Vancouver

Canada COUNTRY

2,581,079 CITY POPULATION

City-Council GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Vancouver is a coastal city in the western part of Canada with a wide range of population that makes it the third-largest metropolitan area in the country. It consists of over 5,400 people per square kilometer. The facts that make Vancouver a diverse city in terms of ethnicity and language are the following -

52% of its residents are not native English speakers
48.9% don’t speak English or French
50.6% of residents belong to minority groups.

Vancouver has bagged the title of being one of the top ten of the world's most well-living cities for a decade. It is home to the world's fourth-largest and biggest port named Port Metro Vancouver. The city has been a host to many international conferences and events including the 1954 Commonwealth games. The city lives by the goal to make itself the greenest city in the world by 2020.

Data and facts

Though the city experiences 1,589mm of rain per year, the temperature here remains the mildest.
The city has the fourth largest cruise ship terminal in the world.
The Stanley Park of Vancouver is 10 % bigger than the Central Park of New York with an area of 1001 acres.
The Vancouver Aquarium holds a rank in the top five aquariums in the world.
The popular non-governmental environmental organization, Greenpeace was founded in Vancouver in 1971.
It is the second-most unaffordable city in the world.
Vancouver has an output of $9.7 billion in gross domestic product and $20.3 billion in the economy due to its port activities.

Administration

Vancouver works under the terms of the following which serve for a four-year term.

Vancouver City Council consists of eleven members,
A School Board consisting of nine members.
Park Board containing seven members.

It is also a member of a regional government named Metro Vancouver and further, each member of it is the head of a local governing body. And there are 22 municipalities in total. Eleven MLAs are accountable for representing Vancouver in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia.

Economy

Vancouver's economy has been showing growth in recent years and it is determined mostly by construction, technology, digital entertainment and the green economy of the city. According to the statistics of 2018, it has an unemployment rate of 4.3% which is ranked as the second-lowest in Canada. The offices in Vancouver have the second-lowest vacancy rate in North America.

More than 75,000 people are working in technology because of which the tech wages of the city have shown a rise of 3.4%. the companies and start-ups working in the tech area acquire about 40% of the office space.

Moreover, the digital industry of the city presents over 60,000 jobs and ranks as #1 in VFX & Animation Cluster in the World. The per-capita GHG emissions of Vancouver is the lowest of all major cities in North America. The GDP OF Vancouver is CA$137 billion as of 2020.

Business Environment

The business making industries in Vancouver are trade, film & tv, technology, tourism, natural resources, and construction.

Forestry is the largest industry in Vancouver but it also makes money through its tourism industry sector. With over 10.3 million visitors, it makes a whopping amount of $4.8 billion and releasing over 70,000 jobs. The cost of an average detached home is $1.56 million, making it unaffordable by many and also keeping its Housing industry alive in the market.

Talking in terms of Banking and Finance, the city has also been known as the 18th most competitive financial center in the world and second most competitive in Canada. Vancouver International Airport is the second busiest in the nation making the Aviation industry of Vancouver in the lead.

Infrastructure

Living Shangri La still stands as the tallest building in Vancouver. Moreover, the group of Edwardian buildings in the downtown area of the city is the tallest commercial buildings of all time. The city plans and targets to cover 90% of Vancouver's average annual rainfall by the green rainwater infrastructure equipment.

The train system of Vancouver is driverless and rapid named as The SkyTrain. It has seen an increase in the number of passenger trips from 16 million to 42 million. It has three integrated lines; The Expo Line, the Millennium Line, The Canada Line; all these cover 53 stations in total.

Technology

Vancouver has lately been making headlines in the technology arena. The city nearly had 101,000 working jobs as of 2016 and makes the 5% of British Columbia's workforce. This percentage is more than the mining, manufacturing, oil and gas activities related to these resources.

The Cascadia Corridor makes up the fastest-growing tech sector which is the way to increase jobs and innovation. With the support of Microsoft, the corridor stands responsible for increasing economic growth and impact in the lives of over 12 million people.

Vancouver stands 15 in the Start-up Ecosystem in the World attracting 5 billion dollars in the investment capital. Amongst the people working for tech companies, the Average Entry-Level Salary for Software Engineers is $73K. Global leaders in technology such as Microsoft, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Amazon, and Twitter are discovering Vancouver's talent and the fact that it has great potential and future in Tech as 750+ social enterprises work in competition with each other every day.

Social Wellness and Human Resources

Vancouver proudly describes it as the city with the largest LGBTQ community. It hosts the country's largest annual LGBT pride parades. The city also holds a place in the top 10 healthiest cities in the world. Vancouver International Film Festival shows more than 350 movies for two weeks in September each year keeping the entertainment live.

The city keeps its culture alive in its music which comprises classical, folk and popular music. When it comes to sport, the city is no less than any other giving a boost to 8 professional teams of hockey, football, etc. that have won 14 championships.