Key Issue: Local & Regional Government

The financing and delivery of services such as water, fire protection, street lighting and lake level control are important issues for rural residents and businesses in British Columbia. Across the province, improvement districts, a form of local government (Bish and Clemmens, 2009, p. 70 and Statistics Canada, 2011b) deliver these services to approximately half of […]

The cost of housing in BC’s major centres is rising. Demand for housing is out growing housing supply in both new builds and available rentals. By 2040, Greater Vancouver’s population is expected to grow by over one million people, requiring over half a million new dwellings[1]. While the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation has noted […]

The success of businesses in BC is directly impacted by the policies of our municipal and provincial governments such as: Business tax levels, including income taxes, capital taxes, commodity taxes; Property tax levels, including the relative proportions to individuals and businesses; and Various regulations that impact the efficiency of doing business in the Province and/or […]

In a study done by Vancity,[1] the cost of housing was determined to inhibit young workers from coming or staying in the greater Vancouver region. Similar studies have pointed out that the rise of real estate values is greatly outpacing incomes and the gap is growing. Very few workers receive salary increases of 10-20% per […]

The BC Fair Wages Commission (FWC) Report[1] was released in January 2018. The 3-panel commission recommended that the basic minimum wage be increased to $15 by 2021. They proposed the following: The commissioners, in addition to the increases, had three other recommendations, two of which were to establish a permanent commission and an advisory committee. […]

Under the Police Act, municipalities with populations 5,000 and over must provide their own law enforcement by: Forming their own police department; and Contracting with an existing police department; and Contracting with the provincial government for RCMP police services. There are 63 municipalities in BC that contract with the province for RCMP municipal police services. […]

Until recently, the Federal Importation of Intoxicating Liquors Act criminalized the interprovincial importation of liquor by individuals. In 2012, the Act was amended to allow individuals to import wine across provincial borders for personal consumption. In June 2014 further amendments to the Act extended this personal use exemption to include interprovincial shipment of beer and […]

At the 2006 Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Convention, the Government of BC challenged local governments to develop a single business license framework, to become the first jurisdiction in Canada where businesses could operate freely anywhere in their province. The Ministry of Small Business and Revenue was charged with leading the Single Business License […]

The primary source of funds to support the operations, maintenance and modernization of municipal infrastructure, amenities and services is a property tax system that pre-dates the digital, service-based economy of today. The property tax system no longer meets the needs of rural and remote communities, nor does it reflect the modern-day economy. The modern economy […]

Issue Recognizing that the provincial government has determined that British Columbians should vote, for a third time, on potential changes to the voting system, and that the provincial government has conducted limited consultation regarding this process, the business community does offer the following recommendations.   While the mechanics of how proportional representation would be implemented […]