Strategic Context

Vision, Mission and Values

Vision

The Ministry of Economic Development envisions a vibrant economy where British Columbians have access to a diversity of job opportunities throughout the province, and where investors have confidence in the province's economic growth and prosperity.

Mission

The Ministry of Economic Development promotes strategic leadership in government to create a strong, prosperous and diverse economy in all regions.

Values

The following values define the Ministry's management style and govern the way it makes decisions. They guide Ministry staff in interacting with each other, other government agencies, the private sector and other stakeholders.

• We work towards making British Columbia one of the most attractive investment locations in North America.
• We are a results-based organization that measures performance at both the corporate and individual level.
• We are committed to working with other ministries and agencies to develop and implement actions to bring growth, job creation and prosperity to British Columbia.
• We are accountable to government and the public and strive to ensure our activities deliver the targets outlined in this Service Plan.
• We deliver our programs in the most efficient manner to enhance British Columbia's competitiveness as an investment location.
• We are committed to developing new and better approaches. Our approaches include working with, listening to, and consulting with stakeholders in all regions of British Columbia.
• We are committed to maintaining the highest standards of innovation, quality, teamwork, and developing an entrepreneurial attitude in the professional public service.
• We strive to provide a high level of customer service, and to respond to the needs of its stakeholders in a timely and effective manner.

Planning Context and Key Strategic Issues

The planning context section identifies and documents the Ministry's opportunities and challenges that are likely to have an impact on the Ministry's planning in the next three years.

Key Opportunities

• Asia Pacific: British Columbia is Canada's gateway to the growing Asia Pacific region. Establishing British Columbia as the pre-eminent trade and cultural hub between Asia-and North America (which includes trade, commerce, transportation, immigration, innovation and culture) will ensure all British Columbians benefit from opportunities arising from our growing relationship with and proximity to the Asia Pacific.
• Economic Expansion: British Columbia's economy grew by 3.9 per cent in 2004, the strongest growth among Canada's provinces. Domestic activity continued to be the main driver of economic growth with strong job creation, inter-provincial migration, business confidence and investment. The foundation for growth and opportunity is in place and over the next few years the province has the opportunity to build on that strong foundation to ensure British Columbia continues to expand and prosper into the future.
• Competitive Investment Climate: British Columbia has a very competitive tax climate with the second lowest top marginal personal income tax rate, the fourth lowest corporate income tax rate and the second lowest net debt to GDP ratio in Canada. But there are a variety of competitive pressures facing British Columbia industries, small businesses, and investors. To ensure British Columbia remains a destination of choice for investment and business development, the Province must continue to review its competitiveness and recommend workable private and public sector actions to improve its competitiveness.
• 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games: Winning the right to host the 2010 Games creates unparalleled international exposure for British Columbia and will open up new opportunities for investment and business development. In addition, infrastructure investments leading up to the Games will create approximately 228,000 direct and indirect person years of employment, and inject billions of dollars into the provincial economy.

Key Challenges

• Export Growth is Still Strongly Rooted in the Resource Industries: British Columbia has made progress towards diversifying its economy. The high-tech industry now accounts for three per cent of provincial GDP, and several world-class industry clusters are flourishing and opportunities for export growth are occurring in a wide range of sectors. Despite this success, 77 per cent of British Columbia exports, 69 per cent of manufacturing shipments and 63 per cent of exports to other provinces are resource-based. To secure future economic growth, British Columbia needs an economic strategy that focuses on growing traditional wealth generating sectors, while at the same time supporting the creation of conditions necessary to develop new sectors over the next 10 years.
• Strengthening Canadian Dollar: The dollar has appreciated almost 27 per cent in the past three years, which is a major issue for British Columbia's export dependent industries, such as forestry and high-tech. While an appreciating dollar leads to higher-priced British Columbia export products, it could also stimulate some companies to invest in productivity improvements to counteract any further increases in the Canadian dollar.
• Productivity: A key factor to improving living standards is increasing productivity, generally measured by output per worker, per hour. Improvements in productivity in British Columbia have generally lagged that of other Canadian province's and American states. Improvements to productivity would fuel economic growth and raise British Columbia's standard of living.
• Demographics and Skill Shortages: British Columbia's robust economic growth has increased the shortage of highly skilled people that businesses need to grow and expand. Immigration is now the key source of labour force growth in British Columbia. Initiatives and programs which focus on ensuring the availability of a skilled workforce are necessary to meet the demands of British Columbia's growing economy.
• Pine Beetle: The mountain pine beetle infestation affected seven million hectares of British Columbia forests in 2004. While increased harvesting is creating economic growth in the short-term, the infestation presents a major long-term challenge for many communities throughout the Province. Many of these communities have begun planning for a transition stage and the province is working with them to help examine their potential for developing other economic opportunities.