Tag: B.C.

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Mobile Syrup

Shaw donates $500,000 to BC flood relief efforts

Shaw has announced it will donate half a million dollars to the Canadian Red Cross and various grassroots organizations working on the growing needs in the area.

The province’s association of food banks, Food Banks B.C., will also receive funding. It’s not clear how much will go towards each organization.

The company also shared impacted customers utilizing internet, TV, and home phone services will have credits applied to their accounts.

Network technicians are also working on repairing damaged internet and wireless infrastructure. Customers can track service updates and outages here.

“We are thinking of everyone impacted by this natural disaster and, like so many, we are deeply grateful to the emergency response teams and the organizations who continue to manage the devastating impacts of the past week’s storms,” Brad Shaw, the company’s CEO, said in a press release.

A number of other telecommunications companies have also donated funds towards the disaster. Bell donated $25,000, and Telus and Rogers donated $1 million each.

Source: Shaw

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Shaw donates $500,000 to BC flood relief efforts

Shaw has announced it will donate half a million dollars to the Canadian Red Cross and various grassroots organizations working on the growing needs in the area.

The province’s association of food banks, Food Banks B.C., will also receive funding. It’s not clear how much will go towards each organization.

The company also shared impacted customers utilizing internet, TV, and home phone services will have credits applied to their accounts.

Network technicians are also working on repairing damaged internet and wireless infrastructure. Customers can track service updates and outages here.

“We are thinking of everyone impacted by this natural disaster and, like so many, we are deeply grateful to the emergency response teams and the organizations who continue to manage the devastating impacts of the past week’s storms,” Brad Shaw, the company’s CEO, said in a press release.

A number of other telecommunications companies have also donated funds towards the disaster. Bell donated $25,000, and Telus and Rogers donated $1 million each.

Source: Shaw

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Rogers joins telecom giants in donating towards BC relief

Rogers announced on November 19th it will make a $1 million donation to the BC Search and Rescue Association (BCSARA).

The funding will be made available through a multi-year partnership. It‘ll be used to implement new technology and specialized equipment for the many employees and volunteers working with the organization. These individuals have conducted air, water, and marine rescues and assisted with evacuations from multiple communities.

“Our network teams are working around the clock to deliver critical connectivity for first responders and communities, to keep people connected to emergency resources and loved ones. We are proud to make this donation and partner with BC Search and Rescue to support equipment and technology needed by their vast network of professional volunteers will use to save lives, today and in years to come,” Tony Staffieri, Rogers interim president and CEO, said in a press release.

The news is in addition to an earlier announcement the company would suspend all domestic data overage and long-distance fees until November 30th. This applies to all Rogers, Fido, and Rogers Business customers in impacted areas.

Customers looking to financially contribute to the relief efforts can text ROGERS to 20222 (English) or 30333 (French) to donate $5 to support the Canadian Red Cross.

Source: Rogers

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Telus now offers the fastest 5G network in Dawson Creek and Drumheller, B.C.

The expansions in the British Columbia and Alberta municipalities are part of larger investments the company is making through 2024.

The expansion in Dawson Creek is part of $13 billion in infrastructure and operations funding going towards BC. The expansion in Drumheller is part of a larger $14.5 million investment allocated to Alberta.

The initiative is part of the companies goal to give 70 percent of Canada’s population access to its 5G network. Currently, 67 percent of Canadians have access.

“Indeed, the ongoing expansion of our next-generation 5G technology is bridging time and distance, allowing residents to live and work in any community without compromising productivity or economic opportunity,” president and CEO, Darren Entwistle, said in a press release.

The company is working with a number of vendors, including Samsung, Ericsson, and Nokia, to expand its network across the country. By the end of the year, 615 communities will have access to the 5G network, including an additional 135 communities in Alberta and 187 in British Columbia.

The company explains some of the benefits of this network over 4G are increased capacity, ultra-low latency and edge computing. These advancements help power enhanced health and education opportunities. Estimates show 5G will lead to the creation of 250,000 jobs and put $150 million towards the economy over the next two decades.

Source: Telus

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Mobile Syrup

Rogers, Creative BC to launch $1 million fund for Indigenous creators in B.C.

Rogers Group of Funds and Creative BC announced plans to jointly establish a new $1 million fund for Indigenous creators in British Columbia.

As part of the fund’s launch, Rogers announced a collaborative partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) to open the first program, delivering a top-up to B.C.-based recipients of ISO’s recently announced Development Grant program. Data from ISO shows B.C.-based Indigenous applicants far outnumber those from other provinces.

Rogers Group of Funds will support the fund and Creative BC will administer it. Rogers says it’s Canada’s first provincial-national partnership focused on Indigenous creators. Further, it’ll be the first targeted Indigenous screen fund at Creative BC.

Additionally, Rogers says the fund will help increase access and representation for Indigenous produces and Indigenous-led production companies in B.C.’s domestic motion picture industry. Moreover, the fund is intended to contribute to strong foundations that can help correct the systemic and historic underrepresentation of Indigenous stories and storytellers in Canada’s screen sector.

Earlier this week, Rogers also announced a partnership with Coastal First Nations to build new cell towers in Haida Gwaii as well as support a conservation-based economy and Indigenous entrepreneurs in B.C.

Source: Rogers

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Rogers, Creative BC to launch $1 million fund for Indigenous creators in B.C.

Rogers Group of Funds and Creative BC announced plans to jointly establish a new $1 million fund for Indigenous creators in British Columbia.

As part of the fund’s launch, Rogers announced a collaborative partnership with the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) to open the first program, delivering a top-up to B.C.-based recipients of ISO’s recently announced Development Grant program. Data from ISO shows B.C.-based Indigenous applicants far outnumber those from other provinces.

Rogers Group of Funds will support the fund and Creative BC will administer it. Rogers says it’s Canada’s first provincial-national partnership focused on Indigenous creators. Further, it’ll be the first targeted Indigenous screen fund at Creative BC.

Additionally, Rogers says the fund will help increase access and representation for Indigenous produces and Indigenous-led production companies in B.C.’s domestic motion picture industry. Moreover, the fund is intended to contribute to strong foundations that can help correct the systemic and historic underrepresentation of Indigenous stories and storytellers in Canada’s screen sector.

Earlier this week, Rogers also announced a partnership with Coastal First Nations to build new cell towers in Haida Gwaii as well as support a conservation-based economy and Indigenous entrepreneurs in B.C.

Source: Rogers

Categories
Cottage Life

Humpback whale babies are booming this year!

By Imagine Earth Photography/Shutterstock

The humpback whale has made a comeback once again! This fall, the Pacific Whale Watch Association announced an unprecedented humpback whale baby boom in the Salish Sea. The start of the season is known to mark the final peak of humpback whale sightings as they look for their last feeding opportunities before heading south for the winter—and the end of October brought with it a pleasant surprise for west coast whale watchers.

This year, 21 humpback whale calves were recorded throughout inland Washington and British Columbia from April to October. This sets a record for the highest annual number of humpback whales in the area ever, according to Mark Malleson, a field biologist with the Center for Whale Research. The number has close to doubled in the Salish region this year as compared to the 11 documented humpback whale calves in 2020’s peak season. Researchers can only hypothesize about the cause of the recent boom.

Wild Profile: Meet the humpback whale

“We’re not sure why there were so many calves this year,” says Erin Gless, the executive director of the Pacific Whale Watch Association in a recent news release. “It’s possible the last two years had an abundance of food for the whales, or it could be as simple as the fact that as the number of adult whales in the population grows, so too does the number of calves we can expect to see each year.”

The association notes that the species did see a drastic depletion in the early 1900s from commercial whaling. By the 1920s, the North American west coast had few humpback whale sightings. And according to the latest Periodic Status Review from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), the number of global humpback whales had decreased by more than 90 per cent. It was only until the termination of whaling that the global number of humpbacks was able to slowly climb to more than 80,000. Currently, the Pacific Whale Watch Association confirms that there are more than 500 humpback whales recorded in the Salish Sea.

Watch this stunning aerial view of a whale and her calf

This year’s abundance of humpback calves is great news, given the many human activities that still affect the species’ livelihood. The WDFW recognizes entanglement, vessel collisions, increased disturbance of marine noise and communication, climate change, oil spills, and harmful algal blooms as the leading threats to humpback populations going forward. Despite these environmental conditions, the humpback whale calves spotted this season have nodded to a hopeful and fruitful future for marine life in the North American Pacific.

Categories
Mobile Syrup

Apple Health app now supports vaccination QR codes from several provinces

With the release of iOS 15.0.1, Albertans can reportedly add their COVID-19 vaccination QR codes to the Apple Health app on their iPhones.

According iPhone in Canada, Alberta’s vaccination QR codes support the ‘SMART Health Card’ spec, which is why they work with the Health app. Unfortunately, they don’t work with the Apple Wallet app yet.

Further, Twitter users noted that both Saskatchewan and B.C. QR codes also work, while commenters on the iPhone in Canada article note Quebec’s QR code doesn’t.

For those in Ontario, the government’s vaccine verification app won’t arrive until October 22nd. However, other online services allow Ontario residents to turn their digital vaccination receipt into a QR code that can be saved to Apple Wallet. Alternatively, some people have created shortcuts to the digital vaccination receipt on their phone’s home screen for easy access.

Apple previously said that the feature would be available in an “upcoming software update,” which was presumed to be iOS 15.1. That’s still partially the case — support for the SMART Health Card spec in Apple Wallet will probably arrive with that update.

To add a vaccine QR code to the Apple Health app, iPhone users just need to point their camera at the official QR code provided by the government. A yellow ‘Health’ button should appear in the Camera app — tapping it will walk users through the steps to add the code to Health.

Image credit: Apple

Source: iPhone in Canada