Government Local Archives - Victoria Chamber

New transit plan can help with region’s affordability

September 24, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Government Local, Transportation Options/by Jim Zeeben

Affordability is at the root of many challenges facing Greater Victoria.

Chamber members continue to tell us they’re struggling to find and keep staff who can’t find housing. It’s either too costly or too far away from their workplace.

One solution is improved transit. Making the commute more convenient to affordable areas of our region would improve the quality of life for many workers. It’s a goal that BC Transit has been working toward for years.

Today, BC Transit announced it will take a fresh look at planning — the first since 2011.

The Victoria Regional Transit Plan project is launching a new engagement process to hear how the public wants to shape the future of transit over the next 25 years.

An online survey will be available next week and a series of open houses are planned across Greater Victoria later in October.

The engagement will focus on:

refreshing the 2011 Transit Future Plan along with the 25-year network vision to help guide future transit service and infrastructure investment
aligning the plan with current and anticipated future demographic trends, land use changes, commuter patterns and sustainability goals and developing comprehensive transit network and route design guidelines

‘Safe communities now!’ demand BC mayors in Victoria

September 24, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Chamber Awareness, Government Federal, Government Local, Government Provincial, Safe Communities/by Jim Zeeben

The Chamber’s call for all levels of government to take urgent action to address social disorder has resonated across the province.

This week, the Union of BC Municipalities annual conference is underway in Victoria, and the loudest concern is the demand to make our communities safer. On Monday, Our Place CEO Julian Daly drew thunderous applause for a speech decrying the failure to address spiraling antisocial behaviour in downtown Victoria.

On Wednesday, City of Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto rallied with her BC colleagues on the Legislature lawn, calling on Premier David Eby to stop things from getting worse.

“Victoria is proud to be one of the best small cities in the world, but we must act now to support our residents, businesses, and visitors, and we cannot do this work alone,” Mayor Alto said. “We urge the provincial government to take action and respond with the same level of urgency, to help bring necessary and lasting change to cities across BC.”

Chamber CEO John Wilson commended Mayor Alto for facing the fire as frustrated downtown businesses demand urgent action.

“The Mayor is the face of Victoria council, which is feeling the heat for the situation in our city,” Wilson said. “It’s a tough spot to be in, and The Chamber is committed to working together on a solution. We need action now, and that means we will be escalating our calls for action to the provincial and federal governments.”

The rally at the legislature was organized by Save-Our-Streets, a coalition of businesses and organizations that includes The Chamber.

“Municipalities cannot address these issues on their own, and it is not sustainable for them to shelve services and projects in order to reallocate funding to address health and housing issues which fall under the provincial government’s mandate,” SOS Co-founder Jess Ketchum said. “Urgency is required.”

Work begins on amalgamation question for voters

September 17, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Chamber Awareness, Government Local, Streamlined Regional Regulations/by Jim Zeeben

In July, a Citizens’ Assembly announced that its research showed that residents in the City of Victoria and District of Saanich would be better served by an amalgamated municipality.

Victoria was quick to begin working on the wording of the question that will go to voters next October. And, on Monday, Saanich followed suit with a decision to work with its neighbour on the question.

The Chamber has been calling for amalgamation for decades. We were strong supporters of the Citizens’ Assembly process and worked to keep it on track through the pandemic years.

It’s been a slow process, but finally voters will have their chance to make a decision that many have been calling for. The next BC General Local Elections are set for Oct. 17, 2026.

Business needs to be included in downtown parking strategy

September 3, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Government Local, New And Established Businesses, Transportation Options/by Jim Zeeben

The Chamber is calling on the City of Victoria to put the brakes on a potentially disruptive plan for parking downtown.

The report on Transforming City Parking goes to Committee of the Whole tomorrow, and raises numerous questions about the impact on businesses.

“We read about the plan in the Times Colonist, and immediately started hearing from members concerned about further disruption to downtown businesses,” Chamber CEO John Wilson said. “I’ve let the Mayor know we want to make sure business concerns are heard before this plan moves ahead.”

Wilson, who spoke about the report on CFAX this morning, said The Chamber supports improved transit services and other methods for bringing people downtown. However, there’s a real concern that some city staff aren’t recognizing the potential to drive away business and do more damage to downtown as an economic hub.”

The Chamber has positive relationships with city leaders who have taken the time to get to know the business community. We work closely with our partner organizations to help businesses survive and thrive, so people have reasons to visit downtown.

“It’s not asking too much to be part of the conversation,” Wilson said. “Businesses have a unique understanding of what the public wants because they hear it every day.”

Groundbreaking signals start of major new housing project

August 13, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Chamber Awareness, Government Local, Housing/by Jim Zeeben

One of our region’s largest new housing developments broke ground today, starting construction on a project that will eventually add 1,500 homes in Harris Green.

The housing, being developed by Starlight Investments, will include a mix of townhomes, studios and one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments.

The Chamber was an early supporter of the project.

Harris Green Village is the largest multi-family housing project in Victoria’s history, the developer said. The three-phase project will also add 100,000 square feet of modern commercial and retail space.

“The Harris Green Village development is a demonstration of Victoria’s forward-thinking approach to driving purpose-built rental housing,” City of Victoria Mayor Marianne Alto said. “This is exactly the kind of vibrant, community-driven growth we can expect as the City continues to create more opportunities for housing and community spaces in the downtown core.”

The first phase underway now will create 526 rental suites in the downtown Victoria neighbourhood

Serious crime down in Victoria, recent report says

July 23, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Government Local, Government Provincial, Safe Communities/by Jim Zeeben

The latest numbers show serious crimes have decreased in the City of Victoria, according to Statistics Canada’s Crime severity index.

“We’ve put a significant amount of effort into crime prevention and disrupting nonviolent crime, and I commend all of our officers, reserves and volunteers for this positive outcome,” VicPD Chief Del Manak told Black Press.

Victoria-Swan Lake MLA Nina Krieger, who was recently named Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General said the numbers are good news but more still needs to be done.

“While these results are promising, we know we have more work to do and there are specific areas where we need to renew our focus,” Krieger said in a media release. “If you are the victim of a theft or an attack, these statistics do not make you feel any safer.”

Provincially, the crime severity index is at its lowest level in six years, with homicides down 24%, robberies down 8% and mischief down by 4%.

Esquimalt launches new business, investment portal

July 23, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Business And Economic Strength, Government Local/by Jim Zeeben

The Township of Esquimalt has launched a new website aimed at attracting investment and helping current businesses.

WhyEsquimalt.ca includes information about the economic landscape in the Township.

“Storytelling is a powerful tool and this new dedicated website will serve to strengthen Esquimalt’s place brand identity by showcasing a unified narrative around livability, opportunity and quality of life,” Esquimalt Mayor Barbara Desjardins said.

An interactive community profile dashboard, business success stories and

resource hub for guides and grants are part of the site.

Construction begins on first downtown hotel in 20 years

July 17, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Government Local, Hospitality And Tourism Rescue And Recovery/by Jim Zeeben

Six years after The Chamber signaled its support for a new hotel in downtown Victoria, work finally began this week.

The new eight-storey Hyatt-branded hotel will have 167-rooms. It’s located at Broad and Johnson streets and expected to be completed by 2028.

Chard Development began working on the the project before the pandemic and was supported by The Chamber through letters and presentations to the City of Victoria.

Once built, the hotel will add about $14.9 million to our region’s economy and provide accommodations for almost 100,000 people every year. About 200 people will be needed to work at the hotel once operational, and more than 460 jobs will be created during construction.

The site of the new hotel will include walls and facades that date back to as far as 131-years-ago.

Saanich to hear amalgamation report July 14

July 14, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Government Local, Streamlined Regional Regulations/by Jim Zeeben

The District of Saanich announced today it will receive a formal presentation and begin next steps on July 14 on the report recommending Saanich and the City of Victoria amalgamate has been published and can be viewed online.

Chamber members have long called for this to happen and The Chamber was an early voice for using the Citizens’ Assembly process as a practical method for initiating amalgamation. And whenever the process stalled along the way, The Chamber was quick to nudge it forward.

“Having considered the costs, benefits and disadvantages to the best of our abilities and with the information available to us, we recommend the amalgamation of Victoria and Saanich,” the report’s executive summary states. “In the course of our deliberations, we ultimately concluded that amalgamation as a unified city would be the best form of government for our two municipalities.”

Saanich hears from public on Quadra McKenzie Plan

July 9, 2025/in BizNews This Week, Government Local, Transportation Options/by Jim Zeeben

A revised Draft Quadra McKenzie Plan will go back to the public for further input this fall, after the District of Saanich Council heard from residents who are passionate about the area.

“The Quadra McKenzie planning process has sparked unprecedented public involvement,” Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock said. “Council has listened closely, and we have directed staff to revise the plan based on more than 10,000 public comments. There is still work ahead, including another round of public engagement, and I encourage all residents to stay involved—respectfully and constructively.”

Key revisions include reduced density, scaled back building heights and the removal of conceptual changes to McKenzie Avenue, which will be considered separately at a later time in collaboration with BC Transit.

An additional round of public engagement will run from August to October.