Lately, there has been one special family that keeps making the headlines.
This family of four is originally from China and is scheduled to move into a newly renovated home in Calgary, from Toronto. It marks the first time in 30 years that Canada has welcomed a similar family.
Yes, I'm referring to the giant panda family from China.
So how will this family of panda's benefit Calgary?
Tourism Minister Ricardo Miranda expects the Calgary zoo to be a lot busier when the pandas arrive. He also said that it would create 200 jobs during construction, as well as another 40 zoo related jobs. It will also help highlight the zoo's other exhibits and the zoo's wildlife conservation efforts. The new exhibit is expected to boost tourism in Calgary by up to $16-$18 million in 2018, and increase the economic impact of the zoo to more than $95 million.
The Alberta government will spend $10 million to help the zoo prepare for the family of giant pandas, arriving in 2018. While most Calgarians have to wait for another two years to meet the panda family, people working at Mainstreet's head office are more fortunate – we already have one in the office!
The MEQ panda joined our team to celebrate our CFO's birthday, and has since done its best to entertain the team by chosing a new pose every day.
He may (or may not) be more flexible than the real pandas, but they definitely have one thing in common: they bring happiness to the people around them like any valued family member does.
Mainstreet Equity Corp. is a publicly-traded (TSX: MEQ) residential real estate company in Canada. Mainstreet currently owns and operates properties in Surrey, BC; New Westminster, BC; Abbotsford, BC; Calgary, AB; Cochrane, AB; Lethbridge, AB; Edmonton, AB; Fort Saskatchewan, AB; and Saskatoon, SK.
Mainstreet provides affordable, renovated apartment suites to Canadians, and is committed to creating real value without diluting shareholder interests.