Brews to booze in Toronto

Canadians will be able to choose between a cappuccino or a glass of wine in Starbucks in three Toronto outlets. This is after the debut of “Starbucks Evenings” pilot project in Starbucks Canada when they started selling wine, craft beer and cider at three Toronto outlets.

In addition to alcohol, the enhanced menu features a line of higher-end “reserves” coffees and shareable appetizer plates such as bacon-wrapped dates in a balsamic glaze and truffle popcorn and a wide variety of international red and white wines.

The timing of a broader roll-out in Canada is perfect, where Starbucks has 1,300 locations, will depend on how keenly Canadians embrace the innovative move. But considering the drinking habits of Canadians, in addition to drinking more coffee per capita than Americans and also drink more wine, the move will likely be well-received.

Starbucks Canada has made a series of recent moves to keep its format fresh for captive customers, including better baked goods offerings and food menu and a new line-skipping app that allows customers to order and pay for goods before they pick the items up in store.

Millennials and their dreams, aspirations and more

There is a myth that millennials don’t want to own their own homes because they want total freedom and they don’t have the money. But a new poll suggested that home ownership is just as important to them as it is to most Canadians.

Overall, 85 percent of Canadians consider home ownership. Of those, 63 percent said it makes financial sense to build equity and save for retirement while 59 percent of millennials in the 18 to 34 age group said home ownership provides a sense of freedom.

On the other hand, 15 percent of Canadians said home ownership is not important, with nearly half said is too big a financial burden. Owning a home is an important milestone to many even though it has become increasingly difficult to get into the market.

Canadians marketers are closely studying the future consumers of products, services and real estate buyers – the millennials.

The Vancouver Real Estate Forum announced that big city millennials are spending less time in their small living spaces and more time and money on entertainment elsewhere. The forum also suggested that many young Canadians, especially in Toronto and Vancouver are moving back into urban cores, and living in smaller spaces without room for recreation or entertainment.

To tap the market Cineplex Canada is launching a new business called Rec Room, a series of massive entertainment complex for a young adult clientele. The first Rec Room will open this summer in Edmonton, then Calgary and Toronto. There will be a total of 15 rooms in other major Canadian cities.

Millennials are also spending a lot of time and money in shopping malls. Last year, almost all of Canada’s top-25 most productive shopping centers saw dramatic sale increases over the previous year.

For many Canadian people, shopping has become their entertainment and high end stores continue to be the main attraction.

Job vacancy high in British Columbia

The Canadian Federation of Independent Business declared British Columbia to have the highest job-vacancy rate among Canadian provinces today. It is yet another signal that B.C,’s economy is growing but also a signal that many small businesses with fewer than 20 employees are experiencing a harder time to find applicants.

Retail trade, construction, health care and manufacturing were among other sectors reporting shortages, but the food services sector showed some 13,000 vacancies from 2015. That largely represents kitchen staff, from dishwashers to line cooks.

The lack of applications has pushed wages up to the point where more skilled positions can earn up to $19 per hour, plus payouts from pooled tips. An important factor to consider is the declining number of young people going into the cooking trade, along with the changes of the federal government’s temporary foreign workers program which eliminated a large pool of unskilled labor for restaurants. Vancouver vacancies are not necessarily showing up where unemployed people are looking for work, or people don’t have the skills needed for certain jobs.

On the negative side, small companies that employ trades people are experiencing shortages across the board in British Columbia. There are many opportunities in the booming tech sector or manufacturing related to non-commodity export trade.

At the moment, there are regional differences. In the North there is a huge problem of unemployment. Due to reduced employment in the province’s mining and energy sectors and some spillover from the downturn of Alberta and Saskatchewan’s oil patch, these negative factors are starting to show up in British Columbia’s unemployment statistics.