Good morning {{First name}}!

The Goo Goo Dolls are in town tonight, playing at Save-on-Foods Arena with opener Dashboard Confessional.

I won’t be there, but feel free to belt “Iris” on my behalf if you’re going.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes

Today: 🌧 10 / 9

Tomorrow: 🌦 13 / 8

Day after: ☀️ 9 / 5

7-day forecast

BC’s push to strengthen health-care staffing appears to be paying off. As of January, 400+ US-trained health workers have accepted job offers in the province—including 97 slated to work on the Island, according to the provincial government. That grouping includes 32 physicians, eight nurse practitioners, and 57 nurses.

Last week, the BC College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM) said that between last April and January, it had registered more than 1K nurses to work in the province. The health regulator says it’s a tenfold increase compared with previous years: BC recruited 127 US nurses in 2024 and 112 in 2023. 

This increased registration was helped in part by changes to the BCCNM’s registration process and the waiving of Canadian licensing exams for US physicians. 

Of the 1K+ nurses expected to come to BC, 64 have been registered for the Island. Registration can happen before a nurse has started a job, so it’s unclear how many have already relocated to the province.

As of this month, BC had received 2,750+ job applications from US doctors, nurse practitioners, nurses, and allied health professionals, a swell of interest the province attributes to its targeted recruitment campaign. 

In the summer, the province launched a $5M ad campaign to recruit nurses living in Western US states. For six weeks, video, social media, and print ads ran in Washington, Oregon, and California. BC also ran billboard ads within 16km of health-care facilities in those states.

Health-care staff desperately needed

Staffing issues have been a provincewide problem for years now, closing ERs and reducing the number of walk-in clinics—and the South Island is no exception.

In 2023, staffing shortages led to overnight closures at multiple Island urgent-care units, including the ER at Saanich Peninsula Hospital. Some emergency units on the North Island were shuttered for days at a time.

During the summer, Victoria General Hospital closed its pediatric care unit, which expedited urgent care for children, citing staffing shortages and burnout among doctors.

Some health unions have blamed the Island’s staffing woes on its new fatigue policies, which stipulate that staff must not work more than 16 hours in a 24-hour period. 

Colwood has taken matters into its own hands, opening a municipally-run clinic to bring doctors to a city that, until recently, had “zero” family physicians, according to Mayor Doug Kobayashi. 

Kobayashi said making physicians municipal employees relieves them of administrative duties, freeing them up to offer more medical care. The clinic hired its second doctor in the fall, recruited from the US.

Rifle and pistol shooting practice at Heals Range near Willis Point in Saanich, tomorrow, 4pm-12am.  

Signal shutdown at Blanshard-Finlayson intersection today. 9am-1pm. Expect traffic delays. [City of Vic]  

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

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If you fancy the taste but want to skip the buzz—and the hangover—there’s a tasting event coming up for you a week from tonight.

Back for its second year, Free Spirit Victoria—dubbed the city’s biggest non-alcoholic wine, beer, and cocktail showcase and tasting event—is set for the Lion’s Den at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre.

The event is riding a sober-friendly wave: it sold out last year, and organizer Kurtis Kolt, a sommelier by trade, saw similar success in Vancouver late last year, where his booze-free taster also attracted a packed house. 

Non-alcoholic options have come a long way from those niche early days of Dry January, when taking a break from booze was seen as a novelty.

So what’s behind this wave of NA drinks?

Kolt says the industry has raised its game—in all drink categories—and is offering tastier, hoppier, and more complex brews.

He says companies are investing in more R&D to meet a growing market—including Gen Z and millennials—gravitating toward healthier choices and premium zero-proof options. 

“And that's across everything,” Kolt says. “Start, of course, with beer, but [also] with wine, with spirits and cocktails—because you're not getting away with, you know, watery cereal water of Molson Excel of the past.”

It’s admittedly anecdotal, but Kolt figures 70% of the people who come to these shows still drink alcohol but have a taste for high-quality, alcohol-free wine, mocktails, and near-beer. 

That burgeoning popularity is reflected in a bigger, broader event. Last year’s showcase featured 16 vendors representing 35 products. This year, 25 vendors, representing 50 local and international drinks, are expected, with about one-quarter of them from BC.

Kolt highlights Glimmer Sparkling Wine from the Okanagan—an all-female-owned company—and Empress Non-Alcoholic Gin as “must-sips” among the dozens of participating producers.

Tickets are $48 and include unlimited tasting, which starts at 6:30pm.

If you can’t get there after work but have a few minutes after lunch, there’s an afternoon trade edition from 2pm to 4pm with the motto, “Swing by for 10 minutes, or stay for two hours.”

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📖 Esquimalt Library Branch is now open on Sundays. 1-5pm. [GVPL]

📚 Watch a new play come to life. The Belfry has free play readings on March 20 and 21 at 8 pm. Learn more.*

🪸 Anemone on the move: See how the usually stationary creatures swim, with footage captured in Island waters. [Facebook video]

👧 Double your impact: Donations to Island Kids Cancer Association are matched by Peninsula Co-op, helping provide fuel vouchers for Island families travelling to cancer treatment.*

🎸 Goo Goo Dolls with openers Dashboard Confessional tonight. [Info]

*Sponsored Listing

CRD says $1.4M oxygenator working despite return of blue-green algae to Elk Lake
A month after removing a blue-green algae advisory for Elk Lake, it appears the toxic blooms have returned. The advisory is back, alongside one that has been in place for three years now in the Beaver Lake portion of the park. The CRD installed the million-dollar oxygenator, partially paid for by the province, in the fall of 2023 in an attempt to reduce the number of algae blooms in the lake. The CRD says that the equipment has improved water quality overall, but that warmer weather and heavy rainfall have allowed the blooms to persist. [CHEK]

Oak Bay looks to anchor new rules to clear derelict boats
In September, a seven-member special task force was given six months to come up with ways to manage and clean up areas littered with derelict boats and to prevent them from sinking or washing ashore. One of the recommendations that has surfaced is to mimic Victoria’s 2016 tactic of updating anchoring requirements. It led to the removal of dozens of vessels that were moored for the longest time in the Gorge. As of September, there were five sunken boats in Oak Bay waters. [Black Press] 

Accused Burnside bank robber gets busted in half an hour
At about 1:45 yesterday afternoon, the suspect entered the TD Bank at Burnside West near Tillicum and handed a note to a teller, demanding money. The person took off with an undisclosed amount of cash but was tracked to a building further up Tillicum near the TCH. By 2:15pm, the suspect was arrested, and they remain in custody. Saanich Police’s victim services unit is speaking with the shaken bank workers. [Saanich Police]

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🎤 Postsecondary Thursday Lunch Concert: VCM postsecondary students perform works-in-progress in this free drop-in lunchtime concert at Victoria Conservatory of Music today. 12:30-1:30pm. [Info]

🎷 The Andrew Greenwood Quintet plays Gershwin: The Victoria saxophonist will lead his quintet through timeless Gershwin classics at Hermann's tonight. 7-9pm. [Info]

👻 Confabulation presents: Glow In The Dark: Six storytellers share true, unscripted stories on the theme "Glow In the Dark” at The Coda tonight. 7:30pm-9:45pm. [Info]

🎵 An Evening with Josh Ritter: The American folk-rock singer-songwriter and novelist will perform at Mary Winspear Centre tonight. 7:30pm. [Info]

🎶 Garden City Grooves Festival Free Kickoff: The Melawmen Collective, a Secwepemc alternative fusion ensemble, leads the first night of this music mix at the White Eagle Polish Hall tonight. 7:30pm. [Info]

🤘 Metal Massacre: Ironhead and End of Thread: A heavy metal double bill with Victoria bands Ironhead and End of Thread at The Coda tomorrow. 6:30-8:30pm. [Info]

🧑‍🎨 Culture, AI & Identity: An Art Exhibition: Walk through digital and physical works from featured artists at Victoria City Hall tomorrow. 5:30-7:30pm. [Info]

🎞️ Tea Creek: Catch this free film about Indigenous food sovereignty in Victoria at Council AnteChamber of City Hall. April 1. 5pm. [Info]

Wednesday headlines: Five Star Whale Watching goes under after 41 years; Theatre group needs $1M real quick; and Sunfest lineup is out. [March 18]

Ayo Eat in Market Square is closing after 10+ years. [CHEK]

FIFA Fan Festival in Vancouver will be free. [BC Gov]

2 weeks left to visit Citrus & Cane at its original location before it relocates to Trounce Alley.

Noodle Mania Fest. [March 25] 

Belfry Theatre fundraiser at Fluevog. [April 9]

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