WATCH: One of the advantages to a low loonie is a boost to the high tech and film industries. Ted Chernecki reports.
The low Canadian dollar is fueling a boom in Vancouver’s tech sector.
Vancouver has long been a rising international tech hub with more than 9,000 technology companies employing more than 80,000 people. While many sectors in B.C. have stayed flat, the technology industry has grown from $18 billion in 2009 to $23 billion in 2012.
READ MORE: Is Vancouver becoming Silicon Valley north?
Canada’s weaker loonie makes those companies and their products even more attractive to international investors.
“The tech industry in B.C. has done really well the last few years. It’s really been on a tear,” says Bill Tam, CEO of the BC Technology Industry Association. “I think that the sense is this is really good news on top of good news. Immediately the companies that are operating here are seeing an impact on the bottom line. Most of them price their products in U.S. dollars so a 15 to 20 per cent increase in the value of the U.S. dollar falls right to the bottom line.”
-with files from Ted Chernecki
Comments