiences such as the Prince of Whales kayaking tours in Telegraph Cove fit into the 4VI goal of supporting sustainable tourism, especially in smaller communities.
consulting for off-Island tourism clients could have a big impact when reinvested on the North Island where Prince of Whales has a satellite operation in Telegraph Cove. Without the convenience of buses and shuttles, it takes a certain kind of adventurous tourist to make the journey to a place like Telegraph Cove, despite the fact that it’s the premier destination for marine-mammal viewing on the B.C. coast.
“Those small-community DMOs are membership-funded and they don’t have a lot of members, so they’re limited in what they can do,” Coutinho says. “These are early days. I think it’s going to be five or so years until we see that benefit, but the potential is there.”
It has also created opportunities that never existed before.
Right from its inception, 4VI placed reconciliation and Indigenous engagement at the core of its thinking. In addition to sponsoring the five-part podcast series Indigenous Voices, 4VI is an enthusiastic supporter of Tribal Park Allies. This pioneering project, led by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, asks tourism-based businesses operating on their traditional territories around Tofino and Clayoquot Sound to voluntarily charge customers a one-percent ecosystem services fee to support conservation projects and the Tribal Parks Guardians program.
Another way that 4VI is investing in communities is by supporting trail development. Since beginning the organizational and operational switch
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4VI’S SUSTAINABLE WINS
In May 2022, as a brand-new social enterprise, 4VI achieved the Responsible Tourism Institute’s Biosphere certification for Vancouver Island, a designation that demonstrates a region’s commitment to the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations.
In addition, 4VI was one of more than 500 signatories to the Tourism Climate Action Glasgow Declaration, an initiative launched in November 2021 at COP26 (the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference).
To that end, 4VI undertook an ambitious carbon audit of Vancouver Island’s tourism sector to provide important baseline data and direct carbon-emission reduction efforts.
The audit found that tourism activities in 2019 generated 2,010,426 tonnes of CO2 equivalent, with more than 80 per cent of emissions coming from transportation as well as food and beverage.
The results allow 4VI to set evidencebased goals for emission reduction and create targeted, sustainable action plans.
The carbon audit also played a pivotal role in 4VI winning the 2023 Canadian Tourism Award for Sustainable Tourism from the Tourism Industry Association of Canada.
To learn more, visit forvi.ca.
RYAN DE MILLIANO/UROC
for a walk on the trails they were really excited about what we were doing, that we were building longer buzzy trails that in terms of marketing and sustainability really puts us on the map even more.”
Browne says the 4VI-funded project helped UROC leverage a $150,000 grant from the BC Destination Development Fund for further trail work and completion of what he calls a series of four “epic descents” from the top of the network.
A Model for Others
Back at 4VI’s office in Nanaimo, Everett is reflecting on the transition to a social
enterprise model. He says it’s been “messy” at times. There was no template to follow in the world of destination marketing. But he says the fact that colleagues around the world, whether in Chile, the Canary Islands or Luxembourg, are talking about what Vancouver Island is doing is “gratifying,” and an endorsement that they are on the right path.
“This has kick-started a conversation around social responsibility that wouldn’t have happened otherwise,” Everett says. “This conversation has gone many different ways, sometimes challenging, sometimes really hard, but all of it’s good.”
three years ago, 4VI has granted $350,000 for mountain-bike trail-building projects across Vancouver Island. The investment fits well with 4VI’s social and community development objectives. It’s also a chequebook acknowledgement that mountain-bike tourism is a real thing.
For example, a 2021 study of the Nanaimo trail system found that each year mountain bikers spend $720,000 on bike accessories, $500,000 on repairs, $2.8 million on new bikes and $1.2 million on mountain-bike-related travel, among other smaller expenditures. Cumberland has one of the most used trail networks in North America, according to Trailforks, a popular trail database and trailmanagement app. This historic coal-mining town near Courtenay knows well the economic impact that thousands of beerenjoying, pizza-munching aprés mountain bikers can have on a small community. United Riders of Cumberland (UROC) oversees a land use agreement with Mosaic Forest Management and all trail building and maintenance on those lands. In 2022, 4VI handed UROC a $62,000 grant a lot of dirt can be moved with that kind of money, especially when a paid trail crew is paired with a small army of dedicated volunteers.
“With that funding, we created three significant lines to satisfy most of our trail users,” says Dougal Browne, executive director of UROC. “When we took 4VI out
Dougal Browne, executive director of United Riders of Cumberland, on trail-maintenance duty.
AWARD WINNERS
THE TOP 10 NEW BUSINESSES YOU NEED TO KNOW
BY DAVID LENNAM, SHANNON MONEO AND LIONEL WILD
For 16 years now, Douglas magazine’s 10 to Watch Awards have been recognizing the most promising entrepreneurs in Greater Victoria and, indeed, all over Vancouver Island.
Each year we are impressed by the breadth and depth of the talent, ideas and innovation that thrive in our region. We are also humbled to learn from previous winners how a 10 to Watch Award has been the catalyst that helped their business reach the next level, to expand, to grow, to succeed where so many others fail.
Our winners are dreamers, doers, problem solvers and big thinkers.
And many young businesses do fail, as many as 90 per cent in some sectors. It takes a lot of courage to start a new business. But to succeed, it also takes a lot of skill and talent and not a little luck. Most of all, it takes a supportive community, and that’s just what they find here on Vancouver Island.
Six of the staunchest pillars of that community — all prominent local business people — came together to judge this year’s dozens of impressive candidates. (Note that the 10 to Watch Awards are judged independently; candidates do not pay to enter, their nominations are confidential and there is no outside influence on the judging itself.)
What they found was a dynamic and disparate group of businesses that range from medical services to technology to distilling. If there is one thing that links them, it’s the desire to make the world a little bit better, more connected, functional and sustainable, while still navigating the realities of our changing times.
Please turn the page to meet the bright and promising entrepreneurs that comprise the winners of the 2025 Douglas 10 to Watch Awards.
Congratulations to you all!
Congratulations to all the 10 to Watch winners!
FACILITATOR | Cathy McIntyre is the principal of Strategic Initiatives, a strategy consulting firm that works with organizations in the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. A chartered director, McIntyre serves on the boards of First West Credit Union, Consumer Protection BC and Peninsula Co-op. She is a former chair of the University of Victoria Board of Governors, the Victoria Hospitals Foundation and has served on the boards of a number of other local organizations. She earned her MBA in entrepreneurship at UVic and received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for her community service.
JUDGE | Mia Maki is a principal at Quimper Consulting and associate dean, external and outreach, at UVic’s Gustavson School of Business. Formerly chief financial officer and chief operating officer for a Victoriabased technology company, Maki has helped raise over $50 million for international initiatives, including acquisitions, strategic partnerships and joint subsidiaries.
PANEL OF JUDGES
Meet the independent panel of judges for the 10 to Watch Awards 2025.
JUDGE | Deirdre Campbell is president of the Canadianbased tartanbond, a globally integrated communications consultancy. Campbell has been nominated as a businessperson and PR professional of the year, recognized with the YW/YMCA Women of Distinction Award for her work in the community and, in 2019, Destination Greater Victoria presented her with their Miracle Award for her work in tourism.
JUDGE | Heidi Sherwood has been active in the Victoria business community since 2005. She is a natural health practitioner, has a master’s degree in business administration and is a management consultant. She is a leader in the health and wellness sector, working with governing bodies to ensure the highest standards are continually met. She loves investing in small businesses and exudes energy and creativity.
JUDGE | Jim Hayhurst is a longtime Victoria tech and community leader who now advises a select group of purpose-driven entrepreneurs, philanthropists and social impact leaders. Hayhurst cofounded the very popular Fuckup Nights Victoria and is a regular columnist for Douglas magazine. In 2016 and 2018, he was honoured with VIATEC Awards for his contributions to the technology sector and is a 2015 Douglas 10 to Watch winner himself.
JUDGE | Pedro Márquez is vice-president, research and international, at Royal Roads University. He is a former dean of the faculty of management and a former board member at the WestShore Chamber of Commerce, Vancouver Island Economic Alliance and South Island Prosperity Partnership. Márquez is a current board member of the Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce. He holds a PhD in management and political science from the University of Calgary.
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WINNER
INTLABS
This company has developed a smart, secure data-governance platform ideal for both businesses and governments.
In 2021, Karl Swannie and Mike Anderson sold Echosec Systems (a 10-to-Watch victor in 2016) and planned to retire. Echosec is a web-based platform that aggregates content from many sources, such as social media, news and the dark web, to help organizations detect online data incursions.
But Swannie, a twofer UVic degree holder (science and geography) and Anderson, another double-degree earner (applied science and computer engineering), got restless. The itch to develop both a team and product meant they scratched off flying lessons and fishing trips. By 2022, the duo formed Intlabs (intelligence labs), with Swannie as CEO and Anderson as CTO.
“At Echosec, we became experts in legal and compliance,” says Swannie.
At Intlabs, the two have taken the datagovernance knowledge they developed at Echosec and created ORIGIN, a smart data governance platform that enables users to safely share, store, redact and work with diverse data sets. ORIGIN uses AI to scan content using access rules based on the data protection legislation relevant to that specific data, user and use situations.
Based on the input information, ORIGIN will
look at vast troves of data protection policies and legislation and generate recommended rules and explanations that show why the data sharing may violate legislation.
“Large companies want to comply with the law, but it’s very hard to comply,” Swannie says, citing the complexities and abundance of rules around privacy in a worldwide landscape. Given what they’ve learned since Echosec days, Swannie and Anderson put data validation at the forefront. “We’ve had so many privacy conversations with privacy advocates, we’re now big advocates of privacy,” Swannie says. “So, very few offer what we offer.”
Intlabs is now piloting, under a five-year contract, the ORIGIN prototype with the federal government’s Public Safety Canada department, Anderson says. All levels of government, as well as large companies, would also be suitable customers.
“Fewer people are tasked with data analysis and there’s a big gap to use data for people’s benefit,” Anderson says.
Since Intlabs launched, the duo have added three more staff and plan to further expand. “We want to grow the company to look after the team,” Swannie says.
DETAILS:
Sector: Technology
Year launched: 2022
Principals: Mike Anderson, Karl Swannie
Unique selling proposition: Ability to move data worldwide while staying compliant with international privacy-related regulations.
Strategy: Creation of an AIdriven system with high-level privacy protection while still delivering results.
Website: intlabs.io
Intlabs principals, from left: Mike Anderson and Karl Swannie.
WINNER
REVYN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES
After listening to patients, this team redesigned a medical device that’s been making people uncomfortable for 150 years.
In 2023, five University of Victoria engineering students had an assignment: Find a medical device that could be improved. After one team member witnessed an emergency medical procedure, they were “blown away” by the incident, recalls Keeley McCormick, one of the five students who have formed Revyn Medical Technologies.
The target? The torturous-looking vaginal speculum, invented over 150 years ago to widen vaginal walls and allow doctors to conduct gynecological exams.
To develop the new, as-yet-unnamed, medical implement, the team interviewed over 600 patients in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan, says McCormick, Revyn’s CEO. Of the 600-plus, 42 per cent delay or avoid care because of speculum angst, 87 per cent experience pain and 79 per cent report distress.
“A lot of doctors are also patients and they don’t like it themselves,” says McCormick. “But they say, ‘It’s the best we’ve got, so we’ll make it work.’ ”
There are different-sized speculums and
modifications that can be made to the stainless steel or plastic instrument first used in the U.S. When thinking about the redesign, a priority for the engineers was to listen to patients so that the product addressed their needs.
So, McCormick and her classmates chose flexible silicone material for one part, which softens sharp edges and quells temperature shock. There are no jarring sound effects. The handle is stainless steel. And the whole device offers 360-degree coverage and can be sterilized. Looking like a slimmed-down blow-dryer, the implement is at the prototype stage.
Further testing, beyond bench top, is necessary for the item to qualify for Health Canada and U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. Testing on humans could happen by early 2026, McCormick says.
The Revyn team has won numerous pitch and entrepreneurship awards, including a $70,000 prize in 2024 that will help push the unlicensed product forward into Canadian and U.S. markets.
“We’d really love to get this into training facilities,” McCormick says.
Unique selling proposition: Ratcheting down the stress and discomfort associated with gynecological exams.
Strategy: Redesigning a medical diagnostic tool, the vaginal speculum, which has not been substantially changed since its invention in 1869.
Website: revynmedtech.com
Revyn Medical Technologies principals, from left: Keeley McCormick, Devon Carmichael, Joshua Latimer, Samantha Sperling, Zoe Crookshank.
Your story is just beginning
We’re here to help you write the next chapter
Congratulations to this year’s Douglas 10 to Watch nominees and winners! Your passion and determination shape our vibrant business community. Behind every great idea is a story of hard work and ambition. Emma and Luke specialize in supporting entrepreneurs like you — offering tailored business solutions designed to help your business grow and succeed. Let’s work together to build the future you envision.
| emma.miller@mnp.ca
Emma Miller, CPA, Partner, Private Enterprise
Luke Biles, CPA, CA, Partner, Private Enterprise | Emma Miller, CPA, Partner, Private Enterprise
WINNER
CONJU
These founders answered the call for missed calls; their solution is already serving small businesses across North America.
If you operate a small business and miss a call from a prospective customer, how do you handle it if you even know about it, that is? There’s a solution.
In early summer 2024, UVic graduates Bryce Edwards and Aomi Jokoji were working on their idea about an AI-assisted work flow tool for small business, but they soon jettisoned the concept after an unexpected headwind. While doing research, they found business owners wouldn’t pick up the phone, recalls Conju cofounder Jokoji. The pair were focused on home-servicing companies and, as they made phone calls, they found that about 70 per cent did not answer.
“The average home-service business misses 40 per cent of their calls. That’s lots of missed revenue,” says Conju cofounder Edwards. And it’s not just local. “The problem is global,” adds Jokoji, with U.S., U.K. and Australian small businesses also experiencing high levels of hit-and-miss communications. Over 80 per cent of possible customers who don’t get an initial answer will move on to another business, Edwards says.
The pair quickly saw the potential, and then the solution. Jokoji, a software engineer and Edwards, an economist, made a “called”-for pivot and started to conjure Conju. Last autumn, the AI-enabled office assistant was unleashed. When a yard-care business owner is in a tree or plumber is under a sink, they can’t pick up the phone but Conju will, within a minute, text back all missed calls, 24/7. Conju immediately responds to customer questions and has the ability to provide estimates and collate all of the customer/job details via its relevant questions.
“You can go from missed calls, to estimates, to booking,” Edwards says.
Given that Conju is easily activated, requiring a 15-minute conversation with the customer and a day to set up, the service can be used across Canada and beyond. Would-be customers can try a free two-week trial.
The AI-receptionist is serving a variety of small businesses throughout Canada and the U.S. As well, the Conju duo continue to fine-tune the program as they respond to clients’ needs, Edwards notes. “We want to hit 200 customers in 12 months,” he says.
DETAILS:
Sector: Technology
Year Launched: 2023
Principals: Aomi Jokoji, Bryce Edwards
Unique Selling Proposition: Ensuring that small businesses don’t miss customer calls and the resulting business.
Strategy: Use of an AI receptionist who immediately texts back missed callers.
Website: conju.ai
Conju principals, from left: Aomi Jokoji and Bryce Edwards.
WINNER
HIBOOP
Learning from his own experience, this leader’s team is finding ways to ensure quicker access to mental health care.
At the KWENCH coworking space, the frenetic brains behind HiBoop are working to fast-track and fine-tune mental health care. Led by founder Jason Morehouse, the six-person team has created a mental-health assessment tool that cuts down diagnostic time.
“We’re doing better, quicker,” says Morehouse. (The name HiBoop is an expression Morehouse uses when checking in with his children.)
The double whammy is accomplished via an initial self-assessment tool for people to complete on their own time, anywhere. HiBoop then employs a scientifically backed algorithm that randomizes questions, which then generates scores for various conditions. These results are compiled into a holistic mental health profile, which guides health-care providers toward appropriate care.
Because less diagnostic time is required, more time is created for actual work to improve mental health.
As well, HiBoop uses an intuitive platform, with continuous updates and enhancement,
meaning the most recent psychiatric research is captured. “We’ve built an algorithm to connect the dots, to make connections sooner,” Morehouse says.
With over 30 successful years working on leading-edge tech products, including Checkfront (which he founded), Morehouse was spurred to create HiBoop after his own mental health challenges. Because it was so difficult to get prompt, quality care, he chose a private facility that, while effective, came at a high price tag and thus was not available to many.
In B.C., physicians spend about 10 minutes with a patient, while mental health assessments can have hundreds of questions. The prolonged process means that a diagnosis and appropriate care may require months of to-and-fro.
In October, HiBoop began a pilot program with The Healing Institute to gain feedback on the platform. The goal is to have crossCanada exposure, followed by U.S. uptake, says Shannon Potts, HiBoop’s marketing director. “The ultimate goal is to help the individual on a mass scale,” she says.
DETAILS:
Sector: Technology/Medical/ Health
Year Launched: 2023
Principal: Jason Morehouse
Unique Selling Proposition: Getting meaningful mental health help is a battle, so having timely, credible and effective care is a victory.
Strategy: By combining clinically backed science with an intelligent platform for professionals and individuals, mental health assessment and care is faster and personalized.
Website: hiboop.com
JEFFREY
HiBoop principal: Jason Morehouse.
WINNER
SWORDFISH ENERGY
This duo has found a way to harness sustainable, scalable blue energy from the oceans and tides.
Oceans and rivers aren’t new sustainable energy sources. But in the rush to deliver clean energy, cheaply, there are new ways to harness a limitless supply of electricity.
The latest is Swordfish Energy’s underwater turbine a technology known as a compeller that is neither propeller nor impeller. Simply, it produces electricity, is environmentally sound and is even kind to marine life.
Cofounder Patrick Marshall, the company’s CEO, refers to other underwater turbines as “sushi makers” because they kill anything that swims into them. Swordfish’s solution rolls with the flow of the water and fish move right through.
Swordfish launched in 2023 after cofounder Dorn Beattie came up with the idea of towing a spinning generator behind his boat to create energy that would bypass the vessel’s twin gas engines, theoretically saving 10 per cent of his fuel costs. He realized the commercial potential on the Isle of Mann, where garbage is burnt for energy. And anywhere else, of course, where energy is fossil fuels, like Haida Gwaii, where millions of litres of diesel get burned every year
just to keep the lights on. And it’s with B.C.’s First Nations that Swordfish is partnering first.
Swordfish is scalable, decentralized, renewable blue energy from hydrokinetic power clean, safe, secure and efficient that can be built inexpensively on a 3D printer.
Marshall, a former economic developer who is stickhandling Swordfish through myriad regulatory jurisdictions, has been building the business case while Beattie, a former chart-topping musician and serial inventor, builds the technology.
“We’re not a conventional business,” says Marshall. “We’re interested in energy as a service… You can rent it, you can buy it, you can own it, we can run it for you, we can put a group together. We’re actually just a device provider.”
Swordfish is hoping to set up 65 transmission corporations that would be owned by First Nations who could then partner with local governments to provide services like sewage and water treatment.
“Getting the 300 or so coastal communities just here in B.C. off diesel would be a great honour for me,” adds Beattie.
DETAILS:
Sector: Technology
Year launched: 2023
Principals: Dorn Beattie, Patrick Marshall
Unique selling proposition: Clean energy that harnesses the power of tides and rivers.
Strategy: Delivering clean, safe and secure energy solutions for coastal economies at 30 per cent less than the levelized cost of other methods.
Website: swordfish-energy.ca
Swordfish Energy principals, from left: Dorn Beattie and Patrick Marshall.
WINNER
ECLECTIVE COWORKING
Recognizing Sidney’s changing demographic, this founder created a space for working and networking.
The old jokes about Sidney being an enclave of retirees measuring out their sunset years in trips to the pub on a scooter are just that old. Sidney has changed. An influx of young workers and their families means adapting to a new set of preferences.
Sidney’s first dedicated cowork space, Eclective CoWorking, opened in September 2024 and has 26 members regularly using what was the old Smitty’s restaurant site on Beacon Avenue.
Owner Lauren Poyntz was tuned in to the town’s changing demographic, but knew there’d be a bit of a learning curve getting people hip to what coworking (like Victoria’s KWENCH, theDock or Digital Desks) is all about.
“We’ve seen such a huge shift in the market here and this is a new type of business for most of our community here. The people who knew they wanted it were on it right away, but there was a bit of an education piece that went into creating the space,” she says.
Two weeks of open houses went a long way to welcoming the community and emphasizing what coworking meant.
Poyntz came up with the idea of launching Eclective during the pandemic, when she was stuck
at home with two young kids. “I knew I wanted to work remotely, but when I would work from home, work was endlessly creeping into my home life and my home life was creeping into my work. I saw it in other people in this community when I was trying to work. In coffee shops, in the library. I heard it in conversations with other young families.”
She says cowork centres done well are all about good energy and collaboration.
“It’s a space intentionally designed to foster relationships and interactions where everyone feels they have a space of their own,” whether hot-desking in the open-plan communal room, in their own private office, or in one of the funky booths where private conversations and phone calls happen.
Eclective is stylish and comfortable with a coffee/ tea bar, fibre Internet, bookable boardrooms and full use of the fitness facility in the neighbouring Best Western hotel. Poyntz is hoping to add a liquor licence that will allow her to host networking and community events.
“My business is never going to be a Goliath. We’re not going to open 35 of them. I want the people who are going to get the most out of this space to be in this space and I want to be able to cater to them.”
DETAILS:
Sector: Professional Services
Year launched: 2024
Principals: Lauren Poyntz
Unique selling proposition:
The first true coworking space in Sidney.
Strategy: A vibrant coworking space designed to spark creativity, nurture connections and foster a community-centred work culture.
Website: eclectivecoworking.ca
Eclective CoWorking principal: Lauren Poyntz.
Congratulations to this year’s 10 to Watch winners!
At MAC Reno Design Build, we know that true innovation takes vision, dedication, and the courage to challenge the status quo. We celebrate your achievements and the impact you’re making in our community. Here’s to your continued success — keep building, creating, and inspiring!
WINNER
HOLOCENE DISTILLING PROJECT
These business partners are distilling spirits with local ingredients, clever engineering hacks and big sustainability goals in mind.
Fourteen months of production but nearly a decade of inspiration into the Holocene Distilling Project, Dorian Redden and Aisling Goodman are building more than a business.
Art? Meet science.
“That’s what distilling is. There’s so much math, there’s so much science involved, every day is a new science experiment for us,” says Goodman. “But it’s all about the art of distillation, which is centuries old, and we really want to pay homage to that tradition and keep that tradition in it while still doing new things in the industry.”
Nestled in a tamed forest off a secondary road in Cobble Hill, Holocene distills eight products and collaborates on several others with local businesses. The business partners are distilling their dreams of an enterprise that produces quality, craft spirits that range from Flivver Vodka
“our very first baby,” says Goodman to Honey, I’m Home Gin to Lost & Found spiced fruit brandy.
At the same time, they are utilizing and developing systems that will make Holocene Distilling carbon neutral by 2030, such as heat capture and their waste treatment field, all on a “bootstrap budget.”
“For distilling and the alcohol industry, you don’t really see a whole lot of push for sustainability efforts. You see huge progress on the green side of things in many other industries, but I feel like brewing and distilling and manufacturing sort of falls behind in that regard,” says Redden.
“We want to show other, larger companies that a small, little home business is able to make these efforts, and we want to show that it is attainable and it’s not something that you need to ignore.”
Redden’s science background the former Victorian has a diploma in mechanical engineering from Camosun College and Goodman’s background in herbal medicines, botanicals and bartending “plus I handle the accounting!” drive this environmentally responsible business.
Redden points to their collaborations with other local businesses, which benefit all parties.
“On one hand, we collect other local companies’ waste and refuse products to make our own products, so that they’re in a circular economy, they get reused, they don’t go to waste,” adds Goodman. “But we also give our products to other local companies to make things like marmalades, or jellies, or perfumes.”
DETAILS:
Sector: Distilling and Manufacturing
Year launched: 2023
Principals: Aisling Goodman, Dorian Redden
Unique selling proposition: Offering unique, herbalforward spirits with a goal of becoming completely carbon neutral by 2030.
Strategy: Combining a science-based, environmentally responsible approach to distilling with the bountiful ingredients offered by nature.
Website: holocenedistillingproject.com
Holocene Distilling Project principals, from left: Aisling Goodman and Dorian Redden.
WINNER
NATIONSFIRST TECHNOLOGIES
These cofounders put their Indigenous culture at the centre of technology designed to build wealth — and consensus.
Ethan Clark sees the big picture. It wasn’t always that way.
Growing up in East Vancouver and attending Van Tech (Vancouver Technical Secondary School) “I was definitely not a star student,” he recalls the teenager wound up running with the wrong crowd. “I was, what you call, patched in.”
Then he got a pointed shot of perspective.
“I found out that I was going to be a father, and so immediately I said, ‘All right, so I gotta leave.’ ”
Two-and-a-half years later, the 22-year-old Clark now calls the Beecher Bay area of East Sooke home. In a recent interview at a café in Vic West, the Coast Salish (on his father’s side) entrepreneur shows just how much of an attentive multi-tasker he can be. He gently, and repeatedly, says to Zyaire, his fidgety two-year-old son, “awa,” or “no” in his S’klallam language, while discussing the cuttingedge tech company he says will help Indigenous peoples realize their economic potential.
Nationsfirst Technologies is that company, the brainchild of cofounders Clark, who is chief executive officer, and Gura D. Gladeau, its Vancouver-based chief marketing officer. It utilizes blockchain technology a digitized
accounting ledger that is decentralized across a computer network, and whose transactions are transparent to everyone in a public blockchain or to all members of a private blockchain to help Indigenous communities build real-asset wealth through consensus-driven decision making, a hallmark of their traditional culture.
Back to the future, as it were.
Nationsfirst, which focuses on the resource sector, has nine officers/directors and 12 developers serving six primary clients and 1,100 wallet users, says Clark with more to come. Primary clients include Spirit Rock Resources and the Tsay Keh Dene Nation-owned Chu Cho Environmental, both B.C.-based businesses, but also extend as far afield as New Mexico Community Capital and Indigenous government interests in Hawaii.
As for the future?
“We want to decentralize the access to opportunity and investment for real-world assets for Indigenous peoples,” Clark says. “I want to get us into ultimately really building that sort of financial infrastructure, whether that be for investment, for management, for banking.”
DETAILS:
Sector: Technology
Year launched: 2023
Principals: Ethan Clark and Gura D. Gladeau
Unique selling proposition: Building technologies that can essentially unblock investability for Indigenous communities, enabling them to achieve sovereign economic development and self-determination.
Strategy: Essential to building new economies for Indigenous peoples is ensuring that information is protected, via blockchain DAO’s (decentralized autonomous organization).
Website: nationsfirst.io
Nationsfirst Technologies principals: Ethan Clark; not pictured: Gura D. Gladeau.
WINNER
REGENERATIVE CAPITAL GROUP
As business owners retire, this investment fund aims to “regenerate” the businesses they own.
The optimism and enthusiasm in Cordell Jacks’s voice are indisputable. Jacks is CEO at Regenerative Capital Group, a Campbell River-based investment fund that is opening a new path for business backing. Mike Miller, who has held high-level positions at RBC Dominion Securities and Investors Group, is chair.
Jacks and Miller first connected in Winnipeg, where Miller hired Jacks when he graduated from the Asper School of Business. Serendipitously, both eventually chose Campbell River as home base.
Jacks has experience working in more than 50 countries in areas as varied as agro-technology and ocean plastic remediation. A long-time acquisition entrepreneur, Miller had given away millions to startups, but wasn’t satisfied with the results. When he and Jacks melded their business acumen and research, Regenerative was generated.
In a play on words, “Regenerative” can mean creating a renewed existence, which the company does by using a new generation of CEOs.
The eureka moment came about when Jacks and Miller considered the silver tsunami that will hit Canada in the next decade or so.
Almost one million businesses, 75 per cent of
all Canadian small/medium enterprises (SME), will change hands or fold, involving over $2 trillion in business and assets, Jacks says. To keep the businesses vital, Regenerative will buy companies that have proven their worth and then grow the companies from there. “It’s entrepreneurship through acquisition,” says Jacks.
But environmental awareness, health and relationships are also key.
“We want to create companies that don’t just look at profit,” Jacks explains. “We want to unlearn industrial ways of being.”
Regenerative Capital is in the process of amassing a $25-million fund that will be used to purchase businesses. They are closing in on the $20 million mark, thanks in part to a recent $5-million investment from the federal government’s Social Finance Fund, Jacks says.
Regenerative has already found five entrepreneurs who will serve as CEOs of the purchased SME companies with EBITDAs ranging from $1 million to $5 million. Over 200 Canadians applied to be considered as one of the five business leaders.
“This is a great platform for the next generation of entrepreneurs,” he adds.
DETAILS:
Sector: Commerce
Principals: Cordell Jacks, Mike Miller
Year Launched: 2022
Unique selling proposition: As thousands of Canadian business owners are retiring, often without succession plans, buying the strong companies will ensure they survive.
Strategy: Creating an investment fund and finding entrepreneurs who will grow the existing companies in a socially and environmentally superior way, a regeneration.
Website: regenerativecapitalgroup.com
Regenerative Capital Group principals: Cordell Jacks; not pictured: Mike Miller.
Congratulations to the 2025 10 to Watch Winners!
We work as a team to guide successful entrepreneurs and families through pivotal moments and the often complex and emotional financial decisions that arise over time. We partner with our clients to navigate through the opportunities and challenges that come with wealth. Using our collaborative approach, we identify practical, actionable opportunities and solutions, empowering you to proactively strategize for the future – from a simple bank account, to preparing the next generation to lead the family enterprise.
Caring for faraway family motivated these founders to create a long-distance medical monitor.
Family first is how it all started for Salyx Medical.
Cofounders Sergio Perez Martell and Mario Solis both had concerns about the declining health of aging parents parents living in their native Mexico while the duo worked in Victoria developing a way to feel better about being so far away.
In 2021, working with adviser and cofounder Fabian de la Fuente, they began engineering a solution that monitors the vitals of an individual, with the information shareable with health-care providers and a loved one’s family, providing a continuous, real-time snapshot of their well-being.
The device is a pendant-sized powerhouse that attaches to the chest comfortably with thin-skin adhesive. It tracks vitals like blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level, body temperature and breathing rate and boasts a battery that lasts two weeks between charges.
Perez Martell says it’s simple to use. There are no screens to watch and the setup on any mobile phone is a one-time thing. “Set up and forget,” he adds.
“My parents are becoming elderly and are in Mexico and I want to know if there are any
urgencies or alerts,” explains Perez Martell. “So, for example, if one of them has high blood pressure or there are trends in their health vitals that are declining, we’d be able to know in real time and can communicate with them, or if there’s an emergency, we can call the health-care sector in Mexico and co-ordinate things.”
Salyx employs 25 people, mostly young electronics engineers, software engineers, medical specialists, IOS and Android developers and cloud infrastructure developers.
Salyx will introduce the low-cost system to senior care homes this year, making the administration dashboard and wearable devices available so that staff can more easily look at the health of their patients enhancing the ability to schedule care and health plans for the individual and share information with family members and doctors.
“They don’t have to rely on a dozen different applications and they can focus on what’s really important for seniors in a care home,” points out Perez Martell. “We want nurses and loved ones to be more involved in what’s really important the community and the day-to-day of the elderly.”
DETAILS:
Sector: Technology/Medical/ Health
Year launched: Operational 2025
Principals: Mario Solis, Sergio Perez Martell, Fabian de la Fuente
Unique selling proposition: A simpler, less obtrusive way to monitor the health of seniors.
Strategy: Bridging the gap between elderly patients, health-care professionals and their loved ones via a network of wearable vitalsmonitoring devices.
Website: salyxmedical.com
Salyx Medical principals, from left: Mario Solis and Sergio Perez Martell; not pictured: Fabian de la Fuente.
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Seaweed of the GuardianS
In Phillips Arm, Kwiakah First Nation's marine department manager Allan Lidstone strolls along the infrastructure of an old fish farm that's been given new life.
For some First Nations, modern aquaculture combines old traditions with new technology, and sustainability with profitability.
By Diane Selkirk
In Phillips Arm, a mainland inlet about 50 kilometres north of Campbell River in Kwiakah First Nation territory, an old fish farm has found new life. The farm’s floating infrastructure has been transformed into a base for Kwiakah’s Guardian program and a trial seaweed program.
The idea for growing seaweed here came from an aquaculture paper that caught the attention of Frank Voelker, Kwiakah band manager and economic development officer. The paper introduced him to multi-trophic aquaculture a method where species like
kelp, oysters, sea cucumbers and sablefish are cultivated together, each benefiting the next all while improving the ecosystem.
It’s an approach to aquaculture that not only produces sustainable food, but could also help restore the environment. It’s also an approach that aligns with millennia of First Nations’ traditions and generations of expertise. Now, more and more of them are looking to a future of growing and harvesting kelp.
Learning from Experience
According to Statistics Canada, aquaculture contributed just over $916,000 to British
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Columbia’s economy in 2022 (the most recent year for which figures are available). Although it represents a small portion of the total fishery, the sector including shellfish and seaweed has shown steady growth in both production and commercial value.
One of the biggest draws of this type of aquaculture, particularly for First Nations, is its low environmental impact. Shellfish cultivation thrives in clean water, requires no added feed or chemicals and produces little waste all positives for marine ecosystems. Meanwhile, seaweed, a growing global market currently valued at US$6 billion, not only creates ocean habitats and shows potential for carbon sequestration, it’s also becoming a valuable food source and may even replace fossil fuels in fabrics and plastics.
Intrigued by all these potential benefits, Voelker brought the seaweed farm proposal to Kwiakah’s chief and council. “I found it exciting because there are no inputs needed. You put the seeds in the sea, and the water and sunlight do the work,” he says. “It’s not like traditional agriculture, where you harm your soil with fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. And you’re not really a farmer you’re more of an observer and then a harvester.”
For the Kwiakah, whose membership recently affirmed conservation as a guiding principle in their Nation’s constitution, seaweed farming seemed to align with their vision of building a sustainable
economy that could also help restore their territory. “There’s been significant industrial activity in Kwiakah territory over the years,” Voelker says. “We don’t even know the full extent of the damage.”
While seaweed farming and the broader plan to gradually integrate other species seemed promising on paper, Kwiakah’s elders chose a cautious, sciencebased approach. “We can’t make decisions about development without research,” Voelker says.
“There are no inputs needed. You put the seeds in the sea, and the water and sunlight do the work.”
— Frank Voelker
Their caution was informed by past experiences with salmon farming. At its peak, that industry employed 700 Indigenous people and provided $120 million in annual economic benefits to First Nations. As it expanded, some of Kwiakah’s neighbouring Nations embraced it as an economic opportunity. However, the Kwiakah resisted, demanding more scientific data. “We faced pushback from the government and fish-farm companies,” Voelker recalls. “As a small Nation, they didn’t see us as important enough to engage with.”
At the Kwiakah facility in Phillips Arm, what used to be fish-farming cages will be used to trial a seaweed-growing operation.
FRANK VOELKER
Undeterred, the Kwiakah invested in an independent study of the farms in their territory. “One hundred per cent of the fish tested were infected with piscine reovirus,” Voelker remembers. “This was on top of issues with amoebic gill disease.” Though the results were distressing, the knowledge came with a silver lining. The fish-farm operator that had set up shop in Kwiakah’s traditional territory agreed to withdraw. To compensate the Nation for their multi-year tenure, they left behind the fish farm the docks, float houses and sheds stayed anchored in place.
A Collaborative Approach
Determined to find up-to-date scientific data about the risks and benefits of growing kelp, the Kwiakah First Nation turned to community experts. One collaboration was with North Island College’s (NIC) Centre for Applied Research, Technology and Innovation (CARTI).
Naomi Tabata, CARTI manager at NIC, says that NIC has provided expert help and resources to a number of aquaculture businesses by offering applied research partnerships. “Aquaculture is an important part of local communities and to Canada’s sustainable food production, but growers have a number of questions and face a variety of challenges,” says Tabata. “These collaborations help address some of these challenges by combining our expertise at the college with that of the Nations.”
As the Kwiakah were deciding which
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Sally Enns, a student researcher at North Island College, examines a lush specimen of bull kelp from within a survey quadrant in Kwiakah traditional territory.
AHEAD OF THE CURVE
questions they had, a new challenge arose wild kelp harvesters had begun popping up in the territory with government-issued licences. “From talking to the elders, I knew industrial activity had already put pressure on the wild kelp, and it wasn’t as abundant as it once was,” Voelker says. “The government was allowing the harvesters to take 20 per cent, but how do you accurately determine that? And how do we know that 20 is the magically sustainable percentage?”
The Nation’s first step in collaborative research was mapping the distribution and biomass of wild kelp beds along their rocky shores. After an aerial survey in 2020, the team repeated the study in 2023, adding scuba dives to gather underwater data.
Meanwhile, logistical questions emerged about the economic viability of kelp farming in such a remote location. “Our farm is about 70 kilometres from the nearest processing facility and transporting cultivated kelp would be costly it’s essentially like shipping water,” Voelker notes. He also questioned the practicality of the potential solution of having each Nation process and market its own seaweed products.
As the aquaculture plan stalled, the Kwiakah realized that their focus on traditional stewardship, backed by science, was leading them toward a broader vision: a conservation-based economy.
They had the perfect resource in the former fish farm, which could serve as a research site for studying kelp cultivation, carbon sequestration and the ecosystem impacts of seaweed farming. It could also house their regenerative forestry pilot program.
So the new Kwiakah Centre for Excellence was born. Opening in spring 2025, the floating facility will have accommodations and amenities to support up to 16 scientists and stewardship staff. “Someone has to look out for the environment, or it gets pushed aside,” says Voelker.
Connection to Land and Sea
Science has always been part of Indigenous aquaculture and stewardship practices. In the past, rather than partnering with research institutes like CARTI, coastal Nations relied on generations of observations. This deep connection to their territories enabled Indigenous Peoples to develop aquaculture technologies such as terraced clam gardens, which boosted butter clam yields by up to four times, as well as fish traps and weirs that were designed to carefully manage fish harvests.
As the land’s guardians, they also held a sacred responsibility not just to keep their
The Annual Life Cycle of
Kelp FarminG
The cooler months of the year are the busy season for seaweed farming on this coast; here’s how the annual cycle of kelp farming breaks down:
Farmers collect sori, the mature kelp with reproductive tissue, from the wild and transport it to a kelp
Reproductive tissues are stimulated to release spores, which then settle on spools of twine or rope in inoculation tubes at the hatchery. This is also time to rehab any gear (such as anchors, ropes or floats) that might need it.
More spores are released and spools of twine inoculated. New farms may be built.
Environmental monitoring of the sites is ongoing.
Seed is outplanted — spools of seeded twine are trucked from the plant to the farm, where they are attached to the lines on site.
Growth of the kelp is closely
Environmental monitoring
January and February Kelp grows rapidly during the cooler months, reaching up to 15 feet or
Farmers regularly visit the farm sites and closely monitor the growth of the kelp.
Environmental monitoring also
March and April
Harvest typically occurs in spring, before waters warm up and “biofouling” (the growth of other organisms on the kelp) becomes a
Some kelp farms may trim the seaweed and allow it to grow back for a second harvest.
The harvested seaweed is transformed into products such as food, pharmaceuticals and, most of all, a liquid seaweed extract used as a powerful plant food.
Kelp growth slows down as water temperature rises; summer is the time for farmers to start planning for the next season.
In 2023, Cascadia reported that the 20 kilometres of kelp production line planted off Diplock Island in Barkley Sound was their most productive site, producing over 75 tonnes of kelp.
agreements, but to keep their territories healthy and in balance.
This is why several Nations are investing in businesses that blend stewardship with economic success. Among them are the Klahoose, who are working on kelp farming and run a geoduck nursery; the K’ómoks, who own Pentlatch Seafoods and farm oysters and clams while exploring options for abalone, scallops, geoduck, cockles and mussels; and the T’Sou-ke, who recently converted their oyster barge to solar power.
They know that in the long run, people can’t thrive without a healthy environment.
Oral teachings that detail other ancient aquaculture practices including herring egg gardens, where kelp fronds or tree boughs were placed in bays to catch herring spawn, and estuary gardens, where perennial root gardens were built in coastal estuaries reinforce this principle: Caring for the environment ensures that the environment, in turn, takes care of you.
Many Nations have started investing in aquaculture, but a key challenge is that most territories have suffered significant ecological damage.
The 19th-century sea otter hunt and later the logging industry destroyed the vast kelp forests in Barclay Sound, says Larry Johnson, president of the Nuu-chah-nulth Seafood Limited Partnership (NSLP), a sustainable seafood business owned by six partner Nations Ditidaht First Nation, Huu-ay-aht First Nations, Uchucklesaht Tribe Government, Ucluelet First Nation Government, Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation and Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nations on the Island’s west coast. When the kelp disappeared, the nurseries and habitat for small fish such as herring, salmon and rockfish were also damaged. So Johnson says the first step of building a seaweed farm was planting enough to help the environment.
While the effort to help an ecosystem recover in tandem with developing a business can seem like a slow way to become successful, Johnson points out that it reflects a different world view one rooted in interconnectedness. “By putting back something that’s been missing, we make the system healthier.” While the initial investment may cost more and take longer, Johnson argues that it leads to greater abundance and profits in the long run.
Growing Resilience
With seaweed cultivation, Johnson says, it’s the exciting unknowns that intrigue him most. “We already know we can make biodegradable plastics like grocery bags, get carrageenan for foods and cosmetics and that kelp may help slow down climate change, but the technology is just starting. We don’t know what might be next.”
This is why partnerships with experts like CARTI and Cascadia Seaweeds are such an important step, he says: “We’re able to get guidance and support while sharing our knowledge and offering research opportunities to scientists.” Johnson sees NSLP’s path forward as one that’s more co-operative and less competitive. “Traditionally, that’s the way we were. We didn’t value the things we had by hoarding them for ourselves. We show something’s value by sharing it with the world,” he says.
While NSLP’s kelp-farming partnership
with Cascadia Seaweed is still new, the enterprise is already finding success. In 2023, Cascadia reported that the 20 kilometres of kelp production line planted off Diplock Island in Barkley Sound was their most productive site, producing over 75 tonnes of kelp. After harvest, the crop was processed into a liquid plant food for home and garden plants at a facility in Port Alberni.
As the Kwiakah First Nation, NSLP and other Indigenous communities in British Columbia forge ahead with these new forms of aquaculture, their efforts are rooted in both innovation and tradition.
By combining cutting-edge science with deep respect for the land and sea, they are healing ecosystems damaged by industrial activity while also creating sustainable economic opportunities.
Seaweed and shellfish farming represents more than money making it’s a way to restore balance and foster resilience for future generations. Through cautious, deliberate stewardship, these Nations are paving the way for a new model of economic growth one where environmental health is as valued as economic success.
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10 WAYS
In a world of endless distractions, it’s hard to concentrate on the things that matter. Here’s how to do it.
You know the feeling: Your mind is clear. Your focus is sharp. You know just what you need to do and you’re ticking tasks off your list, one after the other. Your work is not just going smoothly, you know it’s excellent. You’re in the zone. You’re in a state of flow.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, the father of positive psychology, found that being in a state of flow improves an individual’s well-being, creativity and productivity. “The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile,” he wrote in his groundbreaking 1990 book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. But when you’re juggling too many competing demands and interruptions, you can’t get into a state of flow. Instead, too often, your productivity plummets, your job satisfaction suffers and so does the quality of your work. Dealing with too many distractions can even have an impact on your mental and physical health. Being focused is crucial to your work, but it might be even more important for your life. The question is: In a world where everyone and everything is trying to get your attention, how do you get focused? And how do you stay that way? Start with these 10 steps.
TO FIND YOUR FOCUS
BY DOUGLAS STAFF
Set Goals — and Priorities
It’s nearly impossible to eliminate all distractions in our overly connected world, but if you don’t do something about them you will never get anything done. Consider finding a quiet place to work or establishing regular “do not disturb” times during the workday. Most importantly, control your electronic distractions. Silence your phone, shut it off or put it in airplane mode. If you use a MacBook, pressing F6 will activate its Do Not Disturb feature. And apps like Freedom or Session can help you selectively shut down distractions. 1 2
Knowing what you want to achieve in a day gives you both motivation and direction. Begin your day by setting SMART goals: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timebound. Then break those down into easily managed tasks. But keep in mind that not all tasks are created equal: Prioritize the most critical and time-sensitive tasks and do them first. If you’re struggling with an overwhelming to-do list, taskmanagement apps like Trello or Todoist can help you out. And if you’re managing others, make sure your employees understand both the larger goal and the tasks they need to complete to accomplish it.
Minimize Distractions
3
Declutter Your Workspace
Distractions aren’t just digital — one of the worst hindrances can be the random clutter that fills your workspace. Take the time to tidy up, file papers where they belong, toss anything you don’t need and keep essentials within reach. Not only does a well-organized environment improve your ability to concentrate, it reduces the time you spend looking for things.
4
Create Time Blocks
If you’re working on a project or a specific task, set aside dedicated blocks of uninterrupted time to get it done. This allows you to focus on one task at a time, whether it’s writing a report or checking email, and also helps you manage your time by setting realistic timelines. Digital calendars or physical planners can help here. One famous time management method is the Pomodoro Technique created by Francesco Cirillo. It requires you to use a timer to break work into 25-minute chunks broken up by short breaks. It’s designed to help you stay focused, avoid burnout and reward yourself for your hard work.
6
Delegate When Possible
You don’t have to do everything yourself. In fact, it’s better if you don’t. When appropriate, trust your colleagues to handle certain tasks. This will not only free up your time and mental resources, it’s a good way to help your team members grow their skills and develop agency and purpose.
7
Take Regular Breaks
When you’re on an intense deadline, it’s tempting to stay at your desk and keep working until the job is done, but research shows that can do more harm than good. Taking regular breaks can prevent mental fatigue, eye strain, tech neck and other assorted ills associated with crouching over a keyboard — plus it will actually make you more focused and productive. So go ahead, take a few minutes to stretch, go for a walk, grab a snack or just clear your mind.
5
Limit Multi-tasking
Similarly, when you’re multi-tasking it may seem like you’re getting more done, but the reality is that if your attention is divided you’re probably doing a worse job and making more mistakes than if you were doing just one thing. Which means, of course, that you’ll have to fix them later. Instead, focus on one task at a time, get it off your desk, then move on to the next thing.
8 CHARACTERISTICS OF FLOW
How do you know when you’re in a state of flow? You’re experiencing the following:
• Complete concentration on the task
• Clarity of goals and rewards
• Time speeding up or slowing down
• An intrinsically rewarding experience
• Effortlessness and ease
• A balance between challenge and skills
• A merging of actions and awareness
• A feeling of control over the task
Put Technology to Work
Tech is a major source of distraction — but it can also be a powerful tool for overcoming that distraction. Used properly, AI platforms like ChatGPT and others can help you brainstorm ideas, draft emails, create marketing content, respond to run-of-the-mill queries and handle other repetitive chores.
Do Regular Check-Ins
Every once in a while, assess your productivity strategies and make sure they are still working for you. Remember that what works for one person may not work for another. Adjust your approach as needed and experiment with different techniques. And, to stay accountable, share your goals with a colleague, supervisor, mentor or coach who can provide the motivation and encouragement you need.
Take Care of Yourself
If you’re not at your best, your work likely won’t be, either. Establish a daily routine with breaks for exercise, sleep, nourishing meals and leisure. Consider practising mindfulness and meditation techniques to reduce stress and enhance concentration, and make them part of your daily routine. Healthy habits in general will help you maintain energy levels, stay sharp and boost overall productivity.
And remember: Staying focused is an ongoing process. But when you do find your focus, you can accomplish more and feel a whole lot better doing it.
Chantal Nguyen, CPA,CA | Heather Carroll, CPA
Robyn Quinn is an award-winning storyteller. A public relations entrepreneur and small business owner of Big Bang Communications, she is happiest when her clients shine in the spotlight.
AI Reporting for Duty
Insights on how the technology will fit into the future of work.
If you’re curious about artificial intelligence and how it will affect your business and your life, Cameron Moll has a pretty good idea. Moll is a veteran design professional who has managed design and technology teams for the past two-plus decades at companies including Meta, Pendo, Buzzsprout and Desquared. In a recent LinkedIn post he wrote: “Even though the current tsunami of information around AI can be negative especially how AI may impact our work or lack of it the truth is that AI promises to be a workforce reporting to the direction and leadership of capable and intelligent humans.”
Moll went on to summarize all the AI tools and apps worth exploring and there are many then wrapped up with this: “Here’s a disclaimer I’m willing to bet my career on: When the AI dust settles, there will remain an evergreen need for taste and style at the hands of a professional, the ability to judge with your gut, methodical work at a slower pace, typographic mastery, and so much more that we do as designers.”
Assist, not replace
In other words, AI will assist but not replace human creativity. That goes for content, too: Writers should look at AI as a robust tool, but original and creative ideas still flow from them. AI might have access to massive sources of existing data, but it cannot deliver a brand new idea. Humans have that ability and must learn how they can manage the power of AI in ways that complement that unique strength.
AI was also the topic of a panel discussion at the recent BC Communications Forum in Victoria. “AI is here to stay,” said panellist Rob Cooper, founder and president of PlusROI Marketing. “It’s not necessarily for the best and there may be terrifying implications, but as individuals we can choose to be proactive in managing AI. In short, get out in front of it or get run over by it.”
Cooper also said the biggest misconception around AI is that all you need to do is input data. “You need to leverage your own expertise,” he said. “Think of AI as an extremely smart intern. If you train it well and give clear instructions, it can do amazing things for you. Without enough training and guidance, the results will border on disaster.”
Fellow panellist Deepali Arora is a senior data scientist for Oracle, based in Victoria and working on a significant AI project. She acknowledged AI’s potential to create a lot of good for our world, but noted that there are also challenges that are better managed earlier than later. She saw AI as “a blessing and a curse.”
The Agentic Workforce
Let me introduce you to the AI Agent. This entity is fully autonomous. Unlike bots or assistants, which are limited in their scope by programming, once set up agents can observe, analyze, plan, collaborate (with humans or other agents) and here’s the fun part selfrefine.
Different from AI assistants or bots, agents work on your behalf to gather information, analyze and make decisions based on the environment they work in. Can they be trusted to deliver therapy or understand complex nuances dependent on emotional intelligence? Heck no. According to Google Cloud: “AI agents with planning capabilities can identify the necessary steps, evaluate potential actions, and choose the best course of action based on available information and desired outcomes. This often involves anticipating future states and considering potential obstacles.”
OK, so that’s cool.
Becoming Better
Even though AI and humans are capable of self-refining and learning, there are gaps because AI can only learn what it is provided, whether in the environment or directly.
Guess where new roles will emerge? Writing prompts, creating agent personas, managing teams of agents and more. People need to take the lead and steer AI in the right direction, whether that’s design, content or complex operational processes.
To prepare for this next stage there is a real opportunity for democratizing knowledge for emerging tech skills and AI is at the top of the skills list.
The University of California is offering a free course called Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Ethics; Harvard is offering AI with Python; and Vanderbilt University has a six-module course called Prompt Engineering
Even though AI and humans are capable of self-refining and learning, there are gaps because AI can only learn what it is provided, whether in the environment or directly.
Discover Wild Wonders:
with ChatGPT. Its course description says it all: “Start by learning effective prompting and complete the course knowing how to bend ChatGPT to your will.”
Where to Start
During February’s BC Communications Forum panel on AI, moderated by acting assistant deputy minister with Strategic Communications BC Eric Berndt, AI ethics consultant Rahaf Albalkhi talked about bias in AI.
“AI systems are intrinsically built on bias. In fact, without bias, AI systems are useless,” she said. “We humans run on opinions and context, we operate on a self-bias. So how do we work around it?”
Albalkhi then defined responsible AI and ethical AI:
• Responsible AI is practical, processbased and real world; its users must consider all the implications of AI that directly affect people.
• Ethical AI is values based and can be harder to develop policy around. One example is how the European Union has mandated that employers who ask their staff to use AI must provide them with adequate training. It’s a great starting point for the human/AI evolution.
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Clemens Rettich is an organizational consultant with Beaton Rettich Waters. Once and always a musician and an educator, he has spent over 30 years practising the art of management. Rettich also shares his passion for leadership and organizational behaviour with his students at the Peter. B. Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria.
More Than Just Being Local
A strong, resilient business needs a strong, resilient community.
In 2020, Victoria-based entrepreneurs Linda Biggs and Jayesh Vekariya founded Joni, a startup driven by a vision to transform period care through sustainability and accessibility. Its commitment to local impact donating five per cent of revenue to community initiatives and addressing period poverty, for example shows how Joni has emerged from a community, creating local, communitylevel value out of the gate, rather than just “giving back” as an afterthought. Recently, Joni celebrated its expansion into Costco, another powerful player in the world of doing capitalism differently.
The shockwaves running through the Canadian economy because of the threats of massive tariffs have driven many consumers and businesses to rethink their processes and their relationships. Joni’s success signals a possible way forward.
Imagine what things would have been like if more Canadian businesses had from their inception balanced profits with a commitment to the communities? How much more resilient and self-reliant would Canadian businesses and the national economy be now?
Profits, growth and global markets matter. They are essential to a thriving national economy. But most companies and whole industries have put efficiency and profitmaximization above all other values. The grinding of suppliers, off-shoring, hyperlean supply chains, plus environmental and community degradation, have put our country, our communities and even the businesses themselves at serious risk.
The Power of Local Interdependence
A strong, interdependent local business ecosystem can be a stabilizing force in the face of global disruptions like tariffs or supply-chain issues. Local interdependence means prioritizing relationships with local suppliers, reinvesting in local talent and acting as a trusted partner to customers and community organizations.
At the heart of this is a virtuous cycle: Healthy businesses supporting healthy communities, which in turn support business growth.
It’s not about “staying small” or ignoring the importance of profits and growth. Rather,
it’s about balancing these values with a commitment to local and regional ecosystems. Joni’s story of growth shows that businesses built with local interdependence “baked in” are better equipped to navigate an uncertain future. When businesses treat their communities as partners, they build a foundation for shared success that endures through both good times and bad.
Building Resilience from the Ground Up
Where to begin if you’re a new entrepreneur? Start right where you are: in your community.
Walk your neighbourhood.
Literally and figuratively. Walk through your neighbourhood, knock on doors, talk to other business owners, book coffee with your neighbours and competitors. Look for opportunities to source what you need from nearby suppliers whether it’s raw materials, printing services or fresh ingredients for a café. Rethink logistics; it’s about weaving your business into the fabric of the community.
Done formally, there’s a name for this: clustering, which means creating a network of interconnected businesses in a community or region that reinforce and support each other. Clusters benefit from shared resources, knowledge exchange and a stronger collective presence. Clustering creates localized supply, value and knowledge ecosystems.
Invest in your people.
Your first hires are going to be some of the most important relationships you build. Don’t think of them as employees only think of them as the first members of your business community. Design your business from the ground up to facilitate a living wage (at a minimum), stable hours and a path for growth.
Build a durable foundation.
Scale on sustainable foundations. This means making sure your cash flow is healthy, your operations are standardized and you’ve got a handle on your margins. It also means building strong relationships with Canadian suppliers, local distributors and the community in which you are operating.
Build learning relationships with customers. Don’t hide behind your website or your brand.
Local interdependence means prioritizing relationships with local suppliers, reinvesting in local talent and acting as a trusted partner to customers and community organizations.
Get out and talk to your customers. Ask what they love and how you can make their lives better. Take a minimum viable product (MVP) approach to everything you do, refining your business ideas with feedback from real interactions with real customers. Focus on learning as much as doing.
Resilient Entrepreneurship
Often, resilience for entrepreneurs focuses on personal well-being: mindfulness, exercise, good time management. These are valuable, but they miss the most powerful element: the resiliency that comes from the support of others and our community.
Building a resilient business is about creating something that lasts because it matters.
We live in a world that too often rewards and even celebrates shortterm thinking and selfishness. As entrepreneurs we can choose instead to invest in our communities, and in sustainable, non-exploitive growth.
Entrepreneurs are wired to build the unbuildable. We don’t accept that something can’t be done. Building businesses through this kind of interdependence is extremely hard work. It means rethinking the way everything has been done, experimenting, failing and rethinking again. But it’s what we do.
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Ingrid Vaughan, principal of My Smart HR and founder of the Smart Leadership Academy, provides HR support and leadership coaching to small-business owners and managers.
What Do You Value?
Discovering your core values helps you be a better leader — and also lead your most authentic life.
What comes to your mind when someone asks you: What are your values? In my experience, most people stare blankly or come up with the same answers. (The top three are integrity, communication and honesty.) Or, if they’ve thought about it at all, they respond with what they believe in (a world view, but not necessarily a value), what they aspire to (I’d like to be ...) or what they think they should value (everyone should value integrity, humility, fairness, etc.).
But within each of us sits a set of values we already live by, whether we realize it or not. When we identify and define our deep values the ones we already own they become guideposts for our decisions, our compass for how we lead and influence and how we create alignment in our lives.
Values are conceptual, often intangible and instinctive. They can be hard to put into words; they just “are” and we feel them in our gut. Most people aren’t aware of them, but certainly feel the emotions that are triggered when they are challenged or threatened. We understand their influence by the inner joy we have when we live in alignment with them or the dissonance we experience when we are living out of alignment or when people violate our values.
Everything in our lives is driven by our values. Every decision, every conversation and every interaction is affected by our values. When we know what those values are, and we experience frustration, irritability, being ill at ease or just plain miserable for no good reason, we can turn back to our values and say, “Ahh, that’s what it was.” Our values always alert us to areas of misalignment, and in that split second we can choose how we will get back into alignment with ourselves.
As leaders, wouldn’t it be important to know this? How might our relationships with our teams be different if we were fully aligned with our values? How would our decisions, attitudes, moods and responses change? How much less stress would we experience? How many fewer reactive moments would we have, fewer apologies to make, fewer moments to regret?
Not All Values Are Equal
It’s necessary to distinguish deep core values from “what you value.” For example, most
everyone would value health, but not everyone lives in a way that prioritizes health as a core value. If health is a deep value, it drives your behaviour and is a consistent guiding principle for making decisions. It shows up regularly in your actions.
Physical objects like money are not values in themselves. Rather, they point to an underlying deep value such as security, freedom or generosity. Character qualities must also be distinguished from deep values. Few people would suggest that honesty is not an important character trait, yet honesty may not be a core value.
Clues to what your values actually are:
Emotions: Pay attention to what makes you FEEL something deeply. Emotions are a strong indicator of your core values. Take note of things that make you feel something deeply. What movies, books, podcasts or life events move you deeply? There’s a value hidden there.
Curiosity: What can you never learn about enough? What, more often than other things, occupies your thoughts?
Time and money: When you have extra time, what are you always drawn to do? When you have extra money, how do you want to spend it?
Inspiration: What consistently inspires you? What makes you feel awe and wonder? What are you doing when all else falls away when time disappears and you’re immersed?
How to define your values:
1. Do a Google search for a list of values words. Circle ALL the words that resonate with you or that you feel are somehow important to you. Don’t think just react.
2. Put the words you’ve chosen into “clusters” that are similar. For instance, achievement, success, hard work and productivity could be a cluster.
3. For each cluster, see if one word encompasses all the others as the defining value. In the example above, to be successful you need to achieve goals, work hard and be productive, so the value could be success.
4. Once you’ve pared it down to 10 to 15 clusters, do the same with those words until you are left with no more than five to seven values. 5. Once you have your final list, spend time
defining what those values mean to you. The word itself is not enough. For example, to one person “freedom” can mean “no limits” and to another, “limits that create choices.” Ask yourself why that value is important to you and how it feels when you are misaligned this will give you clues for your definition.
Be patient and give yourself time and space to really dive in. This is deep work and it’s tempting to settle on the surface stuff, but allow yourself to dig deeper until you feel in your gut: “This is it!”
This is some of the most important work leaders can do to increase their effectiveness and impact. Of the more than 70 alumni of our Smart Leadership Academy, 90 per cent have cited the values work as being one of the most impactful and life-changing things they did in their six-month journey. That is significant evidence of the importance of this deep work.
As leaders, knowing and being aligned with our values changes everything. In our hustle-and-bustle, fast-paced, rapidly changing world it’s rare for us to take the time for deep reflection. Doing so takes us to a different level and heightens our capacity to be and do better with the people we lead.
So, what do YOU value? Answering this question will change your life.
A Valuable Insight
Here’s an example of finding the core value that drives you:
From childhood, Kelsey always sought out strays. Whether it was a friend having trouble at home, a homeless cat hanging around her property or someone at school being bullied, she was deeply driven by fairness. When that was defied in some way, she was distraught, out of sorts and often angry.
As an adult, she was drawn to causes that addressed injustice. She got involved in animal-rescue activities. She adopted a paraplegic dog. She vehemently fought for those in her life she felt were being mistreated by other people or “the system.” Throughout her life, she felt the need to stand in the gap and fight for those who were not able to do that for themselves.
When she came through our Smart Leadership Academy, she was able to identify a core value of JUSTICE. She began to make sense of so much of the emotion, drive and purpose behind what moved her. Being able to put words to what she had felt all her life gave her a way to live more aligned with that value, as well as understanding how to navigate life when those values were out of alignment.
WHAT YOUR TAILOR KNOWS
In the market for a new jacket? We break down its key features.
Now that tailoring is back in style and silhouettes have loosened up, you probably need a new suit or blazer. But before you head to the shops, it helps to understand the different components of a jacket, especially when talking to your tailor.
1. Jacket front: The portion of the jacket from shoulder to hem, closest to the collar and front opening, is the jacket front. The line that goes down the middle is the jacket centre front; between that and the side seam is the jacket side front. The point where the side front and the side back pieces join is the side seam, which goes from under the arm to the hem.
2. Collar: All collars have a front, a back, an upper and an under. The front upper collar is the part at the top of the jacket. The upper collar is the part that is seen when it’s worn; the under collar is the back side of it, and is cut slightly smaller. The point where the collar rolls from the upper to the under side is called the collar roll.
3. Lapel: Below the collar sits the lapel, which can vary in width depending on the style of jacket; the corner of the lapel that juts out slightly is called the collar notch. The seam where the lapel and the upper collar join at the notch is the gorge.
4. Buttons: Most jackets have one to four buttons along the centre front; double-breasted jackets have a double row of buttons to fasten the overlap. Just above the buttons is the break line where the collar rolls open.
5. Pockets: Most jackets have a pocket of some sort on the jacket side front, often with a flap over it. Many also have a simple welt pocket at the chest, ideal for tucking pocket squares into.
HERE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURES TO KNOW
6. Shoulder: Your tailor will almost certainly pay special attention to the fit of the shoulder as well as the armscye (pronounced arm-sigh), the curved opening that goes around the arm to the armpit, and the sleeve cap, the point of the sleeve adjacent to the shoulder seam.
7. Jacket back: The seam that runs down the middle of the coat is the centre back seam. The section of fabric between it and the side back seam is the jacket back; the section of fabric that connects the jacket back to the front is called the jacket side back. The side back seam between them is often curved for quality fitting.
8. Vents: Most jackets have a slit at the bottom of the back called a vent, and some have two (a double vent). This allows for easier movement and protects the fabric from wrinkling.
9. Sleeves: Most jackets have a sleeve made up of more than one piece. There is a front sleeve (on the front of the jacket), an upper sleeve (which faces out) and an under sleeve (between the arm and body), as well as the sleeve cap adjacent to the shoulder. Most jackets also have a mini vent at the wrist, often decorated with one to four buttons that may or may not open.
JACKET FRONT
JACKET BACK
POP SOME ISLAND BUBBLE
Celebrate your big wins with our homegrown sparklers.
For those times you want to toast a success — a big deal signed, an award gratefully received, a long-awaited promotion — Champagne is typically the celebratory drink of choice. But why not raise a glass of Island bubble instead?
Sparkling wine from the Cowichan Valley is getting a lot of notice these days, and for good reason. The region’s cooler climate ensures good acidity in the grapes, making the wines crisp, fresh and lively — just what you want in a glass of fizz.
There are two styles of sparkling wine produced here. A small amount is made using the traditional method, just like Champagne, where the wine undergoes a secondary fermentation that produces carbon dioxide —
ENTER THE DRAGON
The team that paddles together, pulls together.
Dragon boating is, by any measure, a thrilling sport. Teams of 20 disciplined paddlers (plus a drummer and a steerer) guide long, narrow and highly decorated boats in heart-pumping races, just as they’ve done for over 2,000 years in China, where the sport originated. But there are other compelling reasons to consider it as an activity for your team at work.
Physical fitness: It’s a physically demanding, whole-body workout that is also great for strengthening your core and improving cardiovascular fitness. People of all fitness levels can participate, and the longer you do it, the fitter you become.
Mental health: Dragon boating is shown to reduce stress levels and improve mood, energy, self-esteem and confidence. It is also a catalyst for clear creative thinking, which can lead to innovation and improved productivity beyond the sport.
Team building: It enhances workplace dynamics such as motivation, communication and adaptability to new challenges while breaking down barriers among team members. Because each paddler has a unique job, it encourages both leadership and co-operation. In fact, it is
otherwise known as bubbles — in the bottle. This produces a crisp, lively and long-lasting bubble.
Try: Unsworth Vineyards Cuvée de L’Île, Vigneti Zanatta Tradizionale Brut, Blue Grouse Estate Winery Paula Sparkling.
More widely available is what is known as Charme de L’île, a proprietary Vancouver Island style of fizzy wine made similarly to Prosecco. Here the secondary fermentation takes place in a tank, in what’s known as the Charmat method, which produces a softer bubble and juicy, easyto-enjoy wine perfect for any occasion.
Try: Enrico Winery, Unsworth Vineyards, Blue Grouse Estate Winery and Averill Creek Vineyard all produce excellent Charme de L’île.
the ultimate team sport; victorious teams are the ones that work together best.
And besides, it’s fun.
To try dragon boating here in Victoria, check
out the Fairway Gorge Paddling Club, which brings thousands of people together for training, races and events on Victoria’s waterways. fgpaddle.com
During the Dragon Boat Festival in Victoria’s Inner Harbour, paddlers develop team-building skills.
STRAIT LINES from the Island to the mainland
A timeline of how we get from here to there.
When you live on an island, no matter how idyllic it is, there’s always a question in the back of your mind: How the heck am I going to get off this thing? It’s handy if you have a friend with a yacht or private plane, but for most of us, getting to the mainland means taking a public option, whether it’s a commercial flight or the BC Ferries. But it has not always been that way. Here are some of the ways we’ve gotten ourselves across the Strait of Georgia over the years.
In the Beginning
The Coast Salish people fish, hunt, summer, trade, race and occasionally go to battle here in the Salish Sea, all via canoe. The large, heavy, 40-foot-long “Nootka” dugout canoes carved from massive cedar trees are perfectly designed for paddling long distances in rough open water, often carrying goods or warriors.
1778: Euro Zone
While searching for the Northwest Passage, Captain James Cook of the Royal Navy sails into Nootka Sound with his two vessels, Resolution and Discovery, and becomes the first European to set foot on what is now Vancouver Island. That is the beginning of a maritime fur trade between the Coast Salish people and the newcomers, with British, American, Russian and other ships soon plying these coastal waters.
1858: Gold Rush
When gold is discovered in the Fraser Valley, miners and prospectors from all over the world flock to Victoria to gear up for their grand adventure. The first ship to stop here en route to the mainland is an American steamer called the Commodore; within a few weeks, some 20,000 miners hit town, transforming Victoria from a Hudson’s Bay fur-trading fort into a bustling business centre.
1898: Ferry Tales
Ninety years after the Black Ball line began offering the first-ever regularly scheduled passenger service across the Atlantic Ocean, it starts doing the same around Seattle (albeit under the name Puget Sound Navigation Company). By the 1930s, rebranded as Black Ball, it keeps up with the times by retrofitting older passenger ships to carry automobiles. In 1947, a vessel called Chinook sails the popular route between Seattle, Port Angeles and Victoria; considered the most modern vessel of its day, it can carry 100 cars and features a bridal suite and elegant dining room.
1901: Steaming Along
In the late 19th century, the Canadian Pacific Railway branches out from trains to steamships. In 1901, eager to connect Victoria with the railway terminus in Vancouver, the CPR Coastal Service launches its “Princess” fleet of modern “pocket liners,” small passenger ships with luxe, ocean-liner-like amenities. By the 1950s, CPR’s coastal service is struggling and a 1958 strike convinces then-premier W.A.C. Bennett to create BC Ferries. CPR ends its passenger services in 1974, its only legacy the Francis Rattenbury-designed Steamship Terminal Building on Belleville Street.
1960s: BC Ferries Ahoy
In 1960, BC Ferries’ first two vessels begin sailing from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. Today, BC Ferries is the largest passenger ferry line in North America, with some 41 vessels serving 47 locations on the B.C. coast, including, of course, that original route.
1990s: Not So Fast
Catamarans begin prowling these waters. For 19 months, the short-lived Royal Sealink Express joins downtown Victoria and Vancouver; its last sailing is in 1993. A couple of years later, the provincial government builds three PacifiCat catamarans. From 1999 to 2000, two of them travel between West Vancouver and Nanaimo; the third is completed, but never put into service. The project is cancelled in 2001 because of scandalous cost overruns, the vessels sold for a fraction of what they cost to build.
2006: Short Ride
After only three years in business, HarbourLynx, a high-speed passenger ferry between downtown Vancouver and Nanaimo, goes bankrupt after its only vessel undergoes a catastrophic engine failure.
2017: Very V2V
In May 2017, a luxe foot passenger service called V2V sets sail between downtown Vancouver and downtown Victoria. But mechanical problems, training delays and lower-than-expected ridership lead its Australian parent company to pull the plug in January 2020.
The Future: Hello to Hullo?
In 2023 Hullo Ferries begins carrying foot passengers between Nanaimo and downtown Vancouver. Designed to be a middle option between BC Ferries and premium services like HeliJet and Harbour Air, it is a roaring success. The owners are evaluating a possible Victoria route, though there are no plans as yet. We’ll keep hoping.
Upgrading to higher-efficiency equipment may help lower your business’s energy use and help you save on operational costs. And our rebates can help improve your return on investment.
We’ve got rebates for gas heat pumps, heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls, LED lighting, refrigeration, restaurant equipment and more. Improving energy efficiency is one of the ways we’re helping to advance provincial climate action goals.
