Archive for November, 2016

Google sees Montreal becoming an AI knowledge ?supercluster?

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016

MORGAN LOWRIE
The Vancouver Sun

Artificial intelligence, once relegated to the realm of science fiction, is now found in everything from translation services to virtual assistants to video games.

And as companies race to develop self-driving cars and offer increasingly personalized online experiences, they’re building on research that was largely pioneered by a group of Canadian researchers who are still attracting plenty of attention and investment dollars. Montreal, in particular, has developed a concentration of expertise in the area of AI, largely thanks to the efforts of Université de Montréal professor Yoshua Bengio, head of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA).

“(AI) will affect pretty much every economic sector; right now is just the tip of the iceberg,” Bengio told The Canadian Press. “One of the things we are going to see more of is how these technologies affect how we interact with computers.”

As a result of its research, Bengio says the institute has attracted interest from “most of the major IT companies,” some of which have also provided funding.

Now, tech giant Google is jumping in, investing $4.5 million over three years to support the institute’s research, as well as opening an AI research group at its Montreal office.

This comes on the heels of the Canadian government announcing an investment of more than $200 million in three Montreal universities — including Bengio’s — to create a learning hub to explore artificial intelligence and big data.

Shibl Mourad, the head of engineering for Google’s Montreal office, says the company hopes to help turn the city into a “supercluster” of AI knowledge that will attract corporate investors, burgeoning startups and researchers.

He said much of the credit goes to Bengio and his colleagues, whose research over the last decade has put the city ahead of its competitors.

“Their contribution was foundational,” he said.

Had these researchers not invested that decade of their lives, “we would not be where we are,” Mourad said.

The lab Bengio leads is one of the largest in the world dedicated to studying Deep Learning, one of the underpinnings of AI.

Over the past decade, they learned that by layering several “neural networks” that mimic how the brain works, computer programs could “learn” to solve complex problems on their own instead of needing to be programmed step-by-step.

By analyzing a large number of examples, the program could eventually learn to identify patterns — such as recognizing objects in photos or language patterns.

This fundamental research has led to breakthroughs in translation programs, personal assistance, “smart” cameras and self-driving cars, among others, Bengio says.

“At some point you’ll just talk to computers and they’ll understand what you want and what you need,” he said. “It may take years, but we’re clearly going in that direction.”

Bengio says AI knowledge also has broad applications in the medical field, and could be used to help doctors read scans, research and diagnose conditions, or sift through the massive amount of information contained in the human genome.

In the short term, he’s hoping the new investments will help Montreal “capitalize on its advance” by attracting corporations and startups to set up in the city — hopefully reversing the brain drain that has seen many of the brightest researchers leave to find employment elsewhere. He says it’s a hopeful sign that former Montrealer Hugo Larochelle will be returning to the city to head up Google’s new research group.

“We’d like to see more of that, and we’d like to attract people who aren’t Canadians to Montreal,” he said.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc

Five things that have altered our understanding of the real estate market

Monday, November 21st, 2016

Michael Mata
Mortgage Broker News

Just six months ago, many Canadians were sure they understood the housing market. Calgary was suffering under the weight of low oil prices, historically-low borrowing costs were displaying no signs of moving higher, and the price gains in Vancouver and Toronto appeared unstoppable.
A lot can change in six months. Listed here are five recent developments that have altered our understanding of the Canadian real estate market:

  1. Mortgage rates are rising.

Six months ago, the consensus was that mortgage rates were not going higher any time soon. The economy was underperforming, leaving the Bank of Canada on hold. Plus, global bond yields were stuck at historic lows.
Then, against all odds, Donald Trump triumphed in the 2016 US presidential election. The American yield curve steepened as Trump’s outlined policies were viewed as inflationary, and the yield on the Canadian five-year bond followed suit.
Remember, banks price fixed-mortgage rates off bond yields. The Royal Bank of Canada moved first, hiking fixed rates between 25 and 40 basis points. Suddenly—and without much warning—Canadians were facing higher borrowing costs, thanks to Trump and Ottawa’s recent regulatory changes.

  1. Ottawa has made it harder to get a mortgage.   

Concerned about the risks the housing market posed to the financial system, Ottawa recently tightened mortgage regulations once again. In early October, Finance Minister Bill Morneau announced a stringent stress test for all insured mortgages. This has greatly reduced the average Canadian family’s home purchasing power.

  1. Ontario has doubled the tax rebate.

Rising home prices and strained affordability has pressured the Ontario government to take action. Targeting foreign buyers with a tax similar to the one implemented in Vancouver wasn’t on the table. Instead, Ontario’s Finance Minister, Charles Sousa, opted to double the maximum tax rebate already in place for first-time buyers, from $2,000 to $4,000.
The move effectively means that anyone buying a home in Ontario for $368,000 or less will not have to pay any provincial land transfer tax. The rebate, however, is only available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

  1. Vancouver’s housing market goes cold.

While it felt like a sudden shift for Canada’s hottest housing market, the signs have been there for months. While the number of Vancouver homes changing hands peaked in early 2016, it was the double-digit, year-over-year price increases that dominated all the headlines.
For many, it seemed that Vancouver’s astronomical house prices would never fall back to earth. Then, the BC government slapped a 15% tax on foreign buyers in the city. Sales volumes fell drastically, and prices are now falling on a month-over-month basis. National Bank Financial is now forecasting a 20% correction for Vancouver detached home prices in the next 12 months.

  1. Calgary begins to stabilize

The crash in crude oil prices, which began in late 2014, hit Calgary hard. Sales volumes plunged and prices retreated. Consequentially, the number of homes changing hands rose almost 16% in October compared to the same time last year. The Calgary Real Estate Board warns this could be temporary. However, CREB notes that sales activity in the city is staring to resemble normal levels for the first time in two years.  

Copyright © 2016 Key Media Pty Ltd

Technology IPOs poised for liftoff after early stumbles : real estate data company Real Matters Inc

Monday, November 21st, 2016

GERRIT DE VYNCK AND SCOTT DEVEAU
The Vancouver Sun

Vancouver?s high-tech sector is set to cash in on Canada?s public listing boom, industry watchers say. It?s been a long and rocky road for companies such as Hootsuite to get this far. THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canada is set for a parade of initial public offerings by technology firms next year — this time for real.

Real-estate data company Real Matters Inc. and marketing-software firm Vision Critical Communications Inc. are likely to lead the advance in the first half of 2017, according to people familiar with the matter. Hootsuite Media Inc. and D2L Inc., are also said to be considering IPOs in the second half, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The head of PointClickCare Corp. said the health care-software provider will look at going public in 2017.

After a flood of venture capital funding and increasing hype about Canada’s burgeoning tech industry in recent years, investors and industry experts had been expecting a rush of IPOs. Yet few materialized. Next year will be different for one key reason: the companies are on firmer financial footings.

“The private market was overvaluing growth at all costs where the public market really wasn’t doing that,” said John Ruffolo, head OMERS Ventures, a unit of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System fund, which has investments in Vision Critical, Hootsuite and D 2 L. Companies that have stopped burning cash can now focus on sustainable growth and be ready to go public when the market conditions are ripe, he said.

A spokesman for Markham, Ont.-based Real Matters declined to comment on its plans for an IPO. Vancouver-based Vision Critical and Hoot suite also declined to comment through their representatives. D2L chief executive officer John Baker declined to speak about his timeline for going public. He said in a phone interview that the Canadian tech companies often tapped as possible IPOs were reaching maturity.

It’s been a long and rocky road for the companies to get this far. There’s only been two Canadian technology companies to go public with an offering of more than $100 million (US$74 million) in recent years: Shopify Inc. in May 2015 and Kinaxis Inc. in May 2014. Shares of Ottawa-based Shopify have surged by about 135 per cent in the U.S. since their IPO while Kinaxis has risen about 375 per cent, whetting investor appetite for more.

Some of the delay has been due to unfavourable market conditions, including volatile equity markets, Brexit and the U.S. election. There have only been two Canadian IPOs in the past 12 months larger than $100 million. In the U.S., several tech companies have been waiting in the wings during the election. Now that markets have stabilized, big-name companies such as Snap Inc ., parent of Snap chat, Blue Apr on Inc., and MuleSoft Inc. are expected to pursue share sales next year.

Snapchat filed papers with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission before last week’s U.S. election, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company is targeting a valuation of about US$20 billion to US$25 billion in a listing that could come as early as March.

Getting the Canadian companies fit for public markets has perhaps been a bigger reason for the delays.

Real Matters, which is expected to go public in the first quarter of 2017 according to the people familiar with its plans, has been growing through acquisitions, raising private capital and using it to buy smaller firms that can help it expand. Going public would help them to further that strategy.

Social media marketing company Hootsuite and education softwaremaker D2L have been in the IPO pipeline for so long some began to speculate they may have missed their window. In recent years, both companies have focused on being cash-flow positive rather than demonstrating growth over profitability. In Hootsuite’s case, that meant laying off almost a 10th of its 1,000 employees.

D2L built out its San Francisco office and hired new executives who’d worked at large tech companies in the past, CEO Baker said. “The company’s really humming on all cylinders right now,’’ he said. “It’s going to be a good year.”

Several late-stage private technology companies are evaluating public-market options both in Canada and the U.S., said Sanjiv Samant, group head of technology, media and telecommunications investment banking at National Bank Financial.

“With the U.S. election behind us and hopefully some increased clarity on the international front, we’re becoming more optimistic about where 2017 might lead,” he said.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.

Victoria moves swiftly on housing fund

Saturday, November 19th, 2016

Nearly all of $500M earmarked for affordable suites has been allocated

ROB SHAW
The Vancouver Sun

The B.C. government has already committed almost all of the money from a $500-million fund for affordable housing projects that Premier Christy Clark announced two months ago.

Housing Minister Rich Coleman said he’s moved quickly to get all the money locked into projects before the end of the province’s fiscal year, March 31.

That pace has meant a stream of early announcements, with three projects becoming public on Wednesday and four others since Oct. 27.

“Some of it’s been announced because we’re working through the details of individual projects,” Coleman told Vancouver Sun columnist Vaughn Palmer Thursday on Voice of B.C. on Shaw TV.

Premier Christy Clark unveiled the funding on Sept. 19, saying she’d use $500 million in property transfer taxes from the real estate sector to identify and approve construction on 2,900 rental units. She billed it as a way to address a housing affordability crisis in which rising home prices were squeezing out both homeowners and renters from the market.

The money is supposed to specifically help provide below-market housing to at-risk tenants such as seniors, students, First Nations, transitioning youth, the disabled, and women and children fleeing abusive relationships.

So far, the announced projects include $18.4 million for 131 senior and family units in Kelowna, $3.1 million for 24 units for seniors and the disabled in Keremeos, $4.7 million for 35 low-income senior units in Okanagan, $6 million for 35 low-income family units in Chilliwack, $11 million for an additional 80 units for low-income families and youth at an aboriginal society in Chilliwack, $2 million for 27 affordable rental units in Whistler and $45 million for 510 units for a variety of seniors, families and the disabled in Greater Victoria.

Coleman indicated more announcements that include projects in Metro Vancouver will be coming soon.

He said he was able to move quickly because government had earlier this year already identified more housing projects than it could afford out of a previous $355-million affordable housing fund.

“It was way oversubscribed,” he said. “So in there about 10 to one was what we had ability versus proposals, so that allowed us to refine all of those because we had the proposals in front of us anyway.”

He said that government is being offered free land by non-profit organizations, and municipalities are offering to waive development charges and other taxes to get new housing off the drawing board.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.

Plan for giant buildings in Chinatown comes under fire

Saturday, November 19th, 2016

Proposal to allow structures up to 200 feet wide ?comes out of the blue?

John Mackie
The Vancouver Sun

Chinatown has traditionally been a low-rise neighbourhood of small stores on 25-foot lots.

But heritage activists fear much of the historic neighbourhood will be demolished if a new city proposal to allow buildings up to 200 feet wide goes through.

“When you’re talking 200-foot frontages, that’s eight lots, that blows out half the block,” said civic historian John Atkin.

“That’s actually greater frontages than what’s allowed in the Downtown South area. Pender Street seems to be respected, but everything outside of Pender seems to be bulldozer bait.”

Chinatown was designated a National Historic District in 2011, but the designation was restricted to Pender, from Carrall to Gore. The remainder of the small neighbourhood (three blocks on Main and Gore, two on Keefer and one on East Georgia) was left open for redevelopment.

A pair of highrises went up at Main and Keefer in 2014, but came under fire from Chinatown activists who argued they didn’t fit in with Chinatown’s historic character.

The city consulted the community and unveiled an “economic revitalization update” with “improvements to development policies” at open houses on Oct. 22 and 25.

UBC history professor Henry Yu has been heavily involved with the Chinatown revitalization process. He was out of town for the open houses, but was shocked when he learned of the proposal for 200-foot-wide buildings, because it had never come up at any meeting he had attended.

“It comes out of the blue,” said Yu. “In essence, this is the developer sort of formula of how many properties can you put together (for a highrise).”

Atkin agrees.

“I think with the provision of these huge street frontages, we’re really giving permission to developers to just come in, do the lot consolidation and blow out the neighbourhood,” said Atkin, who co-wrote Vancouver’s application to have Chinatown designated a National Historic District.

Yu said he recognizes a lot of details in the updated plan from discussions with city planners, such as a maximum FSR (floor space ratio) and a proposal to add more social housing to new developments.

He also notes the update suggests Chinatown be designated a historic conservation area.

“(But) all this other stuff won’t matter if someone does a 200-foot development, because they can knock down a bunch of buildings,” Yu said.

“They can buy five buildings, wipe them out and just have the business facades look like there was something kind of interesting here before.”

Prominent realtor Bob Rennie owns one of Chinatown’s most historic structures, the 1889 Wing Sang building. He is also leery of 200-foot-wide buildings.

“If you go to 200 feet wide, you’re looking towards mega-developments, and disruption to the fabric,” he said. “To put a mega-development with today’s land costs, it’s going to be expensive condos. That does tear up the fabric of a very sensitive community, speaking as a stakeholder who restored the oldest building (in Chinatown).”

The city seems surprised at the criticism to the new zoning proposals.

“It was no secret, it’s been out in the public,” said Karen Hoese, Vancouver’s acting assistant director of planning for downtown.

Hoese said the proposal is designed “to help manage some of the massing and height of the taller buildings” going into Chinatown, where buildings can go up to 150 feet tall.

“We had two (highrise) rezonings on Main Street,” said Hoese. “Both of those have a site frontage of 125 feet. With 125-foot lots they were just able to sort of achieve around 70-foot separation between the taller elements.

“By allowing a larger site (you can) provide more breathing space between developments, so that you have a better separation that helps the livability on the street. (There’s) more light coming through, and people can see the sky.”

Hoese denied that the 200-foot proposal was inspired by developers.

“I am sorry to disappoint you, but that’s not where it came from,” she said. “It would make a better story, but no. That’s just paranoia.”

Hoese said the city has identified seven potential large development sites south of Pender in Chinatown. But she said the 200-foot proposal is still being worked on and isn’t set in stone, and encourages feedback from the community. (You can email [email protected])

Several historic buildings could be torn down if Chinatown south of Pender is redeveloped, including Tosi’s grocery store at 624 Main St., considered one of Vancouver’s heritage gems.

Atkin said under the proposed changes a developer could assemble most of Tosi’s block, tear it down and build a 15-storey tower. The same could happen in the 200-block East Georgia, where there are several small buildings from the early 1900s.

“If you look at East Georgia, on the south side there’s a Chinese society building (at 226), there’s that long, low HY Louie building (at 252), you’ve got the rooming house at the lane on East Georgia (at 218),” said Atkin.

“Potentially, somebody could replace the SROs in a new development, so that could potentially come down, too — nothing is designated.”

Developer Kerry Bonnis paid $10.1 million for four lots in the 700-block of Main a couple of years ago. The lots include the two-storey Brickhouse bar at 930 Main, the three-storey Creekside Residence at 796 Main, and the former Jimi Hendrix shrine at 207 Union, which all date to the early 1900s.

Bonnis has had the site up for sale, but is now leaning toward developing it himself. He said that any new developments in Chinatown should be sensitive to the character of the neighhourhood.

“I think it would be a negative thing to have a massive sort of monolith where they’re not taking their cues from what was done historically there,” he said.

But he said it is hard to incorporate small buildings into new developments.

“It’s not feasible to incorporate the existing buildings (in this development), because it’s quite a small site — four lots and they’re not very deep,” he said. “What we’re planning to do is re-use some of the brick from (the Brickhouse) and re-create some of the architectural elements from (both) buildings.”

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.

Brookfield offers $1.8B to acquire TerraForm

Saturday, November 19th, 2016

Toronto-based asset manager makes play for owner of clean-power assets

SCOTT DEVEAU AND BRIAN ECKHOUSE
The Vancouver Sun

Brookfield Asset Management Inc., Canada’s largest alternative asset manager, said it’s prepared to offer US$13 a share in cash to acquire TerraForm Power Inc., valuing the yieldco at about US$1.8 billion.

The Toronto-based asset manager said it’s also prepared to make an offer for another unit of bankrupt SunEdison Inc., TerraForm Global Inc., for an undisclosed sum, according to a letter released in a filing on Friday. The offer is below TerraForm Power’s Thursday closing price of US$13.01 a share, and well below its US$42 peak in April 2015.

The company’s market value has slumped in the past 18 months as SunEdison’s fortunes waned after a US$2.6 billion buying spree left it overextended.

Sachin Shah, Brookfield senior managing partner and CEO of Brookfield Renewable Partners, said the valuation is fair given the current state of the market, noting that it’s 49 per cent above the closing price on June 28, the day before Brookfield initially disclosed its holdings.

“We firmly believe these proposals represent unique, extremely attractive opportunities for TERP and GLBL shareholders, as well as the creditors of SunEdison,” Shah said in the letter to the companies’ boards, using the stock tickers for the two TerraForm companies.

He said TerraForm Power and TerraForm Global should act quickly to avoid further “diminution of value,” and is seeking a response by the end of business hours Monday.

MARKET VALUE

Brookfield and billionaire David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP are prepared to enter into a binding agreement, subject to due diligence, by Dec. 6 for an all-cash offer for TerraForm Power, according to the letter. Alternatively, it would make an all-cash offer for a 50-60 per cent stake, in connection with a long-term agreement where Brookfield would become a financial sponsor.

Brookfield is also prepared to act as interim sponsor for both companies for as long as six months under the assumption that if its proposal was accepted, it would continue in that role.

Brookfield and Appaloosa, which collectively hold about 34 per cent of TerraForm Power’s Class A shares, attempted to take control of the company earlier this year by offering to acquire SunEdison’s stake in the company, kicking off a formal auction for the company.

Brookfield last week also disclosed it has proposed buying TerraForm Global as part of a deal for TerraForm Power.

The latest disclosure comes days after TerraForm Power said it’s again seeking an extension from bondholders over its failure to file its 2015 annual report. The delay, which puts the company at risk of default, is the result of TerraForm Power’s reliance on SunEdison’s reporting systems. SunEdison’s filings are also delinquent.

Shah expressed concerned that there would be a “price” paid to bondholders for their consent to such requests. He said he was also concerned that bondholders might not agree, and push the company into bankruptcy protection. Brookfield’s proposal was meant to stave off both outcomes, he said.

Spokesmen for TerraForm Power and SunEdison didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment. A representative for Brookfield declined to comment.

SunEdison founded and controls the TerraForm yieldcos. SunEdison’s Class B shares in TerraForm Power give it about 84 per cent of the voting rights while holding about 35 per cent of the total shares outstanding, according to a July 26 regulatory filing.

In the third quarter, the TerraForm yieldcos managed to convince bondholders to extend the deadline to file the 2015 report and its first-quarter report to Dec. 6.

In May, bondholders slapped the Bethesda, Md.-based yieldco with notices of default for failing to file the annual report. That left TerraForm with about 90 days to file or extend the deadline — or face a demand for accelerated payments.

TerraForm Power said Nov. 15 that it’s again seeking extensions under its 2023 and 2025 bond packages, which would waive any and all defaults “as a result of the expiration of the August waiver.”

In bankruptcy court Thursday, SunEdison acknowledged that it may need to reorganize around its yieldcos, which are two of its most valuable assets. The yieldcos, meanwhile, are attempting to untangle themselves from SunEdison — potentially through a sale.

Besides Brookfield, D.E. Shaw & Co., Golden Concord Holdings Ltd., and funds of BlackRock Inc. have expressed interest in TerraForm Power, which owns assets in OECD countries including the U.S. TerraForm Global owns assets in India and Brazil.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc

The Columbia at Brewery District 285 Nelson’s Court New Westminster 242 homes in a 26-storey tower by Wesgroup Properties

Saturday, November 19th, 2016

The Columbia boosts residential stock at the Brewery District

KATHLEEN FREIMOND
The Vancouver Sun

The Brewery District in New Westminster is a project from Wesgroup Properties made up of four commercial buildings and four residential towers on a 3.6 hectare site

Buyers of units at The Columbia can opt for one of two colour schemes ? this darker malt option, or blond, which has lighter-coloured laminate floors and lower kitchen cabinetry.

Kitchens in the Columbia will have large-format subway tile backsplashes and quartz countertops

Wahsrooms will boast large soaker tubs and porcelain tile walls

Project name: The Columbia at Brewery District

Project address: 285 Nelson’s Court, New Westminster

Developer: Wesgroup Properties

Architect: Chris Dikeakos Architects Inc.

Interior design: Wesgroup

Project size: 242 one-, two- and three-bedroom homes

Residence size: 515 — 1,480 square feet

Price: from $309,900

Sales centre: 285 Nelson’s Court, New Westminster

Centre’s hours: noon — 5 p.m.

Phone: 604-525-3941

Website: http://www.thebreweydistrict.ca

Occupancy: 2019

At the Brewery District master-planned community in the Sapperton area of New Westminster, an 18-storey bubble motif in cut steel  will decorate The Columbia tower — a nod to the history of the area that was once home to Labatt Brewery.

That history has influenced the development of the community.

Wesgroup Properties began planning the site in 2007 and completed several of the commercial buildings before starting work on the residential towers. Typically, says Evan Allegretto, Wesgroup’s director of development, residences are the first phase of construction. However, the company was influenced by the history of Sapperton and the many jobs provided by the brewery, and in a bid to bring back jobs to the neighbourhood, the commercial space was completed first, he says.

This approach also means that the new amenities contribute to the Sapperton neighbourhood and are in place when residents move in.

When completed, the nine-acre site will comprise eight buildings: four commercial developments and four residential towers. Save-On-Foods is the anchor tenant in the first building, which was completed in 2010. In addition to the well-known grocery chain, this building on East Columbia Street has 60,000 square feet of strata office space, much of it occupied by health care-related businesses. Translink is a major tenant in the second commercial building, completed in 2013. The building on Nelson’s Court is also home to Browns Socialhouse, Shoppers Drug Mart and the ubiquitous Starbucks.

The residential components of the site include the 14-storey The Sapperton, which has 114 condos, and is currently under construction. The Westminster is an 18-storey tower that will add 187 additional homes to the rental pool in New Westminster. The 26-storey The Columbia comprises 242 homes, while the fourth residential tower is still being finalized.

The 26-storey Columbia is attracting buyers of all ages who are at different stages of their lives. “The buyers are a mix of people who are downsizing, first-time buyers and young couples,” says sales manager Bethany Taylor.

Feedback from buyers shows that people are attracted by the sense of community and the location that is convenient to transit and the existing shops and amenities in the area, adds Taylor.

The Columbia’s homes include one-, two- and three-bedroom options ranging from 515 to 1,480 square feet. Buyers can choose from two colour palettes, Blonde and Malt, a playful reference to the Brewery District’s history. The Blonde option has lighter laminate floors, lower kitchen cabinetry and backsplash, while choosing the Malt palette will result in a darker wood laminate floor, lower cabinetry and duskier backsplash.

Major appliances in the kitchen are all stainless steel by KitchenAid, except in the one-bedroom units where the refrigerator is a 24-inch Whirlpool. Appliances include a 30-inch refrigerator with french doors and bottom freezer; a 30-inch five-burner gas convection range; and an Energy Star dishwasher. The 1,000-watt microwave is conveniently placed in the kitchen island. The range hood is a pull-out model by AEG.

Quartz countertops, large-format subway tile backsplashes, premium Kohler faucets and an under-mount stainless steel sink add an elegant quality to the kitchens. Soft-close technology in European-style cabinetry with glossy light-coloured upper cabinets and wood-laminate lower cabinets are a design standout in the always-important hub of the home.

Kohler’s water-saving Class Five toilets are standard in the bathrooms where large soaker tubs and porcelain-tile walls contribute to a spa-like ambience. Semi-frameless glass showers are a feature in select homes, as are custom linen closets. All condos have a full-sized Whirlpool front-load washer and stacked dryer.

Careful planning has ensured that most homes will have spectacular views of the Fraser River through the floor-to-ceiling windows.

“The residential buildings are positioned on the diagonal to the Fraser River,” explains Allegretto. “The lowest parts of the buildings are on the most southern portion of site and get higher on the north-east side of the site. The gradual transition of height maximizes sight lines.”

On a clear day you can see Mount Baker, says Allegretto. But, on any day, the Port Mann and Pattullo bridges are a scenic backdrop to the busy Fraser River, where there is always activity and something interesting to watch, Taylor adds. Homes that don’t overlook the river have mountain views of the Golden Ears summit.

The Columbia’s amenities include shared garden plots, an off-leash dog park and dog-wash station, a play area, a spacious terrace with lounge, barbecue and dining area. Thoughtful conveniences include space for cold storage for online grocery orders, and a parcel delivery area.

Each condo has a parking bay and storage locker and bike storage for cycling enthusiasts. There is a car-wash station and 42 visitor parking stalls.

In addition to each tower’s amenities, Club Central is a 10,000-square-foot facility that includes a fully equipped gym, yoga and dance studios, a squash court, sauna and steam rooms. There is also a craft room, meeting rooms (great if you work from home and need a professional place to meet) plus a large indoor lounge and gourmet kitchen.

But one of the Brewery District’s biggest attractions is its location.

“New Westminster is the geographic centre of the Lower Mainland, and the Brewery District is less than 200 metres to the Sapperton SkyTrain station. It is only two stops to the Millennium Line and the new Evergreen Line,” Allegretto says.

Also nearby by is British Columbia’s oldest hospital, the Royal Columbian Hospital. The hospital opened in 1862 and has been providing health care services from its site in Sapperton since 1889.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc

Money-laundering watchdog cites ‘significant’ deficiencies at 100-plus B.C. real estate firms

Friday, November 18th, 2016

‘Deficiencies’ in real estate sector: agency

DAN FUMANO
The Vancouver Sun

Canada’s anti-money laundering watchdog found “significant” or “very significant” levels of non-compliance at more than half of the B.C. real estate companies it examined over a four-and-a-half year period, its records show.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), the federal agency mandated to detect and combat money laundering, examined about 220 real estate companies in B.C. between 2012 and mid-2016, finding 112 companies with “significant” levels of non-compliance and five with “very significant” non-compliance, according to records obtained by Postmedia News through an access to information request.

In the past year, FINTRAC has ramped up scrutiny of real estate — particularly in B.C. In an operational brief this week intended for banks and real estate professionals, the agency highlighted the Canadian housing market’s vulnerability to money laundering.

The 12-page FINTRAC brief also notes the “minimal” filing of suspicious transaction reports in Canadian real estate, with 127 reports filed on five million sales over 10 years. 

“Canadian Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) statistics indicate that in a 10-year period, over $9 trillion of mortgage credits were negotiated and up to approximately 5 million sales took place through Multiple Listing Services (MLS),” the brief says. “In contrast, FINTRAC received, during approximately the same 10-year period (2003 to 2013), 127 suspicious transaction reports nationally by real estate brokers, agents or developers.

“Minimal filings of suspicious transaction reports regarding real estate transactions indicate a clear need for operational guidance to all relevant reporting entities,” the brief says. “FINTRAC, through its compliance examinations, has observed deficiencies in most aspects of the real estate sector’s compliance programs that render it more vulnerable of being used by criminals to launder illicit funds.”

Under FINTRAC’s risk assessment model, the watchdog increased examinations in the real estate sector by 33 per cent across Canada in 2015-16, FINTRAC spokeswoman Renée Bercier said in an e-mail.

In B.C., the increase was even more dramatic: FINTRAC almost quadrupled the number of real estate examinations over the last 12 months, finding more than triple the number of “significant” deficiencies over the previous year, Bercier said.

“FINTRAC can also follow up on examinations when findings are considered significant and may pursue additional enforcement action (including administrative monetary penalties) when it finds very significant deficiencies,” she said.

FINTRAC was not able to provide the names of the five B.C. real estate companies where the agency found “very significant” non-compliance. Under Canada’s Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorism Financing Act, FINTRAC may not disclose results of compliance exams, Bercier said, adding the agency “can only publish details of an administrative monetary penalty once all proceedings in respect of the penalty have concluded.”

Since 2008, FINTRAC has imposed 12 administrative monetary penalties, totalling $113,100, on real estate entities across Canada, the agency’s website shows. As examples of penalized violations, FINTRAC’s website lists penalties imposed on two real estate brokers since 2012, which included failures to adequately ascertain a client’s identity, keep proper records and assess risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing.

FINTRAC records obtained through access to information show B.C. had the second highest number of firms with significant levels of non-compliance with anti-money laundering controls. In Ontario, which has a population about three times the size of B.C.’s, FINTRAC found 210 firms with “significant” or “very significant” levels of non-compliance, about 1.8 times the number of B.C. firms.

The level of non-compliance reported in B.C. real estate companies was slightly lower than the national average, where FINTRAC found 468 companies with“significant” deficiencies and 28 with “very significant,” as revealed through an earlier access to information request by The Canadian Press.

In response to this week’s FINTRAC brief, the Real Estate Council of B.C. issued a bulletin Wednesday to the attention of the province’s managing brokers. In an e-mailed statement Thursday, the Real Estate Council said: “As part of our focus on public protection, we are committed to supporting FINTRAC in its efforts to educate licensees and brokerages in B.C. about their reporting obligations, and we support FINTRAC taking action against brokerages that do not comply with the federally legislated requirements under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.”

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc

Specialists worldwide race to make diagnosis

Friday, November 18th, 2016

GLEN SCHAEFER
The Vancouver Sun

“It’s been a hard 24 hours,” John Nightingale, the aquarium’s president, told a news conference Thursday afternoon. “In the 30 years I’ve worked in aquariums, never has the loss of an animal affected me like this has. Qila wasn’t just another whale. … We saw her born. We watched her grow up. We watched her engage millions of people, which is exactly our mission.”

Qila died Wednesday morning under the gaze of trainers just before the aquarium opened after showing symptoms of abdominal discomfort and nausea, and refusing to interact with staff or eat, Nightingale said.

He said staff are keeping a 24hour watch over Aurora, the lone surviving beluga at the aquarium.

“She appears to be displaying some of the same symptoms as Qila did before her very sudden passing away,” he said.

Nightingale said a necropsy performed on Qila Wednesday didn’t yield any conclusions. Blood and tissue samples have since been sent for analysis to specialists in the U.S. and around the world, Nightingale said.

 Blood and tissue samples have since been sent for analysis to specialists in the U.S. and around the world, Nightingale said.

Fewer than 100 captive belugas have been closely studied, making diagnosis a challenge, he said.

“You don’t have as much to go on,” Nightingale said. “The fact that we saw something new in Qila’s death is not surprising. It’s demoralizing, but it’s not surprising.”

He said Aurora is “off display, in a hospital-like environment in our medical pool, and will remain so until she recovers her health.”

Martin Haulena, the aquarium’s head veterinarian, accompanied Qila to the provincial animalhealth centre in Abbotsford for Wednesday’s necropsy. Aurora’s worsening condition gave urgency to global efforts to find out what killed Qila, Haulena said.

“There is nothing, unfortunately, for us to hang our hats on in terms of guiding treatment for Aurora, who is now exhibiting similar signs,” Haulena said.

A walled-off abscess found in one of Qila’s lungs had been there longer than she was sick. Analysts are searching for signs of a viral or bacterial cause, or a food- or waterborne toxin.

“Obviously we have to assume that whatever Qila succumbed to is also what is affecting Aurora, but that might not be the case,” Haulena said.

Qila’s death reignited the debate over keeping belugas and other cetaceans in captivity, with activists calling for an end to in-captivity breeding of the animals and a phasing out of beluga displays.

Nightingale rejected that idea Thursday, saying the whale displays raise awareness of threats to the world’s oceans.

“(The animals) are going to be just as important or maybe more important 25 years from now,” he said.

The aquarium stopped accepting animals captured from the wild in 1996 — Aurora was caught in Hudson Bay in 1990 — but continues breeding the whales, with its other five belugas on loan to U.S. marine parks for breeding purposes.

The aquarium is set to begin construction next year on an expanded beluga tank, to be completed by late 2018 or early 2019. Some of those five belugas will be brought back to Vancouver then, Nightingale said.

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc

A step-by-step guide for managing strata improvements

Thursday, November 17th, 2016

Tony Gioventu
The Province

Dear Tony:

Our strata council presented two resolutions at our AGM last week to approve $100,000 for a new roof and $68,000 for balcony membranes. They included these as a majority vote because they were recommended to be replaced in 2017 and they are planning to have the work done through next summer. 

The problem with blankly presenting these resolutions is no one knows what the real amount is going to be. Will it be more, less, require additional services, or require a special levy to meet any of the differences we can’t fund?  When questioned about quotes, the council response was that it would reach out to contractors once the funds were approved and negotiate contracts. 

Doesn’t this seems to be a backwards way to do business? Needless to say, the projects were voted down because our owners did not have any reliable information. 

George M., Langley

Dear George:

Yes, the changes made to the Strata Property Act now permit a strata corporation to approve a contingency expense by majority vote when that expense is recommended in the report. The provision is for the convenience of strata corporations to reduce barriers around funding of the contingency and expending funds by implementing a depreciation report, but it does not replace common sense practices of buying goods.

Apply the principle to most of the goods and services we purchase every day. Once we have an idea of a product or service we are interested in, we immediately want to know what it will cost. Then we manage our budgets to meet the needs. A simple sequence for strata corporations to follow will achieve both the projected renewals and the funding without delays. 

The deprecation report is based on estimates — estimates of values of components, cost of renewals or major service requirements, and estimates on the remaining life of the product.

Before the owners will approve the funds, they require facts.

Step 1: The council annually reviews the depreciation report to determine which projects are imminent and require a purchasing process to start. This generally applies to projects that will occur within the next three years. Assuming your roof is estimated for replacement in 2018, the strata will engage a consultant to set up specifications. (Legal services are recommended for any major construction.) 

Step 2: Once the specifications are completed, the consultant will be in a better position to closely estimate market pricing for the construction. At this time, the strata may wish to approve the range of funds recommended for the scope of work or wait until it has competitive bids for the cost of the construction.

Step 3: Confirm the costs and call a general meeting to approve the cost of the recommended renewal by majority vote from the contingency reserve fund. By setting up the renewal as a major project, the strata will have investigated the scope of the construction being proposed, have estimates or bids on costs, engaged a legal review on the bidding process and proposed contracts, and the owners will be satisfied that what they are approving is what they will be ultimately getting. 

© 2016 Postmedia Network Inc.