One of the major January events in Prince George was the 22nd Annual BC Natural Resources Forum, held from January 14-16, 2025, at the Prince George Conference & Civic Centre. This year’s forum theme was “BC Natural Resources – Purpose, Partnership, and Prosperity,” exploring their collective contributions to positive economic and social impacts locally and globally. Through dialogue, knowledge sharing, and collaboration, participants delved into opportunities created by purpose-driven initiatives, the power of local and international meaningful partnerships, and pathways to shared prosperity in British Columbia’s natural resource sectors.
The BC Natural Resources Forum (BCNRF), in its 22nd year, had become Western Canada’s premier multi-sector resource conference, brought together First Nations, government representatives, and the natural resources sector to discuss opportunities, innovative solutions, and success stories. The forum provided a positive, non-partisan platform for discussing and learning about the latest trends and opportunities within the resource sector in BC and across Canada.
Each year, the forum attracts many federal, provincial, and local government leaders. There is also strong interest, support, and attendance from Indigenous leaders, resource developers, and representatives from the service and supply sectors that form the backbone of our resource economy.
This forum comprised various sections. After the official conference opening, there was a “Fireside Chat: Building Trust Through Collaboration – Rio Tinto and UNBC,” where Dr. Geoff Payne, UNBC President, was a panelist. Over the course of the event, numerous panels covered different topics, with valuable questions from the audience being well-responded to by the speakers.
Holding an exhibition with the participation of various companies was one of the most important parts of this event. One of the main highlights of the event was the attendance of students with support from UNBC. UNBC once again did an excellent job of helping students expand their communities and networks.
