If you haven’t already done so, there’s still time to take advantage of the federal government’s Home Renovation Tax Credit. The temporary credit gives homeowners who spend between $1,000 and $10,000 on eligible renovations, up to $1,350 off their 2009 tax bill. It’s a great opportunity to make improvements to your dwelling and increase the [...]

The B.C. Liberal government’s plan to combine the provincial and federal sales taxes into a broader 12-per-cent harmonized sales tax got a rough ride from the public during recent budget consultations by the legislature committee on finance. The report on those consultations, released Friday, highlighted support for the tax from exporters, business leaders, the resource [...]

As this holiday season kicks off, you may already be worried about a credit card hangover come January. Many of us tend to spend more than we planned as we get into the spirit of the holidays or find good deals that are too hard to pass up. But what is the right amount to [...]

Gail Bebee is the author of No Hype – The Straight Goods on Investing Your Money. She can be reached at gbebee@gailbebee.com and her website is www.gailbebee.com. This is the final article in a 12-part series for people that are new to investing on their own. No series on investing would be complete without addressing [...]

The Bank of Canada warned Thursday that growing household debt is now the biggest risk to the country’s financial system, and repeated a plea for borrowers and lenders to remember that the current era of superlow interest rates won’t last. While saying market conditions and the global economy have improved, and that Canada’s exposure to [...]

Fiona Walsh has posted a blog that includes a short list of things you can do to ensure that your business’ marketing and correspondence doesn’t go unmonitored during the holidays. Here’s a sample: Schedule blogs: although you may not plan on spending your holiday writing blogs, your readers may like to stay in the habit [...]

Great salespeople are passionate about their products and their customers.  Effective selling is not about trying to talk people into buying things that they don’t need or cannot afford.  Effective selling is about selling a solution – giving your customers something that they want. Where I see people lose passion for selling is when they [...]

Most of us like our jobs, but can we say we work for the best company in the province? BC Business Magazine’s annual Best Companies to Work for in B.C. survey is open to all comers, and this year more than 100 employers submitted an entry. From the 96 eligible companies they whittled it down [...]

Networking events have value on a variety of levels, from connecting with other business owners, fostering collaborative business relationships, acquiring business skills and, even picking up clients. Much like anything else in business, however, it’s easy to be busy, busy, busy and still not see any real results. Here’s how to make the most of [...]

We have all heard people say that there aren’t enough hours in the day when they are going through a particularly hectic time at work, or they have been so busy that they don’t know where the day has gone. Unfortunately we cannot control time. The hours between nine and five are exactly the same [...]

The Government of Canada has introduced some proposed legislation under the Fairness for the Self-Employed Act which could provide the opportunity for self-employed individuals to access many of the same employment insurance benefits as employees. The legislation, recently announced by the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, The Honourable Diane Finley, forms part of [...]

One of the neatest shortcuts in Excel lets you copy data from the cell above the current cell. To do this press Ctrl + “. (That’s a quote mark, which means you must hold down the Shift key as well.) Here’s an example. Enter the number 6789 in cell A1. If you then move to cell A2 and press Ctrl + [...]

Work is stressful enough without the added annoyance of an aching back, cramped fingers and a sore neck. But the fact is that people who are generally sedentary – which can include anyone who spends most of their day behind a desk – is at risk of developing these sorts of problems, as well as [...]

Just in time for the holiday season, Chapters.Indigo.ca, and Roots.com are some of the latest online retailers to begin offering INTERAC Online, a payment service that allows Internet shoppers to pay for goods or services directly from their bank accounts. From books and music, to games and electronics, to clothing and accessories, and even groceries [...]

The House of Commons on Wednesday overwhelmingly passed legislation enabling the provinces to harmonize their sales taxes with the federal GST, clearing the way for Ontario and British Columbia to implement the HST this summer. The federal HST bill passed by a vote of 253-37. Only the NDP opposed the legislation. Both Ontario and B.C. [...]