Business And Economic Strength Archives

BC minimum wage increases to $17.85 next week

May 29, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Finding And Keeping Workers, Government Provincial/by Jim Zeeben

On Sunday, the province’s annual minimum wage increase will raise the lowest hourly rate from $17.40 to $17.85 per hour.

“The 2.6% increase on June 1 also applies to minimum-wage rates for resident caretakers, live-in home-support workers, live-in camp leaders and app-based delivery and ride-hail services workers,” the provincial media release stated. “This is the fourth year of the government’s ongoing commitment to tie annual minimum-wage increases to inflation.”

In February 2024, the Employment Standards Act was changed to automatically tie annual increases to the previous year’s average inflation rate.

Another Postal disruption simply bad for business

May 29, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Fair Rules/by Jim Zeeben

The Chamber is calling for a quick resolution to the simmering Canada Post labour dispute. Across the country, many businesses rely on dependable delivery service and, for some, the only option is currently Canada Post.

The Canadian Chamber’s Business Data Lab shows that supply chains are already facing challenges and any further disruption could make some businesses nonviable.

“Roughly 130,000 Canadian businesses were directly impacted by logistics-related labour disputes last year. Another stoppage — particularly during a fragile economic recovery — risks slowing deliveries, straining e-commerce and delaying critical services like payments and housing approvals,” the Canadian Chamber said. “Continuity matters. Business needs certainty, not another bottleneck.”

In Greater Victoria, we’ve seen first-hand how a postal strike can hurt small businesses and non-profit organizations.

“We know that many organizations still rely on Canada Post for cheques and fundraising. If they can’t rely on this service, they need to find alternatives and that could lead to higher costs or delays, and it certainly isn’t good for maintaining trust in Canada Post” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams told the Times Colonist, noting that “during the last postal strike, Chamber team members drove around the region to pick up and drop off payments and invoices for local businesses.”

On Wednesday, Canada Post gave its latest and “final” offer to the union representing 55,000 of its workers. You can find ongoing updates here:

Inflation down but concerns lurk below surface

May 22, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Global Uncertainty/by Jim Zeeben

Inflation watchers haven’t had much excitement over the past several months (thankfully), but the April numbers have created a bit of intrigue. Statistics Canada reports the Consumer Price Index rose by 1.7% year over year last month. That’s well within the Bank of Canada’s target rate for maintaining interest rates. However, without the 12.7% discount created by the removal of the carbon tax on fuel, prices for many other goods jumped by an uncomfortable amount.

This makes the Bank of Canada’s June 4 interest rate announcement more complicated, said an economist with TD Bank.

“We had expected the inflationary impacts of tariffs to start flowing through later in the second quarter of the year – the jump in April suggests this could be happening sooner than expected,” TD Senior Economist Andrew Henci said. “With the government of Canada offering a temporary reprieve on some tariffs, and the labour market slowing rapidly, we believe the central bank will have enough space to deliver two more cuts this year – adding a bit more support to an economy quickly losing momentum.”

New lien rules bring BC in line with other provinces

May 15, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Fair Rules, Government Provincial/by Jim Zeeben

The new Commercial Liens Act comes into force on June 30, affecting how businesses collect debts for services they provide to repair, store or transport goods. The Act replaces a patchwork of outdated laws, which created different rules for different services.

The Personal Property Registry, an online system that tracks legal claims on personal property, will be updated on June 30 to so that commercial liens can be registered. The changes will also make it easier to enforce liens without going to court, which helps businesses get paid and cuts legal costs.

The Act also allows people to keep using their vehicle or equipment to make money and pay off the debt.

The act replaces the Repairers Lien Act, Warehouse Lien Act and Livestock Lien Act. Any existing liens under those acts will continue as commercial liens. The change brings BC closer to the goal of having one set of lien rules across Canada so businesses that provide services in different provinces do not have to keep track of different rules.

Saanich property taxes up by 8% to meet rising costs

May 15, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Government Local/by Jim Zeeben

The District of Saanich is raising residential property taxes by 8% this year as council works to maintain service levels and invest in infrastructure. The municipality said the statistically average home with a property assessment of $1.29 million will pay $5,594.

The residential tax rate per $1,000 of taxable value is 3.12, while the rate for business is 14.27.

“Saanich continues to grapple with multiple pressures including rising costs to maintain infrastructure and the need to prepare for anticipated growth in the future,” Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock said in a media release. “Council is always mindful of the impact of any increase, and appreciates the work staff has done to find efficiencies and streamline processes where possible. This has allowed us to keep this year’s lift as low as possible without impacting the important services people depend on. Those decisions were informed by what we heard from residents at our public budget meetings and online engagement activities, and we thank everyone who took part.”

Investments in infrastructure include playground and sports field replacement, as well as the Library and Affordable Housing Project that uses land owned by the municipality.

Tax notices will be mailed out soon, and payment is due on or before July 2.

A chance to hear firsthand about BC business growth

April 30, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Chamber Awareness, Global Uncertainty, Government Provincial/by Jim Zeeben

The economic uncertainty caused by threats of an escalating tradewar as well as a change in Canadian leadership has not been good for most businesses.

As some of the shifting settles, many Chamber members want to know what these changes will mean to them. And some of the most direct impacts on business success are related to the regulations and taxes imposed by the province.

“We’re grateful that BC’s Minister of Jobs, Economic Development and Innovation has agreed to speak to Chamber members next month,” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams said. “This is a ministry that interconnects with businesses in many ways, and it’s important for the minister to understand the concerns and challenges facing our members.”

Minister Diana Gibson is speaking at the Union Club of BC from 11:30 am to 1 pm, on May 13. Topics include the province’s plans to work with the new Prime Minister on eliminating barriers to interprovincial trade. The Minister will also address the future of the EHT, plans to improve downtown safety and how government will reduce red tape to help businesses grow.

Federal election shifts local political landscape

April 30, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Global Uncertainty, Government Federal/by Jim Zeeben

Greater Victoria’s federal landscape is a little more colourful after Monday’s election saw the Liberal Party of Canada return to power.

Our region elected two members who will be part of the new government. In Victoria, Liberal candidate Will Greaves picked up 54.3% of ballots to beat the NDP incumbent Laurel Collins, who earned 24.9% of votes. In Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke, Stephanie McLean won the riding for the Liberals with 49.2% of votes.

“We look forward to working with these new members of government to bring investment to Greater Victoria,” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams said. “We also congratulate Green Party co-leader Elizabeth May for her re-election in Saanich-Gulf Islands, and we welcome Conservative Party candidate Jeff Kibble, who was elected in Cowichan-Malahat-Langford.”

With red, blue and green ridings, our region promises to be a dynamic representation of the country. Currently, the Liberals have a minority government with 169 seats with the Conservatives forming the opposition with 144 seats. May represents the Greens only seat.

The NDP, who represented six of the seven Island before the election, were reduced to one on Monday.

Nationwide, the Liberals are three seats shy of a majority and will likely need to reach a deal with another party to form a minority government.

Business tax break a sign that council is listening

April 24, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Chamber Awareness, Government Local/by Jim Zeeben

The City of Victoria is investing in the business community by continuing to lower the gap between commercial and residential taxes.

The Chamber has worked with municipal councils over the years, asking them to mind the gap that had been increasing in years past. Through letters and presentations, The Chamber spoke up for the local jobs and services that businesses provide to a municipality. We also explained the challenges with tight margins that many businesses are facing.

Victoria Council is committed to lowering the rate charged to residents and that charged to business to 3:1 by 2030. It was 3.7:1 last year and is 3.5:1 this year.

“Businesses don’t receive the same level of service that residents do, yet they consistently are asked to pay a higher tax rate,” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams said. “In the past, we were hearing concerns that some councils saw increasing business taxes as a politically expedient way to raise money — businesses don’t vote so maybe their individual complaints matter less than a resident that does vote. Thankfully, our experience with councils has been less cynical. Municipalities get the value of the business community — and the know The Chamber will remind them if they ever forget.”

Savings at the fuel pump welcomed by business

April 2, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Climate Change Solutions, Food Security, Government Federal, Government Provincial, Hospitality And Tourism Rescue And Recovery/by Jim Zeeben

The cost of fueling up at the pump has plummeted after the provincial government removed the carbon tax. Gas prices dropped below $1.60/litre yesterday — about 19 cents lower than they were the day before the tax was removed.

The lower fuel costs are welcome news to businesses that move goods and people.

“We hear from many struggling businesses and families so anything that unburdens them is needed right now,” Chamber CEO Bruce Williams said, noting that The Chamber offers members many benefits, including fuel discounts.

Consumers get break as BC eliminating carbon tax April 1

March 26, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Chamber Awareness, Climate Change Solutions, Global Uncertainty, Government Federal, Government Provincial, Inflation And Rising Costs/by Jim Zeeben

Energy costs are set to go down starting April 1 as the province announced yesterday it will make good on its promise to eliminate the consumer carbon tax after the federal government promised to do the same.

BC’s tax adds about 17 cents per litre at the gas pump, and 15 cents per cubic metre of natural gas.

“The Province will continue to act on the commitment to battle climate change by ensuring people in British Columbia have affordable options to make sustainable choices and by encouraging industry to innovate,” the BC Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

Eliminating the tax will help businesses and individuals facing increasing costs and economic uncertainty due to the threats of tariffs and tradewar with the US.

The latest news on the tradewar is a 25% tariff on the auto industry imposed today. The action is expected to increase the cost of vehicles and cause generational chaos to automakers on both sides of the border.

The national Chamber network continues to work on mitigating the threat of tariffs. This week, the Canadian Chamber released a report on US cities that are the most export-dependent on Canada.