The foundation of our daily lives depends on feeling safe in our homes, our cities and our workplaces. This includes feeling safe to seek support, utilize resources and speak openly regarding mental health concerns.

​Through the Chambers of Commerce Group Insurance Plan Employee Assistance Program (EAP) – Arive®, you and your employees can access confidential, professional counselling services. Counselling from Chamber members is also available, and can provide a variety of services for specialized help.

If you’re not sure which resource is most helpful for you, take the anonymous Mental Health Check-In Assessment from the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The Chamber has focused on the importance of mental health before and during the COVID pandemic, and we will continue to advocate on behalf of our members for the creation and implementation of support networks into the future.

This Thursday, Bell Let’s Talk will return for its eleventh consecutive year to support mental health initiatives across Canada. Created to raise awareness and reduce the stigma of mental illness, the campaign has seen more than 1.1 billion interactions on social media. 

The Victoria Fire Department agreed to terms with Esquimalt, and, in a separate agreement with Saanich and Oak Bay.

These integrated efforts are welcomed by The Chamber, which advocates for better regional services in Greater Victoria. Businesses and residents in the region need to know their communities are safe, and taxes are being wisely spent. We look forward to municipalities continuing to work together to ensure efficiencies in other regional services.

Grants of $10,000 to $30,000 are available, while an additional $5,000 to $15,000 grant is available to eligible tourism businesses.

The province lowered barriers to the program on Dec. 18, but it still has had less uptake than expected. Businesses that sent in applications before the change will be reevaluated under the new criteria.

If you haven’t applied, find out if you’re eligible and submit an application here.

With a more focused, hands-on approach to controlling COVID, Biden stands a better chance of putting the pandemic behind us than did the chaotic approach of the last administration.

Beatty was the guest of The Chamber, earlier today, for our latest Business Restart Series video. The conversation focused on Canada-US relations, which Beatty compared to resembling the “mating dance of the stickleback” under Trump.

However, Canadians shouldn’t get too comfortable after today’s inauguration. The Democrats have historically been more protectionist than Republicans, and relations will be more complicated than “Trump/bad, Biden/good.”

Closer to home, Beatty says our immediate focus needs to be on controlling the pandemic in Canada. We’ve had a “crazy quilt of approaches” to stopping the spread of the virus, Beatty says. A national approach is needed rather than regional restrictions. The biggest risk to business is the yo-yo effect of opening and closing, which disrupts operations and makes planning impossible.

“What worries me when I look at it today, the Team Canada approach (we had in the spring of 2020) is fraying. People are feeling victimized and powerless,” Beatty said, saying it’s within each of us to use the tools and knowledge we have to stop the spread. “We’re not powerless.”

Missed the live event? Register online to access the video recording.