The BC Chamber's 2026-2028 Strategic Plan starts with the network
Article by Jen Riley, President & CEO, BC Chamber of Commerce
The most important idea in the 2026-2028 Strategic Plan is not a program or a platform. It is a decision about what kind of provincial chamber to be.
The provincial chamber we want to be is one that starts with businesses. We think about it as a series of questions, rather than answers. What is it that you are experiencing? What do you need? What is getting in the way? These are the types of questions we want to ask of our local chambers that are embedded in communities across BC. The work we do from here is to synthesize what we are hearing, and make sure those stories move. To government, to the public, to other sectors who need to understand the ground-level reality of operating in this province. Policy is one way we do that. Content, convening, and direct engagement are others.
None of that works without healthy local chambers. They are where businesses are known by name, connected to one another, supported with practical tools and programs, and represented in the conversations that shape their regions. Our job is to support that, not compete with it.
Corporate partners are part of this too. Not as a separate tier, but as organizations genuinely connected to what is happening in business communities across the province. When you partner at the provincial level, you get a clearer read on regional realities, a place in the conversations where provincial priorities take shape, and a role in supporting the network that makes all of it possible.
None of this is possible if the BC Chamber itself is not running well. A strong provincial chamber requires modern systems, a sustainable revenue model, and a team with the capacity to do the work. Building that foundation is not separate from the mission. It is what makes the mission possible year after year.
The plan we confirmed together was the result of hundreds of hours of conversation and 32 workshops across the network, with our board, our corporate partners, and others in the ecosystem. We were pressure testing who we are and why we exist. What surprised us was that we found genuine alignment. Chambers from across the province, operating in very different realities, landing in the same place on who we are and what we are for. Its vision is a British Columbia where every business community is resilient, healthy and connected. Its mission is to empower business communities across the province. You can read the full plan here.
The network was always the point. We just needed to build a plan that proved it.
Onwards.
Download the BC Chamber of Commerce 2026-2028 Strategic Plan here.