But the South of Fraser project is also expected to reach a new milestone soon, as indicated by Premier John Horgan in a press conference today on the Broadway Extension.
Horgan said discussions are currently still underway on this Expo Line extension along Fraser Highway towards Langley, and that an announcement on this project can be expected “shortly.”
It remains to be seen if the extension will be built in two phases or a single big phase, especially with the current fiscal pressures of TransLink and senior governments.
A single phase would build seven km of new SkyTrain route and four stations reaching Fleetwood at a cost of $1.63 billion, using funds from the cancelled Surrey Newton-Guildford LRT.
Prior to COVID-19, both senior governments were expected to approve TransLink’s new business case for Fleetwood Extension by the end of spring. This has yet to be accomplished.
2019 map of the Fraser Highway SkyTrain extension from King George Station to Langley Centre. (TransLink)
As well, TransLink’s new budgetary issues are problematic for achieving this project. Based on the funding formula from the cancelled LRT plan, the public transit authority’s share of funding the construction of the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain is $1.1 billion, whereas the federal government’s share is about $500 million. The Broadway Extension, in contrast, is entirely funded by the senior governments without any funding contribution from TransLink.
Another $1.5 billion is required for the remaining nine-km-long route with four additional stations between Fleetwood and Langley Centre. This would be the second future phase of the project, if funding is unavailable.
Earlier this year, the federal government noted it was planning an unprecedented infusion of infrastructure spending to help stimulate the economy, with an announcement slated for this fall. This is expected to include funding for major public transit investments.
Prior to COVID-19, depending on funding availability and senior government approvals, TransLink was targeting launching the bidding process for a construction contractor in 2021, and starting construction in early 2022 for an opening in 2025.
Map route of the proposed Millennium Line extension to UBC. (UBC)
Questions were also raised in today’s press conference on bringing the Millennium Line westward from its future terminus at Arbutus Station to the University of British Columbia’s (UBC) campus.
But this UBC extension is much further behind in planning compared to the Surrey-Langley project, which already has completed its detailed technical work for a supportive business case. No precise routing or station locations have been established. It is also unclear whether the extension could be elevated west of Blanca Street.
In early 2019, Vancouver City Council and the Mayors’ Council approved the preliminary planning of a SkyTrain extension for the remaining route to UBC. The Mayors’ Council at the time freed up $3 million for early planning, and prior to the pandemic they were expected to allocate another $30 million to $40 million this year to perform detailed technical work and the creation of the business case.
Early this year, the municipal government, UBC, and the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Development Corporation — the owner and developer of the Jericho Lands — reached an agreement to support the extension to UBC.
On the matter of UBC, Horgan added that he met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday and discussed “a range of options including further infrastructure investments” that are “joint ventured” between the federal and provincial governments.
“So I’m confident once we get this Broadway Extension underway, we’ll start immediately on the planning of the extension beyond to UBC,” he said.
Preliminary artistic rendering for a station on the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension. (TransLink)
TransLink anticipates an Expo Line extension from King George Station to only Fleetwood — a travel time of under 10 minutes — will attract daily boardings of about 40,000 by 2035. A full extension to Langley Centre, with a travel time of 22 minutes, will see 62,000 daily boardings by 2035.
At the other end of the SkyTrain network, the approved and funded SkyTrain extension from VCC-Clark Station to Arbutus Street will attract about 140,000 daily boardings upon opening in 2025, and grow to 193,000 daily boardings by 2045.
The remaining segment from the future Arbutus Station to UBC — about seven kms in length — will attract approximately 119,000 daily boardings by 2045.
This would bring the total ridership of the Millennium Line segment from VCC-Clark Station to UBC to 311,500 daily boardings — about twice the 2019 ridership of the entire Canada Line.
On a transfer-less, one-train SkyTrain ride, the travel time to UBC will be roughly 10 minutes from Arbutus, about 20 minutes from VCC-Clark Station to UBC, and less than an hour from Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station.
The estimated construction cost for SkyTrain to UBC is between $2.8 billion and $3.2 billion in 2018 dollars.
TOKYO (AP) — Japanese technology group SoftBank swung back to profitability in the July-September quarter, boosted by positive results in its Vision Fund investments.
Tokyo-based SoftBank Group Corp. reported Tuesday a fiscal second quarter profit of nearly 1.18 trillion yen ($7.7 billion), compared with a 931 billion yen loss in the year-earlier period.
Quarterly sales edged up about 6% to nearly 1.77 trillion yen ($11.5 billion).
SoftBank credited income from royalties and licensing related to its holdings in Arm, a computer chip-designing company, whose business spans smartphones, data centers, networking equipment, automotive, consumer electronic devices, and AI applications.
The results were also helped by the absence of losses related to SoftBank’s investment in office-space sharing venture WeWork, which hit the previous fiscal year.
WeWork, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, emerged from Chapter 11 in June.
SoftBank has benefitted in recent months from rising share prices in some investment, such as U.S.-based e-commerce company Coupang, Chinese mobility provider DiDi Global and Bytedance, the Chinese developer of TikTok.
SoftBank’s financial results tend to swing wildly, partly because of its sprawling investment portfolio that includes search engine Yahoo, Chinese retailer Alibaba, and artificial intelligence company Nvidia.
SoftBank makes investments in a variety of companies that it groups together in a series of Vision Funds.
The company’s founder, Masayoshi Son, is a pioneer in technology investment in Japan. SoftBank Group does not give earnings forecasts.
Shopify Inc. executives brushed off concerns that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump will be a major detriment to many of the company’s merchants.
“There’s nothing in what we’ve heard from Trump, nor would there have been anything from (Democratic candidate) Kamala (Harris), which we think impacts the overall state of new business formation and entrepreneurship,” Shopify’s chief financial officer Jeff Hoffmeister told analysts on a call Tuesday.
“We still feel really good about all the merchants out there, all the entrepreneurs that want to start new businesses and that’s obviously not going to change with the administration.”
Hoffmeister’s comments come a week after Trump, a Republican businessman, trounced Harris in an election that will soon return him to the Oval Office.
On the campaign trail, he threatened to impose tariffs of 60 per cent on imports from China and roughly 10 per cent to 20 per cent on goods from all other countries.
If the president-elect makes good on the promise, many worry the cost of operating will soar for companies, including customers of Shopify, which sells e-commerce software to small businesses but also brands as big as Kylie Cosmetics and Victoria’s Secret.
These merchants may feel they have no choice but to pass on the increases to customers, perhaps sparking more inflation.
If Trump’s tariffs do come to fruition, Shopify’s president Harley Finkelstein pointed out China is “not a huge area” for Shopify.
However, “we can’t anticipate what every presidential administration is going to do,” he cautioned.
He likened the uncertainty facing the business community to the COVID-19 pandemic where Shopify had to help companies migrate online.
“Our job is no matter what comes the way of our merchants, we provide them with tools and service and support for them to navigate it really well,” he said.
Finkelstein was questioned about the forthcoming U.S. leadership change on a call meant to delve into Shopify’s latest earnings, which sent shares soaring 27 per cent to $158.63 shortly after Tuesday’s market open.
The Ottawa-based company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, reported US$828 million in net income for its third quarter, up from US$718 million in the same quarter last year, as its revenue rose 26 per cent.
Revenue for the period ended Sept. 30 totalled US$2.16 billion, up from US$1.71 billion a year earlier.
Subscription solutions revenue reached US$610 million, up from US$486 million in the same quarter last year.
Merchant solutions revenue amounted to US$1.55 billion, up from US$1.23 billion.
Shopify’s net income excluding the impact of equity investments totalled US$344 million for the quarter, up from US$173 million in the same quarter last year.
Daniel Chan, a TD Cowen analyst, said the results show Shopify has a leadership position in the e-commerce world and “a continued ability to gain market share.”
In its outlook for its fourth quarter of 2024, the company said it expects revenue to grow at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate on a year-over-year basis.
“Q4 guidance suggests Shopify will finish the year strong, with better-than-expected revenue growth and operating margin,” Chan pointed out in a note to investors.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
TORONTO – RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust says it has cut almost 10 per cent of its staff as it deals with a slowdown in the condo market and overall pushes for greater efficiency.
The company says the cuts, which amount to around 60 employees based on its last annual filing, will mean about $9 million in restructuring charges and should translate to about $8 million in annualized cash savings.
The job cuts come as RioCan and others scale back condo development plans as the market softens, but chief executive Jonathan Gitlin says the reductions were from a companywide efficiency effort.
RioCan says it doesn’t plan to start any new construction of mixed-use properties this year and well into 2025 as it adjusts to the shifting market demand.
The company reported a net income of $96.9 million in the third quarter, up from a loss of $73.5 million last year, as it saw a $159 million boost from a favourable change in the fair value of investment properties.
RioCan reported what it says is a record-breaking 97.8 per cent occupancy rate in the quarter including retail committed occupancy of 98.6 per cent.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
