Citing reduced client spending, Dare Vancouver laid off 11 employees last week, leaving the agency with 65 full-time staffers.

Dare has not lost any clients, rather the layoffs reflect a general slowdown hitting the whole B.C. market, said John Hall, senior vice-president and managing partner.

“I think the Vancouver market is a little soft… A number of Vancouver-based clients are just spending less on marketing.”

While he declined to say which clients specifically have been spending less, he said the agency big clients remain McDonald’s (working with its sister agency Cossette) B.C. Lotteries, Tourism B.C., MTS Allstream and Prairie Milk Marketing Partnership.

There were no changes at the senior level and some of the layoffs were of part-time employees. Staff were notified of the cuts July 15 and the company is not planning any further reductions.

Hall said the agency has been doing good work and he hopes that strong output will be rewarded with additional business and hopefully new hires again in the next few months.

Earlier this year, Rethink Vancouver let go 22 employees and the former TBWA\Vancouver was first forced into creditor protection, then rebranded as Trees and Rocks before eventually being taken over by Station X.

While some have suggested the tough times in Vancouver’s marcom sector could be a nasty hangover from the 2010 Olympics, Hall is less sure. Like any market, Vancouver goes through ups and downs, he said. “We have certainly seen the industry ebb and flow in the past. I think what we are seeing now represents a general slowdown in market activity.”